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Thinking seriously about pulling the trigger on this purchase. Hoping to get better performance than with the 16.5. Has anyone with experience with this machine had performance problems, or regretted the purchase for any reason?I am using Vinyl-Zyme and RRL. I would presume that at 80 RPM fluid must be used sparingly (with any excess flying off). Is this correct?
Also, can the platter be turned manually without the motor being engaged (for application of fluid at less than 80 RPM)?
Follow Ups:
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As a new 2 week owner... The upside-
With the full size platter, you can apply and brush clean in one position. Not possible w/ smaller machines like the Nitty's; though they work quite well.Loudness levels.
Speed.
Final result appearance. Bitchin'
Note: highly volatile cleaners (i.e. audio intelligence), especially in the summertime, are not reccomended, since they flash off before the vac cycle is finished.Factory packaging is excellent. The machine now has levelling feet.
Downers-
The thread thingy is a hassle. The spool support is poorly designed. The supplied brush has a rounded back, so you can't stand it up. The bristles are way too coarse; I find it useless.
DDs observations on tracking force are serious.
No rest stop/support for the wand. (Probably an easy DIY.)
Pricing- not an industrial engineer, but it strikes me there's a bunch of parts here that *don't have to be machined brass. I really wish they had the higher suck-power model at this price.
Factory instructions are "skimpy" to be polite. Comes with a 1.5" piece of tubing that requires US distributor contact to determine what it's for.
Mine came with grey paint (?) splatters on the turntable. Everyone is mystified; US people say that all of them have it, Loricraft GB says it's a normal part of the molding process. At the same time, they're shipping a new platter.
US and Terry are responsive to questions about the above. Not really a deal breaker.The biggest bummer: is that spinning an LP at 2X normal, you'll see just how many of your LPs are freakin' *off-center." And that equals WOW. A very sobering observation; this is hardly a perfect medium.
I agree about the thread thingy. Someone suggested it should have been mounted horizontally and I think they're right. Many users experience the thread unwinding too fast. Then the loose loop hangs up beneath the spool. That's a PIA but there's an easy fix:1. Bend the thread intake tube upward and closer to the spool, so the opening is near the top of the spool.
2. Flip the spool over, so the thread enters the tube at a sharp angle.
This solved the problem for me.
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The lack of a wand support is something I've turned into a positive. Between sweeps I let the wand swing off the back side of the plinth and leave the pump running, sucking air. This really helps prevent thread hang-up inside the vacuum arm.Of course an arm support would allow the same thing, but then I'd have to pay attention to putting the wand on it. YMMV I guess.
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"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger." - JRRT
"DDs observations on tracking force are serious."I do not understand what you mean by this. Could you clarify?
I think he was referring to this thread.
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"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger." - JRRT
As I've posted before, the Loricraft one of my indispensable components.I apply Vinyl Zyme with the platter spinning and a brush to spread it before it can fly off. With a little practice the walls and my face now stay quite dry.
I apply RRL with the platter motor off and spread by hand using an AQ or DD style brush. The platter can be spun by hand very easily to reach all sides.
Go for it, you won't be sorry.
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"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger." - JRRT
not that i am not grateful, but I have spent more money because of your endorsements than I care to think about lest I have nightmares of debtors prison. If you're not careful , I'll get a loricraft, and then you have to visit me in jail.
Debtor's prisons are pretty much extinct. These days they throw you in an asylum, and with luck and a few bribes you could get yourself tossed into THIS asylum!Then you could use the Loricraft to clean fellow inmates' LP's, for a fee. The guards wouldn't mind, they're inmates too.
P.S. Have we talked about the UNIverse recently? ;-)
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"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger." - JRRT
It still sucks.dee
;-D
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.
Everyone who's gone from a VPI to a Loricraft comments on the much lower noise level, the ease of operation and the robust build quality that allows 24 x 7 operation if you're that crazy.I did once clean 37 pretty dirty LP's in a single session, with four vacuum passes per side. (Egad, that's 296 vacuum sweeps!) My feet got tired but the machine wasn't bothered and my ears weren't ringing.
OTOH, whether a Loricraft actually cleans better seems to split the votes. Some say yes, others say no. Certainly a NG, VPI or Clearaudio has the potential to clean worse: the possiblility of wand felt contamination assures that. So it's up to the user to follow sound procedures.
But in the end, they all do suck!
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"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger." - JRRT
I went from the VPI17 to Loricraft. No regrets. A major improvement…Lower surface noise (and operating machine noise too!) I can’t imagine a better cleaner. Highly recommended.
i am really really tempted, but they are expensive. I have a vpi 17 which is good, but i know somehow the records could be cleaned better.
I used a 16.5 for a number of years and was quite satisfied with the results. My wife bought me a PRC4 deluxe because she wanted a quieter machine in the house. The few seconds of vacuum sound never really bothered me. I haven’t noticed any difference in sound when re-cleaning the records cleaned with the 16.5. It may take a few more cycles of cleaning but a 16.5 or your 17 will clean a record just as well as a Loricraft
If someone wants a quiet machine, cleans a lot of really grungy records and wants to do that faster or wants to clean records all day long then the Loricraft makes more sense.
The web site indicates prices are going up August 1. This is what is getting me off the fence. Better now than later, if I am going to do it.
I saw one at work at Brian Walsh's Essential Audio this past weekend and I can say that I've never seen an LP that looked as clean!Maybe it was that Frenchy RC stuff he used, maybe the machine, but it was awesome! And even better...I didn't feel as if I had to get an ENT doctor to check out my ears afterwards!
Very, very quiet!
The VPI should be used with ear protection!
If I had more money, I'd soon be broke...but I'd have more LP's!
Like going from a Yugo to a Mercedes "S" Class.Yes, you can freely spin the platter when not under power, IE turned on.
I have no problem with fluid flying off the record. I guess if you wait forever yeah you can get it to fly off.
The Loricraft is built upon the idea of the famous Keith Monks machine, but pettier, and a bit stripped down. It doesn't have the automatic string takeup, for example. The Keith Monks is the standard by which all others are judged, and the Loricraft comes closest of all.
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