I have come to reguard debates on record cleaning methods as pointless. It's a no win arguement. First of all there are endless ways of reaching essentially the same result. Second, we judge the results by listening(which is an inherently subjective experience) on systems which differ in a multitude of ways between us.
I use the VPI. I've heard records cleaned on Doug's Loricraft and Albert's Odyssey and Audiodesk. All produce impressive results. A friend of mine on a tight budget uses the Spin Clean(dirty word to many of you I'm sure) and I'm surprised at how effective that device can be. The most important thing is to not play dirty vinyl, whatever your method.
In the end do what works for you and you can afford. I agree that "audiophile" purified water is a rip off. There's no way it can be more pure than Nerl lab grade water and even if it was it would not have any detectable impact on the results.
I use the VPI. I've heard records cleaned on Doug's Loricraft and Albert's Odyssey and Audiodesk. All produce impressive results. A friend of mine on a tight budget uses the Spin Clean(dirty word to many of you I'm sure) and I'm surprised at how effective that device can be. The most important thing is to not play dirty vinyl, whatever your method.
In the end do what works for you and you can afford. I agree that "audiophile" purified water is a rip off. There's no way it can be more pure than Nerl lab grade water and even if it was it would not have any detectable impact on the results.