Vacuum Record Cleaner Rreplacement

@antinn 

Thanks Neil

I am not trying to write a PhD thesis here, but the article did contain the "well-known Rayleigh-Plesset" equation for bubble dynamics in an acoustic field, with references.  The article is probably not peer reviewed and it covers ultrasonic and "megasonic" cleaning of both metallic and non-metallic surfaces.  So general background stuff in this context.

Your comments on significant particles sizes are very useful and a little smaller than I expected.  But the average groove depth is reported as about 28 microns so it makes sense.

Occasionally I accidentally touch the surface of my tank when it is working and am amazed at the tiny cloud of stuff coming from my fingertips.

There are very few clean rooms in Canberra - one is used to diagnose issues with diesel injectors and pumps.  It is a centre of excellence for Toyota Australia and often hosts delegations from Japan.

@lewm 

If you must know the ugly truth

That's ugly 

I've just played a second hand Vox recording from Moscow, with Kyril Kondrashin who impressed me no end when I was a teenager.  That's even uglier, sound-wise.

@richardbrand That hiss you noticed with the LOMC cartridge when not being played may very well be the line stage tube in the preamp (assuming your preamp is not solid state).  I had the exact same experience when I upgraded my VAC amps. Immediately after the upgrade there was an audible hiss that was evident even at my listening point.  This was with the turntable sitting idle.  I talked to Kevin at VAC and he recommended changing out the line stage tube.  I didn't understand the logic since it was only the amps that had changed. Looking back, the VAC 300's are MUCH more revealing than the 200's and the hiss had likely been present for some time, just not detectable.   Nonetheless, I changed the line stage tube out and the low grade hiss is gone. 

I have been following this thread for some time now with interest.  I have a VPI 16.5, an Isonic 40kHz US and a Degritter.  I use the Degritter primarily as a final rinse phase with 30cc of ethanol in the bath of distilled water.  I change this every 10 records or so. All records start with a fresh water rinse with label protectors in the sink, followed by drying with tiger cloth, then immediately on the VPI where I use AVIS #15 with Osage brushes with 3 rinses with distilled water. I let the AVIS sit about 5 minutes and then rinse. I do other things during the waiting part, so about a minute of time is used.  If its a dirty record (not new), it will then go in the Isonic next with Tergitol (along with 2 other lps) then rinsed again on VPI and then into the DeGritter. My rationale is to do the heavy cleaning outside of the US treatments using the Degritter as a cleaning rinse only.  I feel pretty confident that the amount of particles left in the DeGritter bath is minimal.   I used to use the VPI as the final step but had a hard time dealing with the static charge left on the LP surface from the brush.  In a well lit room, I could see dust motes dive bombing the surface of my new clean record before I could sleeve it. It does take a well lit room to see this by the way. Sooo, here's the million dollar question-how do those of you who finish with vacuum drying eliminate the static charge and the dust Kamikazes?

@orthomead 

That hiss you noticed with the LOMC cartridge when not being played may very well be the line stage tube in the preamp (assuming your preamp is not solid state)

It was a high-end dealer's demonstration system, and the phono stage was a solid state Musical Fidelity component, feeding McIntosh power amplifiers of some sort. Obvious hiss is not something I had ever experienced in my own systems and I went back to the dealer to confirm whether the hiss was real. 

I really was not concentrating on the electronics the first time, because it was at major promotion for B&W loudspeakers.  I just happened to notice that the source was a linear tracking deck (Holbo) which impressed me, so I arranged to take some records for a private audition.  That's when I really noticed the hiss for the first time.

My guess is it is quiescent electronic noise amplified by the high gain needed for LOMC.  I ended up buying a very high output DS Audio optical cartridge instead, so hiss is only of academic interest to me at the moment.