I find proper record cleaning is just about the biggest upgrade I’ve ever experienced. What good is a decent table and a lovely cartridge if the record is dirty? I am constantly surprised at how quiet—often silent—a record can be despite age and heavy use. I’ve a few from the sixties that I know were played often on a crappy Philips record player with a ceramic cartridge, and on everything I’ve owned since, and they are still silent!
Most of my cleaning has been with a point-source vacuum, the Loricraft PRC-4 Deluxe, and having added a Degritter, I think I’m getting things as clean as I can with little effort. Everything goes through the PRC-4 with a homemade mixture of detergent (currently L’Art du Son), IPA and DW, then into the Degritter for a ’Heavy’ clean with their own solution, and it gets placed in a new inner sleeve. Using the Loricraft first saves the tank of Degritter fluid from getting gross contamination (it is re-used for 30 disks). Furutech Destat III and a blower brush before playing, but nothing touches the record, other than air and ions. After about half a dozen plays, it goes back through the Degritter, but I don’t repeat the Loricraft unless I hear any surface noise, in which case it gets a long visit with AI Enzymatic solution before going in the Degritter again. Styluses are cleaned with a dry carbon fibre brush.
If I could have only one of those machines it would be the Degritter. If the only option were a 60kHz U/S machine, I’d prefer the Loricraft. The extra energy and the smaller size of cavitation bubbles makes the difference that justifies the Degritter’s price until someone else makes a 120kHz/300W for less money!