LP Record Cleaning Machine - Ultrasonic or Vacuum

have you read about steam cleaning?

cheap and effective

fwiw

i am in the process of building an ultrasonic cleaner and have tested it on several older records. My findings are superb cleaning with no damage. I based this on examination of the record grooves under a jewelers glass (about 10x power) i can see the grooves ok and i do not appear to see any deformation. Also during playback, i know the record is much cleaning and quieter.
However, i understand the concern as the cleaning action is based on "small bubbles exploding" and hence the concern of chipping the fine layers of vinyl between the grooves. In fact if you perform the aluminum foil test, you will find it will punch holes in the foil. I again know this because i ran this test to validate that my "used" ultrasonic bath was working ok.

I have long been an advocate of steaming/vacuum regime as philjolet referred you to and you will find many of my comments on some of the threads. It is a great way to clean and pretty cheap if you DIY. the commercial units are also good.

but back to your question, i understand the concern, but based on my experience todate have not seen an issue

10x is probably way too low a magnification level to really see the results of your work. I read an article a while back by noted audio guru Tim de Paravicini about his vision of further technical advances in stylus design that will continue to harvest ever more of the complex waveforms that are embedded in vinyl. One of his points is that we still are only sensing a fraction of the information contained in the vinyl with current retrieval techniques, and that even old records actually have captured modulations at the nano-level that will some day be able to reveal the vast amount of information that is currently dormant in all our records.

If Tim de is right, we will one day have cartridges that scan and detect groove modulations as small as 1/millionth of an inch. You may need a bigger magnifier to see if ultrasonic waves are really harmless to the full waveform, or if it may actually be making your records useless when that great day comes. I will err on the side of caution and not risk my records until someone does a study using the same kinds of instruments that de Paravicini refers to.

When or if ultrasonic cleaning gets a clean bill of health in a scientific study, I will continue to use my Nitty Gritty.

If challenged, I will dig up a URL for the article I humbly attempt to reference here. Tim is regarded by many as the Einstein of audio engineering, and his own products have been superb. It's too late now, but I think I will probably want to reread it again.

Different 'dirt' requires different cleaning methods. All mentioned processes will work. For most people, who have purchased their collections new, steam and vacuum methods will do. However, if you are one of those that purchased used records, you may need the ultra approach to get great results. You never know what 'dirt' is hidden in those groves. I would rather purchase more vinyl then spend $2,000 on an ultra machine. Many would say I will spend more on purchasing new cartridges to more then cover the cost of an ultra machine. Maybe.

I use both a Spin Clean and a VPI 16.5. Total investment for both was about $400. How much is an ultrasonic cleaner? $4k?. I would rather use the $3,600 difference to buy music, and you can buy an aweful lot of music for $3600!