Thumbs up for ultrasonic record cleaning

prof

I have a pal who always takes the cheaper way out, always looking for a bargain, buying second hand etc. We have different approaches - he is always willing to spend time and effort to save a buck; I am always willing to spend some bucks to save time and effort.

But when I see the record cleaning efforts he goes through, I just know I’d never be in to that. It would annoy me.

For me, given records now play such a major role in my listening and will for many years, spending a couple thousand to keep them sounding great, and improve the sound of many records I would buy, is almost a no-brainer. I have spent far more than that on any number of equipment "upgrades" over the years and record cleaning seems at least as important and relevant to the listening experience

That’s pretty much where I’m coming from. I jumped on what I think was the first consumer vacuum cleaning machine - the Nitty Gritty - back around ’81. This is before they used the felt cleaning strips. It was way ahead of its time and I still have it. While it can be very effective, it’s such a messy and tedious nuisance that I never used it as much as I could have.

I bought a Klaudio last year and it’s so convenient that now there’s just no good reason to ever play anything but a perfectly clean LP. Yes, it’s pricey. But considering what I’ve spent on a phono system - turntable, pickup arm, cartridge, equipment stand, phono preamp, cables, alignment tools - it’s not quite crazy.

About the degritter-120 Khz?  Totally opposite of other record cleaners on the market.  It is difficult from the site images to tell whether the US is aimed directly at the record or in the bath beneath it.  Good operating temperature and filter system.  Made in Estonia. Not actually local to me-expensive to ship for repairs.

Yea, I saw that 120kHz and did a double take but you would hope they know what they are doing....

They explain the 120kHz on their web site.

As I remember, it's something about the 120kHz making the process more amenable to using simple water and keeping it the right temperature.  They use more power than other machines to approach the cleaning action of the lower frequency machines. 

The higher the frequency, the smaller the bubbles, hence the better to clean small spaces and crevasses.

One of our big problems with vinyl is grease (fingerprints, etc.). It's hard to see plain water being very effective at removing that, irrespective of frequency. I use a lab grade detergent (Versaclean from Fisher Scientific) for surfactant, and  chemistry at 45C.

But this requires a rinse or three.