When Cleaning Records with...

I do the steam cleaning on the ubiquitous 16.5 and AI fluids and generally have a 50% reduction in noise, often more.

Agree with the Learsfool and Dopogue. AI fluids beat Disc Doctor or the old RRL fluids hands down IME.

Do you need a RCM? Well, how clean do you want your records?

IME it takes more than toweling to get scummy cleaning solutions out of the grooves. If you let any residual fluid just evaporate, suspended contaminants are left behind, right where they started. I've recleaned many hand-washed records on my Loricraft. The liquid that ended up the collection bottle was anything but clear. That's not to say you need a $2K RCM. Even a home built RCM is better than nothing. In the end it's a matter of how clean you want your records and how much time and money you're willing to spend to get them there.

How do you steam clean?

Scroll down until you find the steam cleaning thread on this forum.

Snap , crackle and pops?

Are dead silent back grounds achievable with analogue play back?..Easy.
I second Stringreens suggestion regarding proper alignment of your cartridge.

For absolute precision at a reasonable price go to MintLp.com

The next step I will refer you to another on going thread here in the analogue section.

Titled...Does The Step 4 Final Rinse For Walker Prelude Help?

The Audio Intelligent and Walker "active enzyme base" cleaners are far beyond other products on the market.

For the price of a MintLp arc tractor and the enzyme soak method for cleaning, they are equal to a component upgrade.