Thumbs up for ultrasonic record cleaning

@audiom3,

I haven’t noticed any problems at all. In fact I notice the opposite effect, in this sense... the fact that the lp is cleaner, the stylus can retrieve more info and I mostly notice an increase in transparency, inner detail, w/ better defined/more musical bass. I’ve done 30 minutes/45C for almost as long as I’ve had the cleaner. I have done up to 50 minutes (this is the max recommended time for my cleaner) one time for a extremely nasty gift lp that ended up better than before.

I once left a new lp on a 30min./45C cycle and forgot to turn on the Vinyl Stack. I put it through another cycle and played it. I could not hear any hint of damage.

@slaw  Thank you for that!  I feel a lot better now.  I was worried some of the early experiments might have been softened a bit from higher/longer temps.  But once records are US cleaned, the differences between warm and bright recordings are even more substantial.

What @slaw said. Except I use 5 minutes per rotation. I even did the same experiment.

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.

Great thread! I've been using a USRCM for a couple of years (I guess that may put me in the 'early adopter' catagory) however, I would not say I'm any expert at it, mainly due to a lack of time to really dial in the procedure. Where I'm at today is: Vinyl Stack system (though I built my own stand for it) with a 40kHZ bath, using the "Rushton method fluid", though I started with just distilled water and have moved to a 'chemistry'. 1 micron filter with a 1.2gpm pump. Being an 'early adopter', the timing was shorter than what most of you have described: I've been using 5 minutes. Heat is a must (~40C, I find the temp goes up with sonic usage, too). Is everyone drying with a vac? I have been doing that...but I really don't like the idea of touching the record after cleaning! So - I'm building a blower/dryer rack. Air is filtered, and really 'blows'. QUESTION: after pulling the records from the chemistry bath, how should I rinse? with the distilled water + alcohol mixture, then dry? I don't want any residue left on records. Or spots :)