SEEKING ADVICE: Which component would you upgrade first?

@benanders understood. I personally find a record cleaner a luxury investment. I can go to a local stereo shop and use their VPN for 50 cents per record which I do 10 records at a time, every other month. It would take 500 records to recoup that investment, at this rate: 9 years for me :) - when compared with the record doctor.

So I'd spend that money elsewhere. I would always go speakers/source/preamp/amp

@benanders I get fine results using a SpinClean with distilled water and supplied detergent. (I also use an ultrasonic unit for first cleaning, with the SpinClean for final rinse.)

@noromance good call. I bought one of those SpinClean units back when they released the clear version. Maybe a dozen or more years ago? It was nuts to watch it turn water + old record into chocolate milk… I still wonder if it was a pre-programmed chemical reaction from the included solution 😜 (it wasn’t - distilled water alone achieved similar result).

SpinClean works a bit differently than a strong jet of water. I got my SpinClean to deal with nasty surfaces of a big old pile of second-hand records acquired years earlier. Wasn’t a fast or particularly easy process compared to a cheap spindle x faucet (which I wasn’t using then), but I agree both ways sure can help.

Checked for curiosity - SpinCleans are a bit more expensive nowadays. Still a better price-to-performance ratio than buying an automated cleaner for many (most?) collections IMO. If automation is required, I suspect a car-to-cleaner-ready hifi shop would indeed be the better bet for many (most?) folks!

What I love about the SpinClean is that I can give a record a quick clean if it has picked up a little dust. I do not use dry brushes. The SC detergent apparently grass the dirt out of the distilled water, thereby keeping it cleaner and necessitating less frequent changes. Note, all my records have either been SpinCleaned or been thru the US already. I bought additional (better, more absorbent) lint-free cloths which really speeds things up.

Asking for advice, also first time posting.

if you had my system (see below) what would you do to improve the system? Add more watts per channel?  Purchase power cords? And so forth. The audio system is in the living room with vaulted ceilings 26 feet high at the peak.  Listen to classical music and soft rock and country and some jazz.  Use both CD’s and vinyl.

System includes McIntosh: amp MC 202, 200 watts per channel 

C42 preamp, includes DAC and 8 band equalizer 

CD player MCD301

Tuner MR 85

streaming MB20

turntable Pro-next Classic SB

Equalizer Sound Shaper 3 paragraphic

RtoR Jcorder Technics RS 1520

speakers Spendor A5

cables audio quest 

panamax power protection and treatment

thank you for

any ideas from the group