Seeking Recommendations For A Record Cleaner


Greetings Fellow Vinyl Fans,

 

I wanted to seek recommendations for a record cleaner in the "less than $1,500" price category. I’ve read nice reviews of the cleaners made by VPI and Pro-Ject, but I’d like to hear from those of you with much more experience in this product.

 

Not sure if it makes any difference, but I use several different turntables, depending on where I am in my house. Most are vintage or budget, but I am planning on obtaining a higher end table very soon. Right now I have a Rega P3, a Dual CS-5000, a Dual 1009, a Fluance RT85 (very impressed with its sound paired with a Sutherland KC Vibe phono preamp), and a VPI Travelers.

 

Thank you for any and all input.

 

🤘😎🤘

allenf1963

I manually scrub the living crap out of my old and/or new LP’s, using a manual system, 10 at a time, soft infant scalp brush, no damage at all. Amazing how a beat up LP can sound.

 

 

see 11th photo in my virtual system here, I listen while cleaning a batch of 10.

https://www.audiogon.com/systems/9511

My friend has a nice Ultrasonic cleaner, easy, fairly quick one at a time, easy to get a few ready before hand. However, sometimes he/we hear noise on his ultra cleaned LPs.

 

 

 

Thanks for the input, guys.  I will look at the other models mentioned here.  I have not done a lot of research on Ultrasonic Record Cleaning machines.  I'll research the Pros vs Cons.

 

Again, thanks.

I have only owned two cleaning machines over the last twenty five years. The first a VPI… it both applied cleaning solution and vacuumed. It did a good job and lasted about twenty years. It was very noisy… jet aircraft noisy. I never thought much about it, but did consider ear plugs.

 

When it died I wanted to replace it quickly… I did some research and bought a German Nessie. I think, somewhere in the $3K range. I was simply blown away by how much better this device is. It is soooo quiet! Once turned on, it times the scrubbing, automatically reverses… then tells you it is time to vacuum. You just swing the brush out of the way and swing the vacuum tool over the record and it takes over and vacuums in both directions. 
 

The Nessie is sooo much quieter and easier to use I just cannot believe it. The whole experience is so much more enjoyable and easy. 
 

I consider a record cleaner a utility… something not to spend a lot of money on. But having experienced a high end one… well, I would have upgraded a decade or two earlier. 

I think a Humminguru will do a better job than one of the cheaper vacuum machines. You'd have to go to a point-source machine (Keith Monks, Loricraft) to approach U/S levels of clean.

My recommendation is the combination of the Pro-Ject VC-S2 ALU (currently on sale for $499 at Music Direct) and the Humminguru ultrasonic.