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.