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Why are record cleaners so expensive?

Full disclosure: I have only the Spin-Clean record cleaner and a Hunt EDA brush to clean my vinyl, but as someone who's been in the digital side of audiophilia for decades, and as someone who knows how much gear can get in any dedicated hobby, I'm still curious as to why a high end vinyl cleaner can cost more than three grand.

I'm not disputing the price; after all, Smith said that something's worth whatever someone pays for it. Moreover, a high end record cleaner might be able to do things to vinyl that nothing else can. Still, paying three grand for an Audio Desk cleaner seems a bit out of reason. $3K can buy a good set of speakers; a hand-made fly-fishing rod based on your height and weight and arm length; two weeks at a Fijian resort for two; a custom-made suit from an Italian mill. So why is a glorified vacuum cleaner $3K?

Again, not flaming, just curious. Enlighten me?

s
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Showing 2 responses by stevme

stevme
2 posts
 
OP poses a good question. Go to Amazon and search for ""ultra sonic cleaner". You will drop a record when you see the prices. 

Dont get me wrong; the machines look great, although some who have the machines are beginning to ask whether the high frequency scrubbing is scrubbing the high frequency data off the grooves, based on their actual listening experience: very quiet, but losses on the high end.  There ought to be a way to test for this. I would like some comfort on this point before committing an entire collection to the process. 

stevme
2 posts
 
Terry

The question I was trying to raise is whether an ultrasonic cleaner achieves its results at the expense of loss of high frequency data. There have been some anecdotal reports of this result:  cleaned records are silent, but lacking in presence. If true, this would be a serious problem, as it goes to a principal benefit of vinyl as a music source.  One could test for this by measuring frequency response before and after ultrasonic cleaning. 

Steve
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