VPI HW 17i Record Cleaning Mac vs ClearAudio Smart Matrix Professional Record Cleaner

[Myles B. Astor]

Originally Posted by Removed

Don't waste your money on machines with fluid dispensing.....if your using cleaning fluids with Enzymes and many are today they will loose there effectiveness in less than a day if exsposed to the enviroment......your paying a fair amount of money for that feature, doesn't make the machine clean any better. Another thing is you end up wasting fluids because now you need to guess how much to fill the dispenser for the amount of LP's you going to clean....just as easy to sqirt fluid on the LP as it is to push a button and fill the dispenser! and with the built in scrub brushes.....they scrub at a constint pressure, you have no control how much pressure to apply, sometimes you need more and times you need less....another waste of money on a gimmick feature.....

I think you're confusing biological with industrial enzymes. The latter are a different breed and for instance, aren't temperature dependent for the activity.

[j3brow]

Originally Posted by 1KW

I brought a record I could not get clean with the spin clean to soundstagedirect today to take Seth up on his offer to demo his record cleaning machine. While he sells expensive record cleaning machines he says you really don't need anything better than the VPI 16.5 and some good cleaning solutions. I gave him a 1979 Supertramp album called Breakfast in America. I could not get the crackles and pops out of with my spin clean. First Seth cleaned the record with mofi super deep cleaner and then with mofi super record wash. It took about 2 minutes to ie 1 minute with each solution with a vacuum inbetween. We then placed the album on his VPI turntable hooked up to a Luxman integrated amp. with pmc speakers. There were one or two pops at the very begining as the stylus found the grooves and then no more crackles and pops. As this was one of my worst sounding albums I was sold and bought the same thing with 2 packages (100) of mo fi master sleeves. I was going to get the VPI 17 but he talked me out of it . I came home and took out a Beatles Abbey Road album that always sounded lousy on the Here Comes the Sun track due to some releasing compound that I could never clean out of the grooves. I assume it was releasing compound because it sounded bad from day 1 brand new but I could not be bothered to exchange the album since I have more than 1 copy. I performed the above procedure on this album and now the song Here Comes the Sun sounds perfect like it should.

Congrats on your 16.5. I have had one for a few years now although I rarely use it. I just don't like cleaning records. I will likely never sell it because when I do clean a record, sometimes it actually sounds better

[Freestone]

Originally Posted by j3brow

Congrats on your 16.5. I have had one for a few years now although I rarely use it. I just don't like cleaning records. I will likely never sell it because when I do clean a record, sometimes it actually sounds better

That's why the audio desk unit is awesome. It's painless to use.

[Josquin des Prez]

Originally Posted by j3brow

Congrats on your 16.5. I have had one for a few years now although I rarely use it. I just don't like cleaning records. I will likely never sell it because when I do clean a record, sometimes it actually sounds better

That certainly stands to reason since dirt makes a record sound worse.

[miner]

IMOPO, a RCM is essential to good quality vinyl playback. I use MoFi and NG fluids and a NG MiniPro II RCM.

[j3brow]

Originally Posted by Freestone

That's why the audio desk unit is awesome. It's painless to use.

Exactly why I would love to own one someday. Simple to use, more effective, and quieter. Cost is the only drawback.

[PMCH]

I also own a VPI 16.5 and enjoy listening to clean records but don't use it as much as I should. Records always sound better when they have just been cleaned but I hate to admit I usually wait until I hear some pop on a record that bugs me before I actually use it.

[Mikado463]

Originally Posted by j3brow

I rarely use it. I just don't like cleaning records. I will likely never sell it because when I do clean a record, sometimes it actually sounds better

you drinking some of the moonshine again........

[miketuason]

I just bought the VPI HW 17 two weeks ago and love it.

[jdandy]

[ame=http://youtu.be/hII1cXq2RQ0]HW-17 Cleaning in a Kitchen - YouTube[/ame]