Anyone out there own a Clearaudio Double Matrix Pro Sonic?

@mulveling , thanks for the info. I had a problem with a new Clearaudio cartridge and Musical Surroundings responded beautifully to that so I am very comfortable dealing with them, a big plus. I particularly like that it does not recycle the fluid. It uses fresh fluid for each cleaning.

@lewm , The VPI Cyclone only does one side at a time. It's claim to fame is that it is bi directional. The plater will spin in either direction. It claims to be the only record cleaner to do that but, the Double Matrix has been doing that for several years. Mulveling lost a liquid pump at 4 years but it was repaired by Musical Surroundings I guess under warranty? Anybody else have one fail?

@dekay , It is not that complicated. Alcohol is the solvent used to melt shellac flakes (dried out insect saliva). Any cleaning solution with alcohol will potentially melt the record. In reality shellac is not easy to melt. When I make shellac varnish I melt the flakes in 100% denatured ethanol and it takes three weeks and regular shaking to fully melt the shellac. However, if you clean a French polished table with anything that has alcohol in it you will instantly ruin the shine. So although you would not melt the record you would probably make it much noisier.

My experience with 78 rpm records has yet to begin. The ones I was given were not stored under ideal conditions and smell of mildew. Many of them have had the spindle hole reamed out by a changer mechanism. For all I know they may be unplayable. The plan right now is to use distilled water with a little clorox in it. I look at it as a learning  process. For me it is really only a nostalgia thing. I was hoping to find a working old Victrola one day. Now I have records to play on it.

@lewm , I forgot to mention. I will use distilled water with a very small amount of bleach (to kill the mildew) and surfactant (Triton X-100) on the 78s. On vinyl records I plan on trying distilled water with propanol and Triton X-100. I think that will be enough with the Matrix Pro Sonic as it scrubs the record adding a mechanical component. It sucks everything off the record and brushes so it should not leave any residue. I plan on changing the brushes in the cleaning head after I run the 78s. I ordered two sets as I always like to have a set available just in case.

@lewm , alcohol is harmless to vinyl records Lew. I was talking about shellac 78s. Thank you the chemistry review. I got an A+ in organic chemistry but that was a long time ago. Ethanol is a stronger solvent than Isopropyl alcohol but isopropyl  will still damage the surface of a shellac record, just not as fast. Ethanol will do it instantly so make sure you have a good hold on your snifter before flipping a shellac record. 

Not only do you dissolve shellac flakes in denatured alcohol but it is a vital component of the French polish, an art form all it's own wherein you rub shellac into a wood surface with a tampon loaded with shellac and alcohol using pumice as the polishing abrasive and grain filler. It takes hours sometimes days to do right which is why very few people do it any more but boy is it beautiful. It has been replaced by nitrocellulose lacquer and acrylics. The finish on my stereo cabinet is a solvent based acrylic catalyzed lacquer usually used on kitchen cabinets. You get a similar result to shellac but 1000 times more durable only polyester finishes are tougher (piano lacquer)