Brand new vinyl - what’s acceptable to you?

I agree with @larsman every new record gets run thru one of my rcm before first play.  Every record, even ECM, which I agree do a superior job of delivering clean, quiet records.  I also agree with him that for brand new records an US rcm is my first choice, but I am up at our second home and here use my old VPI HW-17, which works just fine.  In fact it is superior to my HumminGuru for old, very dirty records.  I brought two milk crates of old ones with us on this trip.  Anyway, run your new records thru a rcm, you’ll be glad you did. 

Based on problems with new 'better', I won't pay extra for either 180 gm, or 45 rpm, I don't mind scuffs that I don't hear, but I avoid warps and scratches.

Old, dirty, a vigorous manual scrub. 

The improvement in both Quiet Play and Reproduced Sound using an advanced stylus shape of used LP's is remarkable.

+1 Ultrasonic cleaning on all incoming records including new. If a noticeably dirty used record, manual scrubbing like Spin Clean before using ultrasonic cleaner.

One question that is often asked is what is the best ultrasonic rcm?  The consensus seems to be that the Degritter is the nicest one, and the HumminGuru is the most practical one, and if you have the patience to go through the whole process you’ll get the best results from the Kirmuss.  I did a lot of research and corresponded with a guy who owned both a Degritter and a HumminGuru, who told me that although he preferred the Degritter because it was just so much nicer, he could not hear any difference when comparing the results provided by records cleaned on either one.  Mikey Fremer, among others, reports hearing a difference in favor of the Kirmuss, but admits that he doesn’t use it unless the record means a great deal to him because the process is so time consuming.  I bought a HumminGuru and like it, but find that I use only on new records, preferring my VPI machines for old records, because almost invariably, the VPI is significantly faster and usually removes grunge that the US process either struggles with, or can’t remove at all.

Thanks all. This is helpful guidance. I’ll look into the VPI machines. I’m not up for the spend on the more expensive machines if the more reasonably priced ones can do the trick.

Best,