KLaudio or Degritter Mark II


Just curious to know if anyone out there has used both the KLaudio ultrasonic record cleaning machine and the Degritter Mark II (or the original Degritter) and which you thought achieved the best or better results.

I've got a lash-up ultrasonic cleaning system that I've put together which costs significantly less than the original Degritter. The end result I get with my lash-up system is, at least, as effective as the original Degritter but significantly more labor intensive. The Degritter is much more eloquent in this regard, which is its allure. I know the KLaudio is twice the price, but I'm much more interested in optimum results.

Thanks!

oldaudiophile

@oldaudiophile,

I am not sure of your problem.  Do not operate the pump/filter during the 1st 10-mins when then tank is switching between 37 & 80 kHz and then run the pump/filter for the next 10 min which is at fixed 80 khz.  At continuous 80-kHz, there is no problem with running the pump/filter.  

Otherwise, WRT your alternate process, the 15-20 minutes in the 40kHz tank for is probably overkill, the general consensus is that much beyond 12-min is of limited benefit.  Also, with the tank at 37C (98.6F) the humidity above the tank will be high, so drying will be compromised.  But after all is said and done, this is your process.  At this point I have provided you all the info I can provide.  If you want to use your alternate procedure absent the P60, then try it and see what happens. 

Good Luck,

Neil

@oldaudiophile,

Re-reading your post, I am not sure why you feel your CleanerVinyl pump/filter with the P60H would be virtually impossible.  The pump/filter is (electrically) OFF during the first 10-min while the tank is in auto frequency change mode.  Then during the next step, 10-min at 80-kHz-pulse mode the pump/filter is (electrically) ON.  With a 6L tank and a 1.5 lpm pump, the tank half-life is 2.8-min, and after 10-min, the tank will be filtered 91%. At the end of the 10-min, you would want to run the pump/filter for another 4-min so that the tank was ~97% filtered for the next set of records.

As far as purchasing another set of CleanerVinyl components to accommodate two UCMCleaner which would cost some $800, there are some options. 

Isonic offers a 1-micron filter FTR01-P | iSonic® 1 Micron In-Water Filter for P4875II+MVR, P4875-NH+M – iSonic Inc. for $60 that would probably work with the 40-kHz as a rinse tank.  There are not a lot of details for this filter, but the rinse tank is not as important for filtration, and for the rinse tank you would run the pump with the ultrasonics.  

There are many inexpensive spinners such as this one for $70 - Amazon.com: WEWU ROUNDS 12" LP 7" EP Vinyl Records Bracket for 6L Ultrasonic Cleaner Simple Version(No Ultrasonic Cleaner) : Electronics.  The 1-6 rpm range is fine.  When rinsing it is really ultrasonic assisted rinsing, and spinning a bit fast is OK.  The only disadvantage is that you would need to remove the records from the CleanerVinyl spinner and then place them on the rinse-tank spinner, and your dry method where you raise the records is not available.  However, there is a more expensive version $170 that can do that - Amazon.com: WEWU LP Vinyl Record Brackets for Ultrasonic Cleaning 1-5 Records Per Batch Raising Descending Auto-Drying(No Ultrasonic Cleaner) : Electronics

So, there are some lower cost options if you wanted to go with a 2-tank system.  

Otherwise, the P60 with its dual frequency and variable power is a 2-step process, with each 6-10 minutes, for a total of 12-20 min.  If using a single step, such as your 40-kHz, you don't try to equal the same total process time, only the time for one-step which is why I said not much benefit above 12-min recalling you want to use even numbered time at 0.5 rpm for even record exposure.

Good Luck,

Neil

@antinn thanks for your responses.

Reading the P60H operation manual was helpful.  However, not having actually operated it is quite another.  I learn much better by doing.

What I was responding to is that attempting to pause the machine every 30 seconds to switch the pump on & off during this initial auto frequency change mode would be futile and maybe even damaging to the machine.  The other issue that I was (and still am) not clear on is whether or not this 20-minute cycle (i.e.  10 minutes of auto frequency change mode followed by 10 minutes of 80kHz only) can be programmed into the machine to run as a single cycle.  Pausing the machine after this initial 10-minute auto frequency change mode in order to switch on the pump/filter for the 10-minute 80kHz cycle seems more feasible.  However, it seems, to me, that it would be more practical to run these two operational cycles separately, rather than pausing the machine and activating the pump/filter at the 10-minute mark.  This would obviate the need to standby and be alert to this while I'm doing other things (e.g.  pre-cleaning additional records; etc.).

Thanks for the tip on the iSonic pump/filter!  I wish I had known about that before purchasing the CleanerVinyl pump/filter.  That would have saved me a good bit of coin.

Thanks, also, for the tip(s) on the record spinners!  I've lately been taking a closer look at the Kuzma RD kit that Tima uses.  However, I've only found two places in the USA that sell this and the price seems rather steep, in my opinion.

Thanks again and all the Best!

I have a Degritter Mark II. The majority of my vinyl collection is between 50 and 70 years old, mostly classical with a good deal of older '70s jazz recordings and 60s and '70s rock and roll. The results that I've achieved have been nothing less than astounding on records that had already been processed extensively previously in a standard cleaning process. Records that are in good condition are playing. absolutely silently. This is far beyond anything that I might ever have imagined being able to achieve.

My experience with a Degritter comes from having had access to an original Degritter machine owned by a friend. The results were so good that I decided to buy my own, a Mark II. What I wanted to report here is that my friends use of the machine was truly extensive and the counter shows approaching 10,000 washing cycles. Because various people were responsible for maintaining the machine, it appears that no one had ever read the instructions to do a cleaning of the interior of the machine every 200 washings or so. After getting my machine and having read about the instructions to do it, I went back to my friend's to examine it only to discover that the interior was still remarkably clean despite the fact that it had never been attended to. Tank changes and filter cleanings and changes were done regularly according to schedule but I can report that an original Degritter is capable of cleaning effectively 10,000 records with no problems whatsoever despite the fact that it didn't even have basic cleaning maintenance done.

I've discussed this with other people that have these and our unanimous observation is that the ownership of this is far more impactful on ones vinyl appreciation experience than an upgrade in a phono stage. We use the example of what would be more impactful to have a $5,000 phono stage or a Degritter and were unanimous in our view. Anyone who wants to chime in here and poo poo a $5,000 phono stage as being beneath them can go elsewhere as far as I'm concerned. It's only meant as an example. The point is that this is an exceptional product and anyone who has a vinyl collection that involves LPs that have any noise at all should seriously consider it before any other type of upgrade to their vinyl listening process. It's a total game changer.