to buy or not to buy (ultrasonic record cleaner)

Hi all, 
Robert here, 
I started a similar thread on AK, especially since I'm seeing the machines on Ebay starting to hit the sub $300 mark. 

Here is the one thing no one else has brought up. 

Your dedicated record cleaner/vacuum system is just that. An Ultrasonic cleaner might be an easier thing to rationalize purchasing because it can be used to clean other things, eyeglasses, jewelry, dentures, alfa romeo parts, etc. 

It isn't a one trick pony.

Well I won’t read thru all of these responses so if I’m repeating something I apologize. A couple weeks ago I broke down and purchased a Degritter and am never looking back. The ease of use, the maintenance (it tells you what it needs), quieter than a vacuum system, etc.. Oh yes it cleans marvelously to. And from feedback that I get from the outfit I purchased from, it’s very dependable which I can’t say about the Audiodesk and the KLA is not around anymore. Hell you can even make your own filters, experiment with other record cleaning potions ( Paul Rigby’s videos on surfactants are great on the subject of cleaning your lp’s)
I’ve owned a VPI 16.5 but got rid of it decades ago. Too noisy , large, and ugly. But I have a Spin Kleen and a Record doctor record Vacuum. I also have the German made Disco Anti-Stat cleans better than a Spin Kleen but more difficult to use. If somone came up with a set of goat hair brushes for the Spin Kleen that would really be nice. Something about goats hair brushes seem superior to synthetic bristles. Paul Rigby uses the term attrition to describe the cleaning effect, an effect similar to the explosive action of cavitation bubbles. You can give it a try for a lot less money than a Degritter. Or wait for the HuminBird cavitation cleaner. I’m curious to see how well that works and for $400.00.
But right now, I used to have to clear off my dining table, put out the machines and the various cleaners, concoctions and maybe I could get thru three lp’s in an hour plus wearing earplugs (the noise). If I have an lp that’s really filthy I might pre clean it. But the Degritter I can just pop in a record and comeback when done. It sits on a small table. I can be doing most anything else while cleaning lp’s and not annoy the significant other or myself for that matter. But hey, if you like messing around with the cleaning process and apparently quite a few people on YouTube do, then go right ahead. I’m getting too old. I cleaned fifty records in the first week and not even a full week on the heavy cleaning setting and it keeps count of how many records you washed. I was so surprised. Need I say more?

I have tried the ultrasonic bath in conjunction with anti-static treatment with high pressure filtered air, the result has been very promising. I am in process of building a prototype to make the process more automated as I have well over 600 records. I am using commercial anti-static rod equipped with high pressure air nozzles connected to both high voltage power supply and air tank with air filter and pressure regulator. If interested reach out to me in next few weeks for update.Have not seen anything like it maybe due to cost and complexity.Also in ultrasonic bath, I am using filtered pure water with no additive.

Try the Monks brushes- they aren't goats hair but I have those and prefer the Monks for some things, unidirectional applicator for other things. Some of it comes down to how it applies and what you are trying to accomplish with the applicator. I've tried quite a few and everyone seems to have a preference. 
You might want to read some of Neil Antin's work on filtering. There's a whole lot to that area that was unknown to me starting with the specs and what an "absolute" rating means in terms of granularity. (I'm not a materials science so I'm sure there's a better way to describe that).