Road trip to demo $10,000 speakers

And, yes, after you have cleaned a record, though it may look dry, you better air dry it for 25-30 minutes just to be on the safe side. Turn a coffee mug over, put it on the table and place a record on it ! Make sure it is clean and dry not to damage the label.
When vacuuming off do two and half revolutions at a time, no more or you can damage the machine and get static on your records. 

Skyscraper congratulations on the Luxman Magico combo, it will sound very nice.  I see you picked up the amp, do you have any speakers to hook it up to?  I didn't read the whole thread so assume you do and it would be nice to get your impression on the Luxman.  Enjoy!

Bjesien, Thank you. I’ve Magico A3 speakers on back order, due in this coming February. I’ll hook the Luxman up to my old Dahlquist DQ10’s in the meantime. I’ll post how it sounds when the Magico’s arrive for sure. I spoke to a Luxman tech today who informed me they are using the Magico A3’s to demo their amps at audio shows. I was pleased to hear that, so they should be nicely matched.

Inna, thanks for the advice on record cleaners. The salesperson who sold me the Luxman recommended the Okki Nokki too. I do have 99% of my records in soft plastic, not sure if they are Mylar, inner sleeves. They probably do all need a good washing though, since they’ve been around for so long, even if they have been treated well. I’ll have to get some of the Lyra stylus cleaner you recommend. I ran out of stylus cleaner many years ago and have been dry brushing since. I might have used rubbing alcohol once or twice on my B&O’s stylus. Also I accidentally located my Zerostat antistatic gun that’s been missing for a decade or so, so I’ll start using that again too.

Mike

Inner sleeves are by MA Recordings. You, of course want to put your just cleaned records in new clean inner sleeves. You only need to LAST records once, this stuff has been proven by many for 30 years or so.

skyscraper,

Thanks for your trip report. I guess we all felt like we were getting ready for the road trip with you and are now happy when the mission has been accomplished. You are making me want to go and audition Magicos which no review so far has incited me to do. And all the reviews were really good.

I am with you on being cautious about products from China but will echo whoever mentioned that Revels are from Indonesia. I have no idea what that practically means and I think Magicos are obvious better choice in your case (don't you see how happy you already are and you do not even have them yet?), but I do have Revels although 208 and not 228. No quality issues whatsoever. Everything seems to be done as good as it gets. I did audition 228 recently and they are even better when it comes to build. And sound, of course. I am writing this just in case someone is looking for speakers and having similar doubts. And I dismissed Sonus-Fabers as a piece of low quality junk (build, not sound). I am sure Magicos are in their own league, though. Congrats!

Being 66, you will love your Luxman. Admit it, you liked the looks. I confess, I have one, too and it hit the receptor that still has Rotel RA-414 of my childhood carved as "the amplifier". Decent sound does not hurt, either, but I just love looking at it while it is playing.

In some crazy self-indulgent way, I am glad you found my warnings about streaming true (I was the one who repeatedly mentioned that "problem" earlier in the thread). The dealer you had bad experience with is the one that made me decide to let you know about it in the first place. Well, I did not buy from them, either.

How do you manage to wait until February? You even have a new amplifier. You are way more stoic than many of us would be in your shoes, I guess. I will follow your other thread and chime in if there is something useful I think I could contribute.

Congratulations again!