Ultrasonic record cleaners


I have a modest lp collection, mixed bag of original college age purchases, used records before the current renewed interest, and some newer albums to replace some older issues from the p mount needle days.  Have a vpi 16 machine and audio intelligent form 6 fluid. I’m not finding a significant improvement on my noisier issues.  The price of ultrasonic cleaners have come down to a price I would consider.  Appreciate the experiences of those who have purchased the ultrasonic machines, are they superior to my vpi and are the less expensive models effective?

TIA

tennisdoc56

I use a Degritter ultra Sonic record cleaning machine, and I find it to be very effective with older LPs, and it is very easy to use.  I have hundreds of older LPs I "inherited" from various people when folks were discarding their LPs in favor of CDs back in the late 1980s or early 90s so I have considerable experience using the Degritter on old used discs.  I find that if an LP is not scratched at all a heavy cleaning with the Degritter usually makes them quite listenable.

Before you go to the expense of making a Purchase of a Machine that has been thought of as affordable.

There are Vinyl LP Sales Outlets, that offer Services that will clean a LP in a US Tank. I have pointed this out a few months' past to another member. 

Some of these services have machines that have cost a few thousand $$'s. This could be a very good way to see how the Top End Devices used for US Cleaning can improve your LP, that is not achieving a standard of a clean you would like to see.

It should certainly help you decide, if a US Bath is worthwhile pursuing. 

+1 for the Degritter. Pricey but effective and easy to use. I’ve owned a nice Clearaudio vacuum LP cleaner for a decade but seldom got around to using it. Cleaning that way is its own time-consuming project, so I’d save up LPs to do in a batch, which usually meant going months. The Degritter sits in my walk-in closet ready to go; I just drop in a record and it’s cleaned while I’m listening to music in the next room. Love it. The Clearaudio is still handy for scrubbing very dirty used vinyl, but I’ve pulled it out only once in the 2 years I’ve owned the Degritter.

If you are cleaning used LPs of indeterminate history, be advised that some LPs just don't get any better even with a good cleaning, which the VPI HW16 is capable of, if used correctly (I don't know what is in your cleaning solution, for example).  I use a VPI HW17, and I have found that a rinse with distilled water, after having used a cleaning solution of water + isopropyl alcohol + Tween20, is very beneficial.  But otherwise, some LPs just don't respond.  I've tried cleaning noisy LPs a second time with a US machine, usually with no better results.  US machines can work fine, but they don't repair damaged LPs.