to buy or not to buy (ultrasonic record cleaner)

I've got an Audiodesk Systeme PRO and I would never go back. Garage sale or very dirty LP's go through a Spin Clean first. But, it seems like there are more affordable options than the Audiodesk. 

However, I have to say, with the level of investment and sheer time that you have put into your gorgeous system, it doesn't seem like the cost of an ultra-sonic RCM would be at the top of the list of your priorities. Buy one. Sometimes it will make a negligible difference, and sometimes a crappy looking $1.00 record will turn into audio magic. Walking home from work one day I rummaged through a stack of records at a garage sale and found a bad looking copy of Breakfast in America by Supertramp. Cleaned up by my machine, put on my deck, and BAM I was transported back to the summer when it was on the radio all the time when I was 11 years old and my mom and I were in a new city looking for a house. That was wonderful and I probably wouldn't have picked it up without knowing that I could clean the heck out of it at home. Also, I wouldn't have bought that record new or used from any of the usual audiophiley places, or even put it on a streaming list; I had kind of forgotten about it. Having a good ultrasonic machine has been a great investment for me and my stereo (though pretty damn nice) aint quite like yours ;)

Cheers,
Oran

oranfoster-

I know that feeling of being transported to a better place once the needle drops on something heard 40 years ago. I think it's part of the allure of table insanity-a decent setup, that is. My rig is low on the food chain...
under $8K new MSRP- table/cart/phono stage. Just enough to get an idea what the fuss is all about.

The AD is the model I want. Like anything else there's conflicting owner experience with it, but I always got a kick out of using it, when I have.

All those MIC Amazon specials are great for the price, but still not turnkey enough like the AD. I'm patiently waiting for the killer used deal.

With respect,
I think it is impossible to see at that magnification what is going on; as to ultrasonic "getting into the grooves," we are really dealing with far smaller microscopic levels.
The traditional factors include transducer power, placement, bath water size, frequency and rotational speed or the amount of time exposed.
As to using a brush, I’ve been "cross-cleaning" for years, using various US machines in combo with traditional manual cleaning and using a point nozzle vacuum machine to remove fluid and/or rinse water.
There’s also the question of surfactants and whether they are effectively removed.
If the question is whether ultrasonic works, I’d say yes, having used both the commercially available machines (before the Degritter): the AD and the KL. As to how to buy, it depends on whether you want one step convenience or are willing to devote more time to the process but perhaps improve your results. You can also save money doing DIY, but that’s only one consideration, and not always the case if you go industrial or medical grade.
I will go the industrial DIY route after the KL dies, not to save $, but to benefit from a more robust feature set while maintaining quality of equipment (Some of the cheap machines you buy online burn out and are disposable).
There’s a lot more than this, but most of the science isn’t applied to vinyl, since US has been used in industry for quite a while for other things. Neil Antin has been working on an update to his original paper on Aqueous Cleaning which should soon be available for free. It will contain some interesting insights into the ultrasonic process, and addresses filtering and pumps as well as the transducers, placement, etc. as applied to the vinyl LP.
Bill Hart

All good points

@oranfoster 
thanks foe the kind words 

@tablejockey 
I hear you. However I would suggest going to 70% alcohol and not 99%. Other than that not a bad formula. 

Ultrasonic is the only hat to go. Vac is fine for spot cleaning but US is the best.