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I think I can offer some help here... I used to have a VPI HW 16.5. Combined with a two-step process (enzyme scrub, soak, and vacuum; then a distilled water scrub, soak, and vacuum); the vacuum-based system offered a lot of sound improvement. HOWEVER, I then tried the Kirmuss at home. At first, I was wondering if I was doing anything right. Then, I have the bright idea to take 'cheap-to-me' Decca Narrowband of the Britten Cello Suites 1 and 2 and run it in the Kirmuss 'process' 17 rounds ! Let's just say it is the best sounding record in my collection BY A MILE ! Not having time or excess cash to run the Kirmuss process on my collection; I decided to give the Degritter a try. At first -- again -- the question lingered if I was doing this process correctly. HOWEVER -- I LEARNED SOME THINGS TO NOTE WHEN CLEANING RECORDS ULTRASONICALLY:
1. One rotation is not enough IMHO. You need at least 4 total rotations.
2. Once the record has been though the machine, IF YOU ARE USING SURFACTANT OR ANY 'PROVIDED' CLEANERS, YOU MUST MUST MUST RINSE MULTIPLE TIMES TO GET THAT STUFF OFF THE RECORD. When I did this; the sound improved by miles (using a similar process to rinse that Kirmuss does -- only 3 times per side). When you rinse the record this much (I use the Degritter's dry-only cycle after all the rinsing is done to get the record dry again); YOU WILL BE AMAZED HOW MUCH BETTER IT SOUNDS ! Give it a try -- your welcome !
3. When you clean this way, the first playback MIGHT have the stylus remove some dust from the record (I SUSPECT it's actually some of the dirt that was previously settled in the pockets of the grooves). Just play the record 1 time for both sides, and after each side clean the needle and use a Carbon Fiber brush to remove the loosened dust/dirt. BUT EVEN THAT FIRST PLAY; YOU WILL BE AMAZED AT THE SOUND! Now, what is rumored to be the 'magic combo' is an ultrasonic cleaner combined with a vacuum-based system to rinse and extract any loose dirt (which my method is doing to much of the playable region. but that way would probably be much better....especially with a Loricraft/Keith Monks point-and-noozle machine). The 'almost-as-good' method is to do manual rinsing with machine drying of records that have had multiple ultrasonic cleaning 'passes' -- which I am doing and happy with the results. Do I think I am getting better results with the ultrasonic versus vacuum systems ? YES. Now, it does reduce SOME ticks and pops (the best system to use to remove ticks and pops is the Kirumss; but plan to spend 30 - 60 minutes per 3 LPs to get most of the ticks removed on a consistent basis); but what makes the ultrasonic so much better is the SOUND QUALITY. ONLY AFTER RINSING MULTIPLE TIMES AFTER AN ULTRASONIC CLEANING AND 1 FULL PLAYBACK OF BOTH SIDES TO REMOVE MUCH OF THE LOOSENED DIRT.... The sound is SO MUCH BETTER. Horns have a snap and clarity they did not ever before (even my digital flac files sound veiled now -- and I am using a sub-$500 Moving Magnet cartridge on a 'built-in phono preamp'). The groove noise on most post 1975 LPs is TOTALLY GONE! I can hear the vibrato in each pluck of a string of a Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez on an early 1980's London Stereo Treasury LP I paid $2 USD for! I am amazed at how many post 1975 classical records now have faint wood floor creaking -- mass page turning at the end of a movement -- I can even hear on remasters of the tube-mastered 'golden age' the hiss of the tape starting and finishing !! I now hear the occasionally missed note from one of the string or woodwind players.....AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED WITH LIVE JAZZ CLUB RECORDS [re: WALTZ FOR DEBBY]....let's just say My Foolish Heart a lot going on in the crowd [do you hear anything pointing to a business deal or a possible divorce in that crowd ?] NOTE: From my experience; the record cleaning system removed a lot of the surface dirt and made the record look great. The Degritter loosened the dirt and removed more, while the loose dirt was easy to remove with the stylus. MY RECOMMENDATION: Get an ultrasonic cleaner for now and just do manual rinses (watch Kirmuss' demos to see how he rinses with a spray bottle of distilled water and some cloths -- get some IPAD glass cleaning cloths from WalMart for $3 each [10 to start] and those have worked fine for me). When money and space are available, add a record vacuum system to do the rinse parts [while Loricraft or Monks are ideal here; you should get most of those gains even from the Record Doctor and DEFINATELY the VPI machines -- those VPI's are TANKS] ...ENJOY !
Martin
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