A Newbie's First Week Impressions -- Vinyl Rules

I don't buy into the upgrade path to sonic Happyland. I have a Scout and a Wright WW200C and I don't plan on going any further. For what I paid, $50 for a 180gm recording is a bad addition to this table, so I buy crap vinyl. A 16.5, however, and a little steam can turn most of those sorry discs into hidden gems. That's no joke. The cleaner paid for itself in no time.

I buy crap CDs, too. So comparing apples to apples, there are times, more often with LPs than with CDs, that the sound just hits all the good buttons. On that finding alone, I give analog the nod--the Scout delivers. And that's good enough.

When I was looking for a table, I believe it was Jaybo who warned me not to look forward to any analog revelation, any sonic orgasmatron to going vinyl. For the most part, he was correct. The differences are subtle, though some are profound, which have mostly to do with the recordings. There is good, bad and ugly in vinyl, just like in digital. I'm a little lighter in the wallet to learn that lesson, but a lot wiser. Still, where I shop, vinyl is cheap and it's fun, and I find it an enjoyable way to wither away an afternoon.

You don't need a honking big table to have fun. A little steam and a 16.5 can make a bad record sound damned nice, and you never have to think once about throwing your cds or your player out the window, or gawd forbid, upgrading. My $.02. YMMV. LOL.

P.S. Do you guys have any recommendations for record cleaning and ways to reduce static? I've already got a humidifer running...

Back to your original question...

Go get yourself a pint of Disc Doctor Miracle Record cleaner ($25.00) and Size A wet scrub brushes ($42.00). This will take care of you until you decided you want to dump a bunch more money into this hobby.

Yes, you'll hear arguments for record cleaning machines, various solutions, approaches and techniques, the necessity of demagnitizers, isolation platforms, mats, pebbles in a jar, etc. that you *have* to have to get the most out of vinyl. For now, indulge for amusement in between spinnin' your freshly-scrubed vinyl. Don't be discouraged by those who insist that you need to spend a ton to enjoy this aspect of the hobby. There is a time, place, and price for everything.

I put together a homeade record cleaning "machine" using a small nightstand mounted with a platter and bearing from a dual 1229 (found in the trash)on top drilled a hole to fit a length of pvc about 2 or 3 from edge of platter made a pvc vacuum arm/wand wraped in velvet connected to a shop vac motor after getting the measurements (area to be vacuumed)centered corectly this works fantastic easily equals all manufactured units Ive seen in action (all three retailed between 500-1000 I spent $12 at home depot and used trash picked items and achived killer performance (but quite ugly) prior to vacuuming records are scrubbed using a (I'm being absolutely serious here)shoe polish aplicator brush (wal-mart item name brand shoe gear)with the bristles carefully cut down to about 3/8" with scissors and solution of about 1 part isoprpyl (also wal-mart 91%) 5 part distilled water plus just enough simple green to allow even surface contact. Writing this desription I cant stop picturing some of the tools from the fintstones. I suppose i could put together a slick looking mdf cabinet covered in gelcoat sometime when I'm snowed in and the wife has pms but till then I'm set.

I have a system in place for cleaning vinyl without machines that has served me since the 80s.

Don't clean them.

I'm serious! The more you clean vinyl, the more dirty they get and the more pops and crackles you hear. Most of the records I have (that haven't been eaten up by termites) do not have static nor pop sounds because I've never cleaned them from day one.

What you DO have to do is to use Nagoya 102 anti-static sleeves. Place the new record in the sleeve and don't use the record for 2-3 days. After that, the record's conditioned and there isn't any static anymore. That's it! Each time you play the record following this, let the needle clean the record for you and you just remove whatever the needle collects at the end of each side of playing. Use some liquid cleaner or vibration cleaner for the needle. In my experience, liquids are better.

I've used this technique for years and I don't have problems with dirty or static records. Never had to 'clean' my records with machines nor carbon brushes nor antistatic guns/sprays etc although I understand that by cleaning, you can get deeper into the information as there is a chemical coating on leftover on the record surface during the manufacturing process. However if you get pass this coating, you also will get into the rougher edges of the record groves that was glossed over by the chemical coating thereby increasing noise in addition to the information. I suppose you can't have both the cake and eat it!

One thing to note though, if you use the do-not-clean technique stated above, you have to be careful during the handling of records - no oily hands from food, open record sleeves to bring records out, not slide them out of their sleeves etc etc etc...

I recently aquired both the Music Hall 5.1 and shortly before that a Music Hall 2.5 CD player. I have to admit that I feel the CD players sounds much better although by the same token I have been listening to more vinyl than CD's. I suppose it it because of the nostalga, the regime / tinkering required. I have also been looking in to some upgrades for the 5.1. It occurs to me that one the Project Hall carbon fiber arms could probably be retrofitted. I am sure I could use a better phono stage and cartridge and I believe there is an electric speed control available for the 5.1. All I have done at this point was upgrade to a Herbies mat from the stock felt mat. Static has been cut down a bit but not much. Probably need a zero stat. I do prefer the warmer sound the Herbies mat provides utilized with the clamp.
I have obtained all the necessary materials to try steaming but I just haven't gotten around to trying it yet.