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Audio Desk Systeme's Vinyl cleaner:

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Excerpts from Dr. Myles Astor's April 2013 review of the Audio Desk Systeme Vinyl Cleaner at Positive Feedback.com

"Revelations

Much of the sonic improvements wrought by cleaning those LPs with the Audio Deske's Vinyl Cleaner would appear directly attributable to a combination of both improved cartridge scanning of the groove walls and a reduction in the record cleaning fluid's signature. Or as Peter Ledermann put it, improved tracking reduces "cartridge jitter" allowing for more intimate contact between the stylus and groove wall resulting in greater information retrieval (not to mention that cleaner grooves equals cleaner stylus too!). The effects of a good wash with the Audio Deske are first and foremost manifested by a more tape-like midrange fullness, image solidity and dimensionality.

As expected, the freshly cleaned record sounds much quieter with a far greater ability to both "see" and hear into the back of the soundstage. There's a greater sense of air surrounding the piano. Low frequencies possess greater impact; the striking of the triangle is much more solid and the ringing extends out just a little longer.

Seeing God?
It's not often that audiophile's prayers are answered. The Audio Deske Vinyl Cleaner is definitely doing something different and better than other conventional cleaners that have been in house. The records are cleaner and quieter, they sound better and most importantly and most importantly they're going to last longer (Not to mention that playing clean record should extend your cartridge's lifespan). The Audio Deske Vinyl Cleaner removed even more pops and ticks-plus an annoying skip or two from used records-than the best of the new enzyme cleaners.

While the best enzyme-based cleaners are quite an improvement when it comes to transparency, openness, resolution and low end over the older record cleaning fluids, they still don't come near what the Audio Deske does especially in the midrange!

click to read the complete review.

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THE MIRACULOUS AUDIO DESK LP CLEANER
theabsolutesound.com
by Jacob Heilbrunn (2/13)

Excerpt from conclusion:
"This is a well-nigh miraculous product that produces results equivalent to a cartridge upgrade... if you have a high-end system and oodles of LPs, this record cleaning machine is not an option. It is a must. Hats off to Herr Glass!"

Click to read complete review.

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Enlarged for reading:

Download pdf.

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Writing for The Absolute Sound, founder HP (aka Harry Pearson) gave the Vinyl Cleaner his 2012 Editor's Choice Award. On HP's new website, hpsoundings.com,  Joey Weiss, HP's colleague, writes on November 14, 2012:

"A quasi renegade in the record-cleaning world, this machine does not use brushes or vacuums at all. Instead, the Vinyl Cleaner utilizes "counter-rotating microfiber cleaning barrels and an ultrasonic process" to remove the dirt and dust particles from the record. To dry the record, the Vinyl Cleaner uses a "gentle" fan drying process driven by two high-performance motors.  Both sides of the record are cleaned and dried simultaneously."

"...The Vinyl Cleaner is convenient and takes up about half the space of the VPI HW-27 in residence.  It beats out its closest competitor, the Clearaudio Double Matrix, in effectiveness and ease of use (as well as in price).
     Every record we have cleaned with this machine is sonically improved.  Since the machine does all the work, it is a great luxury if you want keep your record collection pristine."

Read the full review.

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Here is an exerpt from the full review above:

"The Audio Desk Systeme was the most effective, easy-to-use record-cleaning machine I've ever tried. I cleaned records that I'd already vacuum-cleaned but were still noisy, and the noise went away."

The six-minute cleaning cycle is not a problem because it's entirely automatic. I went on a record cleaning spree..."

"I've never had so much fun cleaning LP's. I bought the review sample"

-Michael Fremer, Stereophile Vol. 35 No. 6, June 2012, Pg. 35

Download pdf

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"Also from Michael Fremer on his Analog Planet website, further thoughts and interesting reader on-going comments and observations following his report which concludes, "At this point, it is in my experience, the world's best record cleaning machine. "  Click here for the full review.

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February 2012:  In offering his 2012 Editors' Choice Award to Audio Desk Systeme's Vinyl Cleaner, Harry Peason of The Absolute Sound writes:

"A surprisingly effective record-cleaning device.  Even if you've cleaned your disc with some of the competitive products on the market, you'll find, after the AudioDesk does its stuff, you can hear even more deeply in the grooves.  You have to use distilled water in its operation, but once you've placed the LPO in the provided slot, the machine takes over and, with a comination of brushes and rollers digs into the grooves.  It takes more than a few minutes to clean a disc (both sides at once), and it is noisy.  But damned if it doesn't work a minor miracle."

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Read the October 1, 2012 review in "Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity."

Writer Rick Schmidt concludes:

"How does the cleaned record sound then? I began by cleaning some records that I had already cleaned with the Nitty Gritty. I have found that there is still a small bit of surface noise and an occasional click or pop with a Nitty Gritty cleaned record. The ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaner seems to address both of these issues. Visual inspection of a cleaned record shows that the mold release compound is gone as well. This compound is a leftover from the record manufacturing process and to my knowledge no other cleaner will remove it.

I have yet to hear a click or pop from a record cleaned in this machine and surface noise is completely absent for most records. YES! This is the ticket to a truly divine vinyl experience. A blacker back ground means not only that you don't hear artifacts such as surface noise but the needle dedicated to bringing out more of the nuance in the sound."

Click here for the full review.

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ULTRASONIC RECORD CLEANER

Review by: Philip O'Hanlon

On a Higher Note

importers of Luxman and Audio Aero Electronics,

Vivid speakers, and Brinkmann turntables and phono cartridges.

Last November I was in Minneapolis helping Paul Blizel of Analog Audio of MN host a Music Seminar. While we were setting up the Vivid B1 speakers, I took the opportunity to clean all of my demo records. What struck me as a fantastic feature was the ability to press a button to engage the cleaning cycle & walk away. Now while the record will be cleaned & dried in six minutes, it uses fans to dry the record rather than vacuum dry, it does not induce any static on to the vinyl. So it does not matter when you remove the LP, it will not accumulate dust.

During the New York Show I spent a very pleasant evening with Michael Fremer, over dinner he raved about the ultra sonic record cleaner & mentioned that he had never heard such quiet records, including records that he had cleaned with multi stage process' on his Loricraft record cleaner. He ended up buying the review sample. Well, during the NY Audio Show, Ultra Systems were kind enough to clean all of my demo records & shortly afterwards I bought my own ultrasonic record cleaner and used it to clean 200 records over a period of three weeks before the Newport Beach Show.

There was a reliability issue with the original cleaners that were imported, but since Nov 2011 , Ultra Systems are confident that those reliability issues have been addressed and the cleaners are now hassle free. One thing I should point out though is that it is critical that you only pour EXACTLY one gallon of distilled water into the cleaner. There is no indicator to show if enough liquid has been poured in to the water tank & you can easily overfill. Fill too much & liquid will pour out of the fans.... I am guilty of this. But rest assured fill the right amount of water & you won't have any problems, just clean records with the minimum hassle. Its not cheap at $3900 but for music lovers with large records collections, its a huge time saver. Call your local dealer about the Audio Desk "Ultra Sonic Cleaner or call Ultra Systems at 800-724-3305 and tell them that Philip sent you...

P.S. On A Higher Note has no vested interest in the Ultra Sonic record Cleaner - just a product that we think you should be aware of - its terrific & easily worth our highest recommendation.

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AUDIO DESK SYSTEME - Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaner

I've been waiting on one of these for awhile, and finally received my very own unit from The Cable Company today. Compared to my VPI HW 17, this little bugger's like a Smart Car to the VPI's Lincoln Navigator. But does it do the trick?

I had to wait to find out - it needs just over a gallon of distilled water, and I didn't have any on hand. I was fairly busy during the morning, so it wasn't until noon'ish that I was able to drive to the store and pick up the required H2O. Once home, I emptied the little cleaning fluid bottle that comes with the machine into the reservoir along with the water, and that was pretty much all I needed to do.

So then I picked out a record from the collection, and old Pablo of Ella Fitzgerald and Andre Previn: Nice Work If You Can Get It, which I had previously cleaned (some time ago) on my VPI (and which had been cleaned by the record shop I purchased it from using a Nitty Gritty). I placed it on the ProJect Debut III USB with a Sound-Smith Carmen cartridge (quite nice, actually), which feeds my iMac's USB port and records via the USB Codec to my favorite digitizing software: Pure Vinyl, from Channel-D. I proceeded to record the title track (track 2, side 1) to the computer, for later comparison.

NEXT: As a matter of pure OCD, I decided to run it through the Audio Desk Systeme Ultrasonic Vinyl Cleaner twice. Whatever it was that the machine did, I wanted it to do it really well, and I use the same amount of OCD record cleaning acumen with the VPI (I also use a vibrating toothbrush while using the VPI, but that's a story and a technique for another time).

NOTE: This machine takes a dog's age to clean a record, but at least you can walk away from it while it does it's thing automatically. There's no process for you to stick your fingers into, so you might as well go make yourself useful and do something like put away the stuff in the dishwasher.

I then placed the record on the turntable and went through the very same recording routine as I did the first time. Using the USB Codec, there's actually no parameter I can change to edit the sound of the recording.

I then rendered the tracks from within Pure Vinyl's editor, and popped them in my iTunes.

Wow.

Seriously, wow.

The first track sounded ok, mind you - but the "clean" track not only sounded clearer, it sounded louder. Better dynamic contrast, more harmonic information, and this isn't at all subtle! Whatever this machine dragged out of the grooves and into the waste water (and off the record!), it had to have been substantial. The difference was like taking cotton balls out of your ears and hearing spectral information that you would have sworn wasn't on the original.

Aside from A/B'ing a dirty record to a clean one (who can't appreciate the difference there?), I haven't heard as much of a change in presentation like this due to a cleaning machine. Here we took what was ostensibly a clean record, cleaned it again via the new machine, and what we got was a whole new sounding record. Phenomenal!

My next experiment is to take a completely new Eric Bibb 45rpm LP from Opus 3, and do the before and after comparo. We'll see how this all washes out ... literally.

Stay tuned ...

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