- Pro-Ject unveils the VC-E Mini
- It is a vacuum-based automatic vinyl record cleaner
- Designed to use few moving parts
My record collection is not mine, but a legacy I try to take good care of. Or me thought I took good care of them, but Pro-Ject’s new release makes me think I could do better at keeping them pristine.
The company behind the five-star Pro-Ject Debut Carbon and several other top turntables has unveiled its latest vinyl cleaning device.
This is the Pro-Ject VC-E Mini, which will go on sale in April. It’s set to cost £249 (about $350, AU$500), so it’s not cheap – but it’s more affordable than the existing VC-E2 and VC-E3.
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Since dirt on a vinyl can really hurt its sound quality, machines like this make sense, but for me the VC-E Mini solves a few problems that put this kind of machine out of reach for most people.
A smaller cleaning machine
The Pro-Ject VC-E Mini is, as the name suggests, a more compact plate cleaner, and it’s designed to minimize moving parts (and cabinet space too).
It saves space by not having a suction arm to clean the vinyl. Instead, it uses a brushless vacuum motor to help the cleaning fluid seep over the vinyl and out of the machine.
The box also includes a cleaning brush, magnetic clip, adhesive arm strip and said cleaning fluid, so the cleaning process sounds pretty practical.
This fluid is Pro-Jects Wash it 2 which is already readily available to buy as other VC-E models use it. It does not use alcohol, but is instead made from “demineralized water and cleaning concentrate”.
As someone who has always just cleaned their plates with a microfiber cloth, I have always been put off by the size and price of custom maintenance machines like this.
While the VC-E doesn’t fully solve the latter problem, I’ll admit it’s small enough to be tempting as someone who really wants to preserve these items. Maybe I need it more than I thought…
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