New Rega Planer 8 (P8) Turntable - Apheta 2 Cartridge Combo - Thoughts

@fsmithjack, may I ask how many LP's you own? I ask because if you gave up on a table/arm/cartridge (twice), I'm guessing not many. Is acquiring a large LP collection an ambition of yours? An LP player and an LP collection go hand-in-hand.

You will need not just a good LP player, but a good record cleaner (at least a vacuum system, if not an ultrasonic), a willingness to clean the stylus between LP sides, and use of an LP cleaning brush of some type with every play (for dust removal). The LP is a demanding mistress! And not cheap; new LP's are almost always twice the price of the same album on CD. Going with LP's takes dedication, and attention to detail. A Vinyl Flat is also a good idea; many used LP's (a great source of a lot of music) have become warped from poor storage by ignorant former owners (not to mention their grooves damaged by poor handling and a cheap player) , and a fair percentage of new LP's are poorly manufactured. Be prepared to have to return LP's for non-defective copies.

Those who grew up with the LP as the only serious source of music learned the LP ropes little-by-little, the knowledge, collection, and player growing together. Learning about LP's (including different pressings of the same album) is fun and rewarding, but not carefree. If you want your third stab to be more satisfying than the first two, be prepared to put some serious effort into it.

A hi-fi retailer who is expert at LP player set-up is an excellent option. Where do you live? Even if you're not in Southern California, Brian Berdan at Audio Elements in Pasadena is as good as they come. I would give him a call and see if he can help you. He sells excellent gear, and is a world-class set-up man.

@fsmithjack, The Last Factory makes a couple of good stylus products; Last System Formula 4 Stylus Cleaner, and System Formula 5 Stylus Treatment.

Audiophiles have discovered an unlikely product for cleaning styli, the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Do an Audiogon search to read all about it.

For the wet cleaning and vacuum drying of LP’s, there are a number of good options for around $500. The VPI 16.5 is the long-time standard (though it is now priced at $650, I believe), but it now has completion from similar models by Okki Nokki, Pro-Ject, and SOTA. As Spencer said, a DIY ultrasonic cleaner can be assemble for about the same price, but it will take some reading on your part. For $199 you can get the Record Doctor (a budget version of the Nitty Gritty-style cleaner) from The Audio Advisor.

One product you will need is a good tracking force gauge. The Riverstone Audio Precision Electronic one is available on Amazon for around $29 (free shipping). Also on Amazon for $20 is the new Audioquest Anti-Static Record Brush.

If you do your own cartridge alignment you will need an alignment protractor, and if your arm allows for azimuth adjustment there are products for optimizing that parameter. Discussions on all these products and topics can be found via a search on the Audiogon Forum.

I would not get the Kirmuss. It operates at only 35kHz, too low a frequency imo. The bubbles produced are too large, and the force behind them too violent, not "gentle" enough. This is new information and opinion, which some may dismiss. Not I!

Some of the arguments Kirmuss makes for the design of their ultrasonic cleaner are outright false, others merely questionable/debatable. I’m planning on getting a tank that operates at 80kHz, a good compromise frequency; some of them operate as high as 120kHz. I would not get one operating at less than 60k.

For a vacuum cleaner, the Okki Nokki is a good choice, the Pro-Ject perhaps even a little better (all parts are metal). The Record Doctor is okay, but the Nitty Gritty (which the RD is a copy of) I had took a lot of revolutions to remove the cleaning solution (my VPI HW-17F does so in only one, sometimes two, revolutions), and even then left some drops around the perimeter of the LP. Also, I prefer to have a platter upon which deep cleaning of used LP’s can be better performed.

If you can find an expert turntable/arm/cartridge set-up man locally, I would take jperry’s advice and have him do it. Make sure he has the training and equipment to do it correctly and completely. Brian Berdan at Audio Elements was trained by the best there has ever been (ARC’s Bill Johnson paid him to do his), his late father Brooks. When you buy a player from Brian, its’ set-up is included in the price. He even runs in the cartridge, after which he again does the entire set-up (the cartridge suspension changes during break-in, which effects everything). That’s how an expert does it. Not only alignment, tracking force, and, if your arm provides for it, azimuth, but adjusting for minimum distortion, maximum channel separation, minimal crosstalk, etc., all observed via a computer program. I would give Brian a call.