Thumbs up for ultrasonic record cleaning

j_damon

... I’m thinking of building an enclosure of panel insulation to mute the noise, it is kind of annoying

Yup, US cleaners do make an annoying racket. Klaudio sold a dampening cabinet for its cleaner. Very effective!

prof

I have a pal who always takes the cheaper way out, always looking for a bargain, buying second hand etc. We have different approaches - he is always willing to spend time and effort to save a buck; I am always willing to spend some bucks to save time and effort.

But when I see the record cleaning efforts he goes through, I just know I’d never be in to that. It would annoy me.

For me, given records now play such a major role in my listening and will for many years, spending a couple thousand to keep them sounding great, and improve the sound of many records I would buy, is almost a no-brainer. I have spent far more than that on any number of equipment "upgrades" over the years and record cleaning seems at least as important and relevant to the listening experience

That’s pretty much where I’m coming from. I jumped on what I think was the first consumer vacuum cleaning machine - the Nitty Gritty - back around ’81. This is before they used the felt cleaning strips. It was way ahead of its time and I still have it. While it can be very effective, it’s such a messy and tedious nuisance that I never used it as much as I could have.

I bought a Klaudio last year and it’s so convenient that now there’s just no good reason to ever play anything but a perfectly clean LP. Yes, it’s pricey. But considering what I’ve spent on a phono system - turntable, pickup arm, cartridge, equipment stand, phono preamp, cables, alignment tools - it’s not quite crazy.

fleschler

A Monks or Loricraft would be safe choice relative to the unknown potential damage of KLAudio and AudioDesk (and hassles to use) ...

It isn't clear what you trying to say here. While I don't have first-hand experience with the AudioDesk, I can tell you that the Klaudio is the easiest to use record cleaner of any that I've ever had, or seen in use. The user just pushes one button, and the device does the rest. That's a big part of its charm.

... he chose it over the KLAudio because the cavitation bubbles were not directly hitting the record surface. He thought that was the reason for shearing off high frequencies and possibly distorting the vinyl grooves.

When I first got my Klaudio, I actually made digital recordings of a few LP excerpts both before and after cleaning, and then looked at the waveforms to ascertain if there was any damage after cleaning. If there had been, I would have returned the unit to the dealer. But there wasn't, and I haven't suspected any damage since.

 

terry9

I too have bought many records which appear NM, but play poorly. Just to note, most records look NM after a US cleaning (scratches excepted, obviously). Nevertheless, a well used record plays that way, no matter how it looks.

Exactly. And it's just amazing how good an LP will look after a pass through a good US  cleaning system.

fleschler

I've purchased ebay records where the seller used the KLAudio. The records are nearly mint; however, they are missing their highs

I don't think there's any correlation between the lack of highs on these LPs and the use of the Klaudio machine. I have a Klaudio and have not experienced this problem. When I first got the Klaudio, I actually went to the trouble of recording to digital both before and after samples from a few records, and then compared the waveforms. I didn't see any damage to the discs, and haven't suspected any damage since.

gbanderhoos

I replaced it with a KLAudio KD-CLN-LP200 with (IMO) much better build quality, but still unimpressive results ...

That’s interesting. I’ve had outstanding results with the Klaudio. It may not be the best device for extremely dirty LPs such as you might find at a yard sale. For them, I think the right fluid and a vacuum machine might be the best first step. But for everything else it works very well, imo. What could be more impressive than a pristine clean disc?

... how does one know what they are really doing to the record surface (not only whether it is effectively being cleaned, but whether it is being damaged in the process)?

If the record looks clean, and the phono cartridge stylus is clean after playing the LP, I’m satisfied that the US cleaner was effective. Because LPs almost always sound better after a cycle through the Klaudio, I can’t imagine how the cleaner could have caused damage in any way. The few LPs I’ve heard that may not sound better after being cleaned in the Klaudio were clean to start with. They sound about the same after a pass through the Klaudio.

audiom3

once records are US cleaned, the differences between warm and bright recordings are even more substantial.

Agreed! If you really want to hear what's on your LPs, there's no substitute for US cleaning, imo.

I have the Klaudio machine. It's outstanding ... convenient, very easy to use, one-step process. It's not the budget solution, though.

Absolutely agreed. Once you've cleaned an LP with an ultrasonic cleaner, you realize no other method even comes close.