I always enjoy a good Spicewood lecture, even if it's something I really don't care about...such as turntables.

Say Chowdah, I'm considering going with this option myself, but was wondering... If I clean it and then store it properly, how long until I have to clean it again?

I'm loving my turntable, but the I can tell that the records need to be cleaned and the brush I got isn't enough.

I don't really have a good answer for that question and it is a good question. When you say your store them properly, I assume they are in a paper sleeve or something comparable?

I've found that if I play a record before cleaning it and then play it again after cleaning it, the quality is markedly improved but I am not certain how long before I'd have to clean the same record again.

The kit comes with a couple of bottles of the cleaning fluid. You anchor the record on the machine and then turn the motor on. After applying the fluid, you take the brush that comes with it and basically "scrub" the liquid into the grooves really well. Then you put the arm over the record and the vacuum sucks up all the fluid and the dirt along with it. The fluid is captured in a tube that has a crimping tool to keep it from leaking out. After a while you need to drain the tube and you can see all the crap that was in the grooves. I was amazed. I find that I will generally clean them before playing them and then if I know that I've done it recently, I let it go until I can tell a difference.

A couple of cautions: You'll need to be careful not to let the liquid get on the labels. Also, the anchor mechanism that holds the record to the plate and the vacuum arm that comes with the machine is designed for 33 LP's. If you are using it for 45's, you need to purchase a separate anchor and vacuum arm to accomodiate it. VPI sells the the 45 adapter kit and the fluids on their website. If you go on VPI's website, you'll also see the pinnacle of turntables! They are amazing.

http://www.vpiindustries.com/main_tables.htm

I believe they are really worth it if you are into vinyl.

When I bought the machine I called my mom and told her about it and her response was "you realize that your dad used a tee shirt and rubbing alchol don't you?" I answered it was only because he didn't know about this machine!

To the OP: when I was buying the system I detailed earlier, I didn't know much about buying an analog stereo system. Therefore, I decided to go an alternate route and selected the audio store with the best reputation.

I asked music shops, dj's and bars who they bought their stuff from and I found the best hi fi store in my market.

They have a well trained sales staff with a ton of experience in analog and they designed the entire system around my needs, including the build out/installation as I finished my basement around this project (just sharing this in case you are looking for that type of service). I felt very comfortable in the end because the guys who sold it to me had a great reputation and I heard in store demos of the system.

I wouldn't have felt that way buying from best buy, fry's etc.

quote:

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If I clean it and then store it properly, how long until I have to clean it again?

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Every time you take it out of the sleeve. It takes 1/2 a second.