New Rega Planer 8 (P8) Turntable - Apheta 2 Cartridge Combo - Thoughts

I would not get the Kirmuss. It operates at only 35kHz, too low a frequency imo. The bubbles produced are too large, and the force behind them too violent, not "gentle" enough. This is new information and opinion, which some may dismiss. Not I!

Some of the arguments Kirmuss makes for the design of their ultrasonic cleaner are outright false, others merely questionable/debatable. I’m planning on getting a tank that operates at 80kHz, a good compromise frequency; some of them operate as high as 120kHz. I would not get one operating at less than 60k.

For a vacuum cleaner, the Okki Nokki is a good choice, the Pro-Ject perhaps even a little better (all parts are metal). The Record Doctor is okay, but the Nitty Gritty (which the RD is a copy of) I had took a lot of revolutions to remove the cleaning solution (my VPI HW-17F does so in only one, sometimes two, revolutions), and even then left some drops around the perimeter of the LP. Also, I prefer to have a platter upon which deep cleaning of used LP’s can be better performed.

If you can find an expert turntable/arm/cartridge set-up man locally, I would take jperry’s advice and have him do it. Make sure he has the training and equipment to do it correctly and completely. Brian Berdan at Audio Elements was trained by the best there has ever been (ARC’s Bill Johnson paid him to do his), his late father Brooks. When you buy a player from Brian, its’ set-up is included in the price. He even runs in the cartridge, after which he again does the entire set-up (the cartridge suspension changes during break-in, which effects everything). That’s how an expert does it. Not only alignment, tracking force, and, if your arm provides for it, azimuth, but adjusting for minimum distortion, maximum channel separation, minimal crosstalk, etc., all observed via a computer program. I would give Brian a call.