How effective is the ultrasonic V-8 lp cleaner?

Terry9, great post. A very thoughtful approach.

I have the Ultrasonic V8 and the Vpi 16.5 and I only have positive things to say about both machines. I have been able to make many records very enjoyable again.....I have not noticed any degradation of higher frequencies on any of my vinyl but I am 53 and hearing is still good but not like it was  20-30 years ago......my system is a Clearaudio Performance DC with an Ortofon 2m black cartridge. I would recommend either machine or a combo of both....

Reviving an old thread here

I only use ultrasonic cleaning for my vinyl. I have done many before/after tests. It's consistently the best possible method (and I have tried a lot of different methods) I have used. It's hard to accept that there is any degradation taking place. EVERY record I have cleaned sounds considerably better. Hands down. 

I realize that there is a ton of debate over every nuance of this hobby of ours and I realize that this is my opinion and own that fact. But, in my humble opinion using US is almost as big a change as replacing my cartridge with a Hana moving coil. Which was like re-discovering my system.

This is a pretty old thread. David Ratcliff, the guy behind the V8, passed away in around 2019. I think the "burnishing" Harry W heard was the result of the chemistry without rinsing- (I wasn't a reader of the old VPI forum so I'm taking this second hand). 

I've cleaned thousands of records, many of them older high value pressings, using a combination of point nozzle vacuum and ultrasonic. No negatives, no damage, no loss of sonics. I like the synergy of multi-method cleaning, especially since I'm buying records from the '70s (mostly post bop) or earlier. Occasionally, I get records that have never been played. They still get a cleaning before play here.

The US adds an additional "fine" cleaning to what my Monks Omni can do-- that said, if I had to live with a single machine, it would be the big Monks.