|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
67.161.182.178
My first VPI vac--which I loved--was $450 back in the day. Now it's $650. Fair enough but I'm going for the Project.
In any case, if you don't have one, swallow the bitter pill: I've been washing records in the sink with windex. I works, but you have to play the lp at 45 rpm and let the needle carve out the gunk.
PITA.
Follow Ups:
No one buys more vacuum motors than VPI does and we get them at the lowest possible price same goes for the gear motors we use. They are first class long lasting products that can be replaced at any time as they are made here.
Since those are the two most expensive items in the machine it is not possible to ship it here, have a distributor mark it up, have a dealer mark it up, and sell it for $399 using parts of the same quality. I have seen one company after another come out with low priced machines that eventually creep up to our price or beyond.
No insult to Pro-ject I just don't see it being possible.
So it is possible. And anyone who buys it at $399 is not harmed if the price later goes up. Any consumer needs to make his/her own decision as to the relevant advantages of each unit, of course, and perhaps the 16.5 will prove to be worth the additional $$ - but the free market revolves around choices, both at the consumer level and the company level.
I'm starting to notice a trend here: The 16.5 is a very old design and hasn't been updated since it came out. Pro-ject sees the opportunity to produce a newer design at a lower cost. That's what happens when companies rest on their laurels to long. Phoenix Engineering did the same thing when they came out with their Falcon and Eagle power supplies last year at 1/3 to 1/2 the price of the SDS with more capabilities. Stand in one place too long and you're going to get passed.
At least VPI has ventured into new territories with their tables. For awhile, it appeared they were just recycling the same components arranged on different platforms.
The one in the email you sent me didn't work - I tried to reply to yours.
Tom
Did it end up in the same place as the Mahler 2nd?
:-)
Was having a difficult time with tracking, (cart? arm? who knows?), and went to CD/SACD.
Found a pristine mass market Technics similar to the one I had in College with--gasp--an MM cart (which are supposed to sound terrible compared to MC) and I've been happily married ever since. Love the sound.
Bought back most of my collection, minus the "collectables" and now time for a new vac.
My 16.5 is gathering dust. Still works - yours if you want to pick it up in Burlingame.
Tom
I cleaned a helluva lot of records on my VPI 16.5 before I just couldn't live with the noise any longer. I wore noise-cancelling headphones (actually hunting headphones) while using it, which was not only uncomfortable and boring (since I couldn't hear music while I cleaned records) but also fatiguing - the noise still affects your body. I was very happy to retire it in favor of a Clearaudio Double Matrix Pro, which obviously is in a different class than the VPI 16.5. Nonetheless, I have felt there was room for a competitor to the venerable 16.5, which must be the best selling RCM ever.
I think it is as ugly as it is noisy, but it works quite well.
I've had mine for 11 years now and have easily cleaned a couple thousand records, but I'm not sure I want to drop another grand to get something less noisy (better).
My neighbor in the flat upstairs knows when I'm cleaning that's for sure.
P
When the more enterprising companies are moving on to ultrasonic cleaners
Cheaper doesn't mean you have to stick with the "old"
Regardless the merits of ultrasonic vs vacuum, but when are people going to learn that the brushes underneath the vacuum tubing to prevent air from escaping is only ever going to cause static that will affect sound quality....?
"old schooler's" --with our oh so charming common sense--would point out that one doesn't need to vacuum to the point at which static goes off the charts.When I had a VPI cleaner, I let it rotate twice, and only twice.
Edits: 05/25/15
Even if the vinyl surface us still wet while the brushes go over it, there will still be static.
The only way is to blow dry or spin dry.
You owe it to yourself to hear how good your record can sound using contactless drying
Wet washing with RCM is one of the most effective ways to remove static .... not speaking hypothetically, experience, and lots of it!.
Is effective against neutralizing static that dulls the sound of your record.
But avoid drying methods that require brushes to go over the surfaces of the vinyl.
Go either blow dry or spin dry.
After 40 years cleaning records I have a pretty good idea how to do it so I can say with certainty, spin dry and blow dry does not work. Try blow drying your vette after washing it spotlessly clean, water marks, water marks all over the place. The same happens on vinyl.
I would stop wasting my time posting and save up for a more revealing cartridge so you can hear the difference. Really, all this posturing with so little knowledge in depth.
HW
We assume when you said a more revealing cartridge, you're talking about one that reveals more of the surface contaminants on vinyl records after a cleaning, which is what's being discussed here, isn't it?So in your eminent opinion, can you tell us what cartridge allows you to hear more of the ticks and pops on vinyl surfaces after a cleaning?
If one thinks about it, 40 years of experience is useless if it is not of relevant to the topics on hand.
Edits: 05/28/15
I've used a 16.5 for years and my routine is to shut off the pump after two rotations. The tube does not lift off for nearly another full rotation. This has worked well for me and I don't have any problem with static. And I live in arid So. Cal. where it is officially classified as a desert.
"You can't know what the "best" is unless you have heard everything, and keep in mind that given individual tastes, there really isn't any such thing." HP
....create static or not, even if it is just one singular rotation of the brushes going over vinyl surfaces is to listen to a record washed without any brushes, and dried by either blowing or dried by spinning.Let's be clear about one thing:
The type of static created by brushes going over vinyl surfaces that I'm talking about - is not the type that causes continuous crackling noise, but rather, what I'm talking about is the type that causes soundstage to shrink, imaging becoming forward, and sense of lethargic burdening down of dynamics.
Edits: 05/26/15
I just don't care anymore, but very happy with how the vac lifts gunk quickly and easily.
My hair started turning gray before I hit 40. Now it is starting to fall out!
Still using my VPI 16.5 and a Zerostat (on records, not my hair!), and have no desire for anything else...
Dman
Analog Junkie
Always works for me, and I live in the mid-west (which is always dry with exception of the past week! LOL)...
Dman
Analog Junkie
Yeah, if you don't have a zerostat, you might as well just throw your records on the ground and stomp on then, regardless of how you've cleaned them. Obviously exaggerating a bit for laughs, but...
I got mine used on ebay for ~$40, but I think it would be worth every penny at $100.
I love my VPI, but I'd enjoy it far less if I didn't have the Zerostat.
I should note that I sometimes zap an LP after a 2-revolution brushing with the AudioQuest.
Static can be a bear.
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: