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to buy or not to buy (ultrasonic record cleaner)

Hi Audiogoners,

So I have been considering investing in an ultrasonic record cleaning maching. Prob like some of you I question the ROI. So. I have a friend that purchased one and luckily he allowed me to take it for a spin (no pun intended).

I wanted to compare the results to my record cleaning system which is a Spin clean ($150) and a Record doctor record Vacuum ($300). I wont say what brand of ultrasonic cleaner I tested as not to disparage, or promote that brand publicly to be fair. if you want to know which one you can send me a private msg.

so to keep it simple I will let you judge for yourself. I have posted two pics taken with a USB microscope to my virtual systems page. Test1 and test 2. One of these pics was taken after cleaning with my system and the other with the ultrasonic cleaner

Can you tell which one is the ultrasonic??

should be intersting
barnettk
bobinwi
18 posts
 
$3000 for a US RCM to do one record at a time.
???????
I guess I am not the target market.
Yikes!
barnettk OP
410 posts
 
You know how it is with this hobby. Everything is expensive. It’s all relative tho. You have to consider your larger investment, cartridge stylus, record collection, etc. so yeah while not cheap neither is anything else in this hobby. Price of being a vinyl collector I guess. 
kennyc
1,168 posts
 
Regarding the Kirmuss, Analog Planet Fremer says, "I can't see the restoration on vinyl records, but I can definitely hear it"
kennyc
1,168 posts
 
Ultrasonic cleaners seem to clean vinyl the best. Cheapest is somewhat homemade solutions for a few hundred dollars. Kirmuss is about $1k but takes a few manual steps per LP, but gets reported results on par with the automatic UC.    Automatic timer, wash and dry: Degritter is $3k, Audio Desk $4.5k
bob540
403 posts
 
When I hesitantly decided to get back into vinyl, I wasn’t sure about it or putting big money into it.  So I bought a TT for under $300 and got a SpinClean.  I go far beyond the SpinClean’s recommendations of a few spins, as the records I had were never cleaned more than using a Discwasher before each play, and some records I inherited might never have been cleaned.  After numerous spins in each direction, and then wiping the records with the supplied cloths, followed by air drying, I played the record.  If it still didn’t sound great, I would clean a second or third time.  That seemed to work fine on most records, but some were apparently too damaged to be saved.

After using up the supplied SpinClean cleaning liquid, I searched the internet for a home-made facsimile and decided on 2/3 distilled water, 1/3 91% isopropyl alcohol and a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid in a 8 ozs. container.  A couple of SpinClean capfuls in distilled water in the tank, and that seems to work fine.

I still can’t justify paying thousands of dollars for a cleaning machine to clean records I only play on occasion.  
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