@bdp24
The way I've overcome the limitation of the Nitty Gritty machine you mention is that I clean the LP by having it rest on a rubber turntable mat inside the mat's cardboard retail box. Place it on the NG, then remove it to clean the other side. I find 2 rotations with the vacuum on and 1 more after the vacuum is turned off suffice. A problem that's developed lately, though, is that the record turner doesn't grip the label well enough anymore to rotate the record during the vacuuming. I've tried to rough up the bottom of the turner with sandpaper, but haven't been successful. I may try using my heavier SOTA record clamp.
I'm still using my Zerostat and am learning to pull the trigger slowly. Do you know the static test method of using a small piece of styrofoam taped to a piece of thread? Works great!
I prefer rice paper sleeves for my LPs, but with classical LPs that originally came with poly-lined sleeves I just use those. I used to slit two sides of the sleeves so the sleeve opens like a book--that helps to reduce static charge.
I've looked at the Antin manual and that's going too far for me. Have you found that ultrasonic cleaning works any better than your VPI machine?
Nice to communicate with another LP fanatic. I wasn't listening to LPs for a while after discovering hi-res streaming; but I recently got a new vintage cartridge (Benz Ruby 2) that has revived my interest in playing my old LPs. Most of mine, like yours, are in great shape, especially those that I bought after stopping use of the Disc Preener. If I bought them new (and didn't use the Preener on them), I don't find noise to be a problem on most of my LPs. I use an Oracle carbon-fiber brush to clean each LP under a bright light before play, and play them with the dust cover closed on my SOTA Star Sapphire. Most of my LPs are free of ticks because of this kind of diligence.
