The advantages of the Loricraft (and Keith Monks) are primarily related to the vacuum/vinyl interface.
With VPI, KAB, Nitty Gritty, Record Doctor, ClearAudio and similar RCM's, a vacuum wand with a "felt"-covered slot straddles the rotating LP. This has multiple disadvantages:
1. The felts get contaminated very quickly by soaking up grungy cleaning fluid. They require constant attention and frequent changing. Failure to monitor this means you're spreading scummy fluid residue around the next side you vacuum.
2. A flat, full-width slot cannot make good contact with low spots on a warped LP. Nor can it make good contact on the lead-in grooves of LP's with raised lips, the dirtiest part on most used records. Nor can it make good contact near a raised label.
3. To achieve effective air velocity across the full width of a 4" long slot requires a very powerful (and LOUD) motor. Even with this, multiple revolutions are required to get the record completely dry.
4. Unfortunately, friction from multiple revolutions causes a static buildup in the vinyl, which makes it attract the dirt you were trying to remove. To avoid this, many users advise vacuuming the record until it's "almost" dry. Unfortunately, this amounts to advising that you leave some amount of scummy residue on the LP.
In summary, RCM's with felt-lipped vacuum wands suffer from multiple operating deficiencies that are inherent in that design. The negative effects of these can be controlled with good operator techniques, but they cannot be eliminated.
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By contrast, the vacuum on a Loricraft/KM is supplied via a hole that is < 1mm in diameter. The surface area of this hole is probably < 1% of the surface area of the slots on conventional RCM's. Achieving high air velocities through such a tiny hole requires a far less powerful motor. Vastly more effective vacuuming, yet quieter operation.
Further, the smaller motor generates less heat. A Loricraft will happily run 24 x 7 without overheating. Many VPI 16.5 owners can't clean more than 5 or 6 LP's in a session before the machine shuts down. I once cleaned 35 LP's in a single session on my PRC-3. I wore myself out but the machine just hummed along.
The vacuum head on a Loricraft/KM is mounted on a moveable "tonearm", which freely rises and falls over warps, lead-in ramps and other irregularities. As the arm motor drives the head across the rapidly spinning record, every inch of the surface receives the same (powerful) vacuuming.
The vacuum head/vinyl interface is metered not by grunge-grabbing felts, but by a nylon thread. Contrary to oft-expressed opinions, that thread does not "clean" the grooves. (Sewing thread is far too large to fit inside an LP groove.) The thead's only function is to maintain a constant, minimal but safe gap between vinyl surface and vacuum head.
The thread is advanced after each vacuuming sweep (with a quick twist of the spool on a Loricraft, automatically on a KM). Dirty, contaminated thread goes into the waste bottle and never touches your vinyl. A spool of thread lasts for thousands of vacuum sweeps, and replacements cost next to nothing.
With such a small point of contact and friction, static build up is virtually non-existent. Every side is vacuumed completely dry, with no undesirable side effects.
In summary, it's a better design. It's robustly built to work and last forever. As others have found, once you've used one it's very hard to imagine going back. Expensive, but worth every penny.
Regards,
Doug
