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Which Record Cleaning Machine?

I have a discussion forum buddy in Belgium who runs a video rental store. He's a big jazz-on-vinyl enthusiast, and vinyl playback in Europe is pretty popular--popular enough that he has trouble finding any used jazz LPs on vinyl for sale over there.

Anyway, he was thinking of installing a record cleaning machine in his shop to attract more customers and to provide a service to fellow vinylphiles.

His question to me is which RCM would be the better choice within his budget--the $1295 VPI HW-17F or something from Loricraft?

Thanks in advance.
johnnyb53

Showing 2 responses by dan_ed

dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
If he will be using this in his store then he may be cleaning quite a few LPs at any one time. He will need to address the issue of potential cross-contamination. He will also want to avoid chasing out any customers due to the noise of a vacuum system. With these concerns in mind and the fact that he can get a much better price than what we can here in the US, I'd advise him to get a Loricraft, and get the model with the better vacuum pump, the PRC-4.

He may also want to consider finding a steamer to use as part of the cleaning process. Steaming and cleaning with a Loricraft, I doubt anything would get the records cleaner.
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Here are my thoughts based on a quick survey of the RCMs mentioned. I'm not including any VPI in this.

Clearaudio Matrix $3600 USD
Hannl Aragon $3995 USD
Loricraft PRC-4DL $3725 USD

Both Hannl and Loricraft have cheaper models but I tried to compare similar features. Also, I believe the Clearaudio is still just as noisy as a VPI. There is no reason that I can find to think that any of these could not stand up to cleaning hundreds of LPs at a time. Not that many folks could clean hundreds at a time, but I think all three models are built for it.

Both the Clearaudio and Hannl offer mounted brushes and suction pickups that are, I guess, supposed to be removed and cleaned after each LP. I believe that with any cleaning system the user has to make sure the brush is clean. The Loricraft (and Monks) have a suction tube that rides on that tiny thread. Time for the next LP? Just play out a small amount of thread and you have a clean surface ready for the next one. For a home user, maybe not such a big deal. For a business, I would think the less steps to prepare for the next record to be cleaned would be a great benefit.

If your friend is also interested in carrying a line of RCMs then there are many other considerations that a business owner should consider. I'll leave that to him.

For the rest of us, you can build an RCM at home for less than $100 and do as good or better of a job than the VPI or Clearaudio RCMs. It will be noisy and you may have to turn it by hand, but it will get the job done very well. I've been using my DIY RCM for several years and I have no desire to go for a commercial unit. This is especially true since I added one of those cheap, Walgreens steamers to my cleaning ritual.

So maybe your friend can stock a good line of cleaning products and supply his less-well-healed customers with the idea, or maybe even plans, for building their own RCM. Or, make arrangements with a local craftsman to build one for them. This makes more sense to me because I don't think anyone is going to sell quantities of those commercial units.
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