Project VC-S Record cleaning machine

[oldleodensian]

Anybody here seen one in use, or maybe even bought one?

http://project-audio.com/main.php?prod=vc-s

My Knosti will need replacing soon; bath leaks a bit, record holder is cracked and only just works and it appears to be cheaper to buy a whole new system than replace individual items. It's either buy the newer version of the Knosti, or wait to afford an upgrade to a record cleaning machine (maybe later this year) and I'm looking at options. This new Project is far more affordable than most others, so hoping to best good things!

 

[Deleted member 108165]

Anybody here seen one in use, or maybe even bought one?

http://project-audio.com/main.php?prod=vc-s

My Knosti will need replacing soon; bath leaks a bit, record holder is cracked and only just works and it appears to be cheaper to buy a whole new system than replace individual items. It's either buy the newer version of the Knosti, or wait to afford an upgrade to a record cleaning machine (maybe later this year) and I'm looking at options. This new Project is far more affordable than most others, so hoping to best good things!

Not got one yet but I am seriously thinking about one too. I recently bought the Gen II Knosti and I am not particulary enamoured with it. Sure there are now label seals on the hub but these do not stop the label getting wet and if you accidentally overtighten the hub it can be an absolute b****** to unscrew, (nearly ruined an LP trying to unsrew the hub). Also haven't found the Knosti to be that good at removing rice krispies; plus records take an age to dry, and the supplied fluid leaves drain marks. Maybe I need to try the alternative home-brew cleaning fluid recipe.

 

[thescarletpronster]

Anybody here seen one in use, or maybe even bought one?

There's already a thread about them – here. Someone who bought one has posted a review – not particularly favourable.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Didn't someone on these forums make their own vacuum record cleaning machine?

I'm sure they did, though finding the thread won't be very easy.

 

[thescarletpronster]

Also haven't found the Knosti to be that good at removing rice krispies; plus records take an age to dry, and the supplied fluid leaves drain marks. Maybe I need to try the alternative home-brew cleaning fluid recipe.

Definitely don't use the supplied fluid – it (allegedly) leaves a residue, which might be accounting for the noise you hear and can also damage your stylus. Also, keep in mind that both second-hand and new pressings can have ingrained rice krispies – flaws in the plastic or damage to the grooves – that no RCM will be able to sort out. I've found that a high propotion of current pressings are sub-standard and have noise. It's very frustrating.

I get fantastic results from my Knosti using home-brewed fluid. I'm interested in getting a 'proper' RCM such as the Okki Nokki to see if I can get even better results (as the discs aren't left to drip-dry, there shouldn't be any chance of residue), plus to save a lot of the work and time of using the manual machine. There's a thread on using the Knosti (including recipes). I've not seen a thread about the Okki Nokki, although if there is one, I'd like to read it.

 

[thescarletpronster]

Didn't someone on these forums make their own vacuum record cleaning machine?

You're right, they did - 2 or 3 months ago. It was impressive, in a cabinet on wheels. Can't remember what the thread was called, but it'll be in the history somewhere.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Didn't someone on these forums make their own vacuum record cleaning machine?

You're right, they did - 2 or 3 months ago. It was impressive, in a cabinet on wheels. Can't remember what the thread was called, but it'll be in the history somewhere.

I think it was more like a year ago, and with this wonderful site, finding old threads isn't easy.

 

[expat_mike]

Was this the thread?

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/turntables-and-lps/heath-robinson-rcm

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Was this the thread?

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/turntables-and-lps/heath-robinson-rcm

That's the one, well done Mike.

Whatever happened to MrTeroo?

 

[expat_mike]

Was this the thread?

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/turntables-and-lps/heath-robinson-rcm

That's the one, well done Mike.

Whatever happened to MrTeroo?

I don't know, but it is only 4 months since he last logged on. There have been one or two members who went 'missing' who have started posting again recently.

It took several attempts at groups of keywords, before google found that thread. it is a pity that there was so much interesting material on the forum, which is now difficult to find without a dedicated WHF search tool.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

There have been one or two members who went 'missing' who have started posting again recently.

A very similar thing happened to Mulder's sister on the X-Files, though I don't remember her ever posting on this forum. *biggrin*

 

[oldleodensian]

There's already a thread about them – here. Someone who bought one has posted a review – not particularly favourable.

The reviewer's preference for the Okki Nokki is clear enough, but no mention is made of the one thing that interests me most about the new Project VC-S.....its cleaning performance.

If it gives improved record-cleaning performance over and above the Knosti with similar results to an Okki Nokki, then the cost difference makes it very tempting.

 

[The_Lhc]

There's already a thread about them – here. Someone who bought one has posted a review – not particularly favourable.

The reviewer's preference for the Okki Nokki is clear enough, but no mention is made of the one thing that interests me most about the new Project VC-S.....its cleaning performance.

If it gives improved record-cleaning performance over and above the Knosti with similar results to an Okki Nokki, then the cost difference makes it very tempting.

Has anyone tried the Pro-ject yet? I think the brushes on my original disco anti-stat (a Knowin, rather than a Knosti, it's that old) have worn out, it doesn't appear they actually reach the surface of the vinyl, except on very thick discs, I got some second hand discs with visible mould patches on them which I cleaned this week but it didn't shift them. I'd love a cleaning machine but it's a fair investment and I'd like to be sure it's going to do the job before pulling the trigger.

 

[thescarletpronster]

Has anyone tried the Pro-ject yet?

Someone posted on the thread linked to in my comment above that they bought, tried and returned one. Mind you, it appears to have been their only post on this forum, so it's just possible that account was someone working for the competition. See http://www.whathifi.com/comment/958489#comment-958489

 

[The_Lhc]

Has anyone tried the Pro-ject yet?

Someone posted on the thread linked to in my comment above that they bought, tried and returned one. Mind you, it appears to have been their only post on this forum, so it's just possible that account was someone working for the competition. See http://www.whathifi.com/comment/958489#comment-958489

Yes I know, I read it at the time, their main complaint seemed to be that the switches were on the wrong side, which lead me to wonder why they didn't just turn it round so the switches were on the other side. Useless review to be honest.

 

[thescarletpronster]

Ah, I see. So you actually meant 'Has anyone tried the Pro-Ject apart from the person who has tried the Pro-Ject?' [insert sticky out tongue icon here]

 

[Al ears]

Ah, I see. So you actually meant 'Has anyone tried the Pro-Ject apart from the person who has tried the Pro-Ject?' [insert sticky out tongue icon here]

I only want to read good reviews. ;-)

Surely for the cost of even this cheap machine the OP could find somewhere local to clean a whole bunch of LPs. Once cleaned thoroughly they are a lot easier to keep clean. Just play them.

 

[The_Lhc]

Ah, I see. So you actually meant 'Has anyone tried the Pro-Ject apart from the person who has tried the Pro-Ject?' [insert sticky out tongue icon here]

No but it would be nice if the "review" actually mentioned how well it cleaned records, which that one doesn't. There's been another update to that thread, issues with the velvet strips sticking to the vacuum arm apparently.

 

[oldleodensian]

I only want to read good reviews. ;-)

Surely for the cost of even this cheap machine the OP could find somewhere local to clean a whole bunch of LPs. Once cleaned thoroughly they are a lot easier to keep clean. Just play them.

As I said in the first post, I'm soon going to need to replace the Knosti.
I don't know of anywhere in my vicinity that does a record cleaning service.I regularly buy 2nd hand records from record fairs and it's far preferable to clean them myself, for convenience sake and I'm able to play them soon after buying them.
Rather than use a record cleaning service, I would prefer to put the money towards either a new Knosti or an RCM. I suppose a more relevant question would be: Does a decent RCM provide a far superior clean to a Knosti?

 

[Al ears]

I only want to read good reviews. ;-)

Surely for the cost of even this cheap machine the OP could find somewhere local to clean a whole bunch of LPs. Once cleaned thoroughly they are a lot easier to keep clean. Just play them.

As I said in the first post, I'm soon going to need to replace the Knosti.

I don't know of anywhere in my vicinity that does a record cleaning service. I regularly buy 2nd hand records from record fairs and it's far preferable to clean them myself, for convenience sake and I'm able to play them soon after buying them.

Rather than use a record cleaning service, I would prefer to put the money towards either a new Knosti or an RCM. I suppose a more relevant question would be: Does a decent RCM provide a far superior clean to a Knosti?

I think the answer to that would have to be yes. I would buy one in place of my Knosti if I bought more second-hand vinyl than I currently do.

I think it would depend on how much use you are likely to put it to and how bad a condition your vinyl actually is in. Sometimes I feel it would be more viable to save the money and spend it on new vinyl. You can spend an awful amount of time and money trying to rejuvenate an LP that is, to all intents and purposes, past it.

 

[oldleodensian]

I think the answer to that would have to be yes. I would buy one in place of my Knosti if I bought more second-hand vinyl than I currently do.

I think it would depend on how much use you are likely to put it to and how bad a condition your vinyl actually is in. Sometimes I feel it would be more viable to save the money and spend it on new vinyl. You can spend an awful amount of time and money trying to rejuvenate an LP that is, to all intents and purposes, past it.

Thanks, that's what I had always thought, but had previously been satisfied with the Knosti.....also curious if the cleaning results for some of my recently-bought 2nd hand records could be improved upon.

Looks like I'm saving up and just stick with the ageing Knosti for now.

Of course it would be cheaper to just tell myself "No, just buy the new improved Knosti".

 

[The_Lhc]

What's been updated on the knosti?

 

[Al ears]

What's been updated on the knosti?

Nothing on the recent version as far as I know but it's been around for a long time and AMazon quotes 'latest model'.

However the OP could try buying spares here :-

http://www.knosti.de/english/vinyl.html

 

[oldleodensian]

What's been updated on the knosti?

Supposedly a better clamp for holding records and a handle to turn the thing more easily, so doubt it's better at cleaning than the older one but maybe easier to use and less likely to get the labels wet (this mainly happens to mine because the thread on the clamp is broken).

So not worth the cost of replacement unless, like mine, it's started to leak, clamp is damaged and brushes no longer seem to clean properly. I have had it in regular use for about 7 years though, so £35 well spent.

 

[Deleted member 108165]

What's been updated on the knosti?

Knosti Gen 2 now has a handle on the spindle to turn and rubber seals fitted to the clamp to keep the labels dry. The handle works great but the seals don't as the labels still get wet. New solution appears to work well but I've found that the home-brew version works better.