Audio Desk Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaner

After reading Michael Fremer's review of the Audio Desk Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaner, I wonder if anyone here has ever tried this machine? If so, how does it compare to a VPI 16.5? Would it remove contaminents from plastic inner sleeves that have baked onto a record? Does it render vaccuum cleaners obsolete?

 

Sounds interesting, but at over 3 grand, I will be keeping my 16.5. That would be a LOT of records.

 

I have friends who have bought one. It works. Less work than the VPI. Note that Fremer has a VPI, and has used one for years.

It doesn't vacuum, it suspends the dirt (which falls to the bottom of the tank) and blows dry.

These people have (and buy!) LOTS of records. Like a couple of rooms full.

 

A good friend of mine has one. He loves it because it is quiet and he can do other things while the record is being cleaned. I have a Nitty Gritty that works well enough but this machine is something else entirely. The cost is high but if one has the scratch and wants the easiest method out there, this is it. I would really like to try this against the really high end KMs or the like. I've also seen DIY plans for cavitation baths that could do 6-12 records in one go for about $500. Lots of work to get it right but once done...

 

There are some great articles on line from DIY guys building record cleaners using ultrasonic baths, some with quite a few pictures to give you an idea of the approach. They are really fun to look at.

 

Our review is live on this machine. We've got two of them on the staff, with a third member lining up to buy one as well. I've used all of the others and this one is tops.

http://www.tonepublications.com/analogaholic/audio-desk-systeme-rcm/

 

I placed an order for one last week. It will be here soon!

 

DIY. Hmmm. I love DIY. I might start with something like this.

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-f...leaning-machine-for-degrease-wholesalers.html

 

i have one on order...

 

I have had one for well over 2 years. I have cleaned several thousand records with it and can't imagine not having one. My original unit failed early on but was replaced without a problem. Several friends have ordered units once they came over and tried mine.

Like others, I owned a VPI before purchasing the Audio Desk.

They are expensive but the ease of use and how well they clean records really sold me on it. If you have a lot of vinyl, this isn't a bad investment. I certainly don't have the time to manually clean all the records I get in anymore.

 

I'm thinking about buying one, based on the Fremer review. Almost all the records I have are reasonably clean; I don't have any heavy-duty cleaning to do and this sounds like just the ticket to get the best possible sound (and surface noise reduction) out of near-mint relatively clean used records.

 

Is the attraction that it's easier to use than a conventional RCM? Or does it actually get rid of ticks that an ordinary RCM leaves behind? I mean, forgive my curiosity, but do you have records that you've cleaned maybe more than once with your VPI, but still had annoying ticks, and then you put them through the Audio Desk, and the ticks were no longer there?

 

Yep that's it. Convenience was big but better cleaning was the main reason for the purchase...

 

For about 1500 you can have something quite similar and possibly more effective

Get a VPI 16.5

One of these

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Industrial-...ltDomain_0&hash=item4845fba178#ht_7643wt_1396

And some Groovmaster Label protectors

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Groovmaster...ltDomain_0&hash=item231f856c05#ht_1283wt_1396

And you are set

I used a smaller 2 transducer ultrasonic unit for years, it worked but nothing like the unit above which has 10 transducers..I would ask before you buy how many transducers the German unit has

 

Not a convenient solution...

 

It works for me..I place the thing in the tub, set it for xx minutes and pull it out and vacuum it off and use L'Art Du Son after that

I am pretty sure my ultrasonic cleaner is more effective than the german unit when it comes to ultrasonic power, You claim in your article you heard an audible difference going from RCM only to the ultrasonic solution, I can hear a clear difference between going from small ultrasonic to large ultrasonic.

Just offering a cheaper option for those who want to go ultrasonic without paying 4k

 

So, you had the Audio Desk?

Again, I think we're talking convenience and ease of use here. The process you're describing sounds like a lot of dinking around. What's the point of doing an ultrasonic cleaning and then cleaning again with a vacuum and another set of fluids? Seems counterproductive.

 

I have not had the autodesk, but the ultrasonic tub design looks to be similar to one I am familiar with.

They are touting this thing as an "ultrasonic" solution no? I'll email them and ask how many transducers it has.

I also steam some of them after the ultrasonic, I like to clean. In my setup tho I have a Nitty gritty to vacuum off after the ultrasonic bath so I keep the VPI platter clean

 

I will have to be content with my spin clean machine. My audio related wish list is too long as it is.

 

As Jeff mentioned, I purchased it for convenience with the hope that it cleaned as well as the VPI. It cleaned better than the VPI and I have since gone back and re-cleaned records that I already cleaned on the VPI.

When I had the VPI I had inconsistent results. Mainly they were my fault...I didn't scrub enough, didn't change brushes enough etc. With the Audio Desk the results are always consistent. If I clean a record and it is noisy after I play it, I am pretty confident that the problem isn't gunk stuck in the grooves.

 

Did you see that guy's comment on your Facebook page. He was comparing the old Ronco machine to the Audio Desk, lol.

 

I really agree with this comment. I think the Spin Clean and the VPI 16.5 are the best RCM's you can buy at their respective price points and I have achieved great results with both products.

But the Audio Desk offers more consistent results and allows me to get more work done while cleaning records. Yes, it is an expensive product, but considering the amount of stylus wear this will save on a handful of pretty expensive cartridges really justified the expense for me. And I was able to get out of my Loricraft for pretty good money (another excellent RCM), so it wasn't a huge jump.

I'm not against DIY solutions, I just don't have the hours in the day. The 3 minutes it usually takes to clean a record with the Audio Desk and the reduced amount of counter space (not to mention much less expensive RCM fluid) makes it a winner.

 

Interesting, thanks. And to Tonepub too.

 

Yeah, me too. It was hard enough to afford the VPI machine. At three grand, the price is out of my sight. I have had good success with the VPI and some good record cleaning fluid, in fact I was ecstatic with the results. Sure, I would like one and I'm sure it does a better job than my rcm, but I have other priorities.

 

My friend Chris had one of these for a while. I cleaned a Beatles LP on my VPI some three times with a three step process. I figured I would try Chris's machine one day and he said bring it on over so I did and son of a gun the machine made a nice audible improvement.