VPI HW-16.5 Brochure

66

ANALOGUE ACCESSORIES

Harry Weisfeld’s HW - 16.5 cleaning
machine (and its big brother the HW -

17) are more than just a statement
about personal hygiene. They should be
considered an essential component for
any serious vinyl play-back system.

Records deserve to be treated like
a non-renewable resource because
those cherished, secondhand purchases
are often simply too difficult to replace,
while the expense of unnecessarily
duplicating audiophile discs is so
prohibitive that a little preventative
maintenance makes good sense.

An initial outlay of £399.00 may
appear extravagant at the time, but not
to do so is false economy. Ultimately, an
HW - 16.5 will pay for itself by extending
the life of your LPs; protecting the
cartridge from damage inflicted when
playing dirty records, and through a
marked improvement in sound quality.

This machine is extremely user
friendly and takes all the awkwardness
out of wet cleaning. The procedures are
straightforward: read the comprehensive
owners manual; unbox your HW - 16.5
with its accompanying brush and VPI
cleaning fluid (Disc Doctor or other
fluids can also be used) and find some
grubby LPs.

I used the VPI’s ar r ival as an excuse
to spend another lunchtime at Gibbs in
Manchester. They were having one of
their regular vinyl sales so I splashed out
a £1.00 each on three early L’OISEAU­LYRE Bach recitals. Superficially, their
surfaces looked pretty good, but a quick
spin on the deck at home revealed the
usual clicks, pops and detritus in those
tired old grooves. I could have as easily

used a brand new pressing, say, from
Classic or Speakers Corner because
although visually perfect, they are
coated with mould release agents
(MRAs) that should, in an ideal world,
be removed before playing, though I
admit to being far too lazy to do this all
the time. I soon remember once that
cherished new disc starts to play!

The cleaning regime is
simple and methodic.
Clamp the record in place;
flip the ‘turntable’ switch,
and apply the preferred
liquid onto the grooves
as they rotate,
spreading
the solution
across its
surface with
the brush
provided.
The next step is the
effective removal of the
contaminants suspended in fluid. For
this the pickup tube should swing
counter clockwise above the record until
it roughly points at the spindle, then hit
the ‘vacuum’ switch and cover your ears!
This is the noisy part. The velvet coated
nozzle automatically lowers and locks
into position. After two revolutions the
suction should be sufficient to have
removed the fluid, then the vacuum
switch is turned off. The entire operation
is then carried out again, on the record’s
flip side. With a little practise an LP can
be dispatched in just a couple of
minutes. It should then be zapped with
a Milty Zero-Stat and given a plush new
Nagaoka anti-static inner sleeve. The
waste liquid stored within the
machine’s stainless steel reservoir
should be drained after half a dozen
records have been cleaned.

That’s the basic procedure, but you
can jazz it up with an extra mat to keep
your just-cleaned record side from
contacting a contaminated surface;
a two part fluid like the Disc Doctor

(extra brushes and a rinse in distilled
water as well as an extra vacuum turret);
or anything else you might dream up.
Whilst I’ve heard the benefits of the
demon Doctor’s alcohol free fluid, I’m
happy to keep things simple. That way
the machine is so quick that I can clean
each record before playing it.

Visually, these Bach discs
now appear to be pristine,

with the surface noise

reduced to a negligible level.

However, the biggest gains

are to be found in terms of

tangible sonic improvements.

Densely textured recordings

like the

Concerto in A minor for
flute, violin and harpsichord
(BWV 1044) are transformed.
The tonal qualities, and
position of the soloist’s

instruments within the

soundstage, was given greater

prominence. And the presence of
supporting orchestral players was also
enhanced, as subtle background details,
especially in complicated passages of
music, became far easier to hear. Images
were far more precise and transparent,
the playing more cohesive, creating
a far more credible illusion of realism.

A four hundred pounds
expenditure along the conventional
upgrade path would struggle to
replicate these advances, so Harry
and the VPI team are to be
congratulated. A good wet cleaning
machine opens up the latent power
lurking in secondhand record shops,
as well as spring cleaning your existing
collection. Any vinyl lover should
consider one an essential purchase.

VPI HW - 16.5

Record Cleaning Machine

Distributor

Vinyl Demand (see p67)

Manufacturer

VPI Industries Ltd.
Tel. [phone]

by Reuben Parry

67

Suppliers

AAA Strobe Disc

Vinyl Demand
Tel. [phone]
Fax. [phone]

Strobe Lamp

Loricraft

Tel. [phone]

ANALOGUE ACCESSORIES

If you have a variable speed turntable,
then you need a strobe disc to set it
up. The best I’ve come across is the
Analogue Audio Association disc from
Germany. This gives you 50 and 60 Hz
bands, as well as a tracking arc
compatible with Linn mount tonearms,
and a tangential line for parallel
trackers, all printed on a 12” mirrored
surface. It’s definitely on the heavy
side, so not ideal for Pinks and the
like, and at £65 it’s expensive,
but it’s the last strobe disc
you’ll ever buy.

Bear in mind that any strobe
disc is only as good as the light
doing the illuminating. Ideally, this
should be independent of the mains,
and the nicest I’ve come across is made
by Loricraft, at a price of £40.

AAA Strobe Disc

Battery powered and incredibly
accurate, it is a model of functional
simplicity. And if you ask them really
nicely, they might even dig you out
a 60 Hz version, which will make it

even more precise.

Every piece of hi-fi that I own seems
to be big, black and shiny. More and
more manufacturers are turning to
Perspex as a mater ial, and piano
lacquer as a finish. Which looks great,
until it gets dirty. And believe me, it
shows every finger mark, every speck
of dust, and every cat print in enough
detail to positively identify the culprit.
As a company that could win awards
for the conspicuous consumption of

Perspex, VPI offer their customers
a cleaning kit consisting of a fine
rubbing compound to remove
scratches, and a polish to keep
everything shiny. The kit costs £20.
The creams are basic industrial
products, and probably have UK
equivalents. I’ve just never found them.
And the VPI kit is so good I’ve never felt
the urge to look. For anybody with high
gloss hi-fi, this is an essential purchase.

And a quick tip for those that find
that polished Perspex attracts dust
quicker than a ticket tout attracts
United fans; once you’ve polished
your pride and joy, give it a wipe over
with Nordost Eco 3 static dispersant.
This will keep baby clean, and help
it to sound better too!

Distributor

Absolute Analogue (see p64)

VPI Perspex Cleaning Kit