Audio Desk vs Klaudio - ultrasonic record cleaners

Cleaning a swirl in the AD:

 

Cleaning a 1 sided Classic 45 of Aqualung on the KL:

 

The business end of the Monks:

 

Seriously a service bulletin, one person had a problem. This is the same crap Brian was calling Fremer out on. Did you even look at it?

 

"Service bulletin". His words not mine

Yes I read it, and my response here included a bit of sarcasm
Sorry if that wasn't clear

 

Chipcarter--it's generally helpful (to the forum) to have your equipment profile filled out on your profile page. This is true for all of us and helps when we're trying to get a relative sense of system synergies, weak points, strong points, comparisons, etc.

Good for you that you can have both of these ultrasonic RCMs! I have the ADS and continue to be extremely happy with it.

 

Which machine is a better performer in your opinion. ?

 

I'd take my opinion with a grain of salt since I don't own the KL, but I've cleaned a couple dozen albums with my friends. I posted about my AD experience somewhere on this forum and I'd rather not go into it again. To keep it brief and just performance based- records cleaned on the AD would sound better (quieter and more transparent) after they had another final (sometimes two passes) reagent water/vacuum cycle on the VPI and I think this is because the reagent water removed all of the AD cleaning solution. The KL uses plain water which is the best final liquid to be on piece of vinyl.

Not to put Bill on the spot, but he has made some really good posts about record cleaning, gives neutral/non-emotional opinions and has owned both machines. My own opinion can't be as neutral since I had a poor experience with AD(s) breaking down and unsatisfactory customer service.

I plan to get into ultrasound cleaning again. Harry Weisfeld posted on AA that they plan to make one and that sounds right given VPI's history of getting on the trends. Also given how well I was treated when my second hand 16.5 had an issue, I would give them my business again. In my opinion if you're buying lots of vintage vinyl you need multiple steps/solutions/machine system to get the most out of vinyl playback.

 

You don't "have" to use the AD solution. It would seem just like any other US cleaner if you did not. I have heard some state that they got good results without.

I've had issues getting mine to clean some old records well, but I think that fingerprints in particular get "cooked in" after years and aren's going to come out.

 

finger prints can require surface cleaning (brush type) to get them all the way out

they are not down in the groove and audible so I don't really worry about them

if a record is really dirty I use my Loricraft
for everything else the Ultrasonic alone produces great results

 

I've now cleaned about 15 records with the Audio Desk. It's pretty much what I expected. The records sound awesome coming out and there have been a couple albums that were noticeably improved over what I had done previously with the vac machines. I feel like I could get a record just as clean on the Okki nokki but it would take 4-5 steps to do so and that was just too much for me. Only negative thus far has been the occasional water droplet. This seems to happen only on records that aren't perfectly flat as the squeegee lips will fail to press evenly across the surface of the record. I've read Audio Desk has a fix though, does anyone know anything more about that?

 

Glad you like your AD. I still haven't conquered the water droplets, glad I'm not a label freak.

 

Sometimes I get a few droplets left near the edge of a disk after cleaning with the AD, but never near the label. I simply take a clean microfiber cloth and wick up the drops before placing it on the turntable mat. No real problem as it only happens occasionally.

 

Oh my. I can't wait to buy one of these bad boys.

Having said that? I may need to prewash with my 16.5? Isn't one of these beasts enough?

Seriously?

 

I wash everything in the AD, just save the soiled records for the end of a barrel/filter/water cycle. I also hold the button down for 5-10 presses for my favorite records, seems to help, but pure conjecture.

 

I have been sitting on the fence for a while but I 'pulled the trigger' earlier this week and ordered a Klaudio unit via an official distributor in France. There are only three distributors in Europe so far for the Klaudio. I am hoping that I will have it in maybe 10 days or so. I have read a lot of the reviews online and all of the comments here and the build quality of the U.S. designed and Korean built unit swayed me in that direction. My records are very clean so I don't know if I'll hear any jaw dropping improvements. I plan to offer a service though to other collectors/audiophiles here in Ireland in the New Year.

 

Congrats Saturus

90% of my collection is mint vinyl
the KL AUDIO makes a dramatic difference
(and I have a loricraft)
the air around instruments, the aspects of the recording hall, low level info, removes the static and pops

you are in for a real treat!

 

only the worse records get my Loricraft first
no need

 

Can't wait already!

 

I suggest buying a big box of protective inner sleeves for those albums with paper etc
I take a sharpie and label on the sleeve KL or if the original sleeve is protective I do it in pencil lightly

when I am watching mindless tv is a great time to clean records
(might have to turn it up a tad or or isolate the KL in a room)
at 4 per ultra and 4 to dry, 8 minutes - you can rack up a lot of records

the great thing is you can be spontaneous and whatever you want to play is just minutes away from a cleaning

I sort the ultrasonic records in a different area, you only have to clean them once, then a soft brush
static and pops be gone

enjoy

 

What RCM does the host of this forum use, anyone know?

 

our host spends his days listening to 2" studio master tape

he's more interested in shake and bake



fwiw Michael Fremer has an Audio Desk

Thanks Bill Hart for the visuals
records must quake when they hit your home

 

I already have a sizeable number here as I replace all 'undesirable' inner sleeves with the frosted paper/polylined type which I have found suit me best! Somehow I do not care as much for the MoFi or their predecessor the VRP types.

I use 'Record Cards' which are white lined cards measuring 5" by 3" and I print off a Dymo Label for each LP I have and acquire. On the Record Card details like Artist, Album title, originating record label, catalogue number, year of issue and/or reissue as appropriate together with country of origin as to pressing etc. are printed on the Dymo Label, large address type. If I have say an original U.S. Mastering from someone like Bob Ludwig, Ted Jensen or our host I will sometimes include that also in smaller print. A propos of this topic though, below the main information I print details of all cleanings (citing the agent used like Vinylzyme, RRL, Distilled Water and so on) and whether I have put the LP on my Disc Flatter and whether I have had to 'centre' the spindle hole and the date on which all of these actions were effected. I'll have to include KL in future once LPs are cleaned on the KL Audio machine. I slip this card inside the plastic protective sleeve at the front of the LP jacket so you can see all the details when you pick up the record.

I know some will think that this sounds a little (a lot?) like OCD but it keeps me happy and anyway since I was 10 years old all I ever wanted was a good stereo system and a record collection - my life's work?

 

You beat me by a year I was eleven when I bought my first LP (my mother bought it for me as an early birthday present). What do you think of the Nagaoka sleeves?

JG

 

How are people cleaning out or wiping down the tank of their ultrasonic cleaners? The Klaudio tank is hard to get your hand in to wipe out the back of the bank.