Over the past couple of years, I have been on a bit of a quest. I wanted to keep my vinyl clean, thus allowing my system to perform at its best, and preserve the playability what is essentially a dwindling finite resource. You guys all know the story. But I am also a bit of a cheapskate. I want it all, and on the cheap if I can get it.
So, it all starts with the $20 brush, because that should do it. Well, it didn't. So I splurged and bought the $49 cleaning kit, who knows what brand at this point, it was just a waypoint on my journey. Surely, that one should work. Well it didn't. So, that's it, I am spending big, no fooling around here, and bought a Spin Clean MKII, with extra solution, we're ending this right there. Well, it did work, somewhat. It got the surface clean, but the thing killed me. All this inching it along, getting maybe 10-12 records cleaned an hour and my hands feeling like they got run over by a tractor. My vinyl needed to be cleaned, the stuff I want is long out lf print, so it is all used, you guys know the drill.
That was it, I had it with that plastic devil. So, the seach was on for an automated machine. And, by fall of this year, I settled on the top-end Nitty Gritty. It was fully automatic, cleaning both sides simultaneously. I decided on it in September. The company shut their doors in August. Bummer. So, I started looking at who was left, Okki Nokki, Loricraft, Music Hall, and a few others. All of them were a brush and vacuum arrangement, some, you do all the cleaning manually, and the thing is a glorified vacuum for $1000, and you have to sit there, flip it over, scrub by hand, no thanks. I wasn't thrilled at the prospect of a $1000 machine and I still had to do all the work. I looked at the higher end units, and they were 1 side at a time, for a measly $2500-$3500. No thanks.
So, I walked into The Gramophone in Edmonton, looking actually not for a vinyl cleaning machine, but rather a new integrated amplifier to replace my old, faithful Cyrus Two. I was smitten with Mcintosh, and that was what I was looking at, cash in hand. Instead, I find a nice consignment Rogue Cronus, and I knew the owner once they told me who it was, so I walked out with it. Well, on my way out, what do I see, an Audio Desk Pro machine. So, I got a demo of it, it looked neat, seemed easy to use, just what I need. Until Brian told me the price. $4500. I was a little taken aback. This machine did not really come up on my radar, maybe a failure of Google and the lack of retailers close to me with experience in these matters. Whatever. At any rate, my mind was made up. There was no way I was spending that kind of money on a record cleaner, no damn way. I needed a new subwoofer to replace my 20 year old Mirage BPS-150's. Well, new subwoofer came, and I found I had about $2000 to spend on a vinyl cleaner. So, back to the scrub and suck units it was for me.
Well, the idea of those units was about as palatable to me as week old salad, so I researched the Audio Desk unit. Now, I am a service electrician by trade, and I am specialized in high-end equipment in telecom and light industry, it is nothing for me to hook up $500,000 laser generator the size of a suitcase. So I understand build quality, and when I have to tear apart a $100,000 piece of equipment and am left shaking my head and cussing for the engineering stupidity, I learn to look for the goods, and know it when I see it. So, ok, the reviews on the original unit from Glass were spotty, pump failures, leaky drains, unserviceable components due to sealed structure, you name it. Well, Glass learned from that and made some improvements, and price rose accordingly. Those Germans can engineer good stuff, we have all seen it. And an engineer that sees an error and improves has got my attention. So, I looked at it a little harder, but my God, it is $4500, plus consumables and wear items.
Well, I had to make a decision one way or another, I had $2000 set aside. Not enough. After a couple weeks of furiously clearing out all my old audio gear (some guys got smoking deals), I scraped up just enough to buy it. It was a little dodgy, raiding the coin jar, rifling through the couch, but I did it.
Well, I drove down and picked one up. Brian was great to deal with, tossed in a couple items for it at no charge, and I was on my way.
So, I set it all up last night, and started cleaning. Now, I had read a few reviews that said to prepare yourself for how good this thing cleans, and the differences it can reveal. And they weren't kidding. Even with a modest table (1Xpression Carbon Classic with 2M Silver), it allowed that table to perform well above its pricetag. A couple reviewers had noted that this machine was akin to going from a $500 table to a $5000 table in performance, and I believe it now.
I was able to take some $1 records that were unlistenable (I bought them just to try them out on this machine) and it made them usable again. Not perfect, but a 95% reduction in noise is sure helpful. Others that were pristine or very good, well, their performance jumped up several notches. No static, none at all, not like hitting my records with the Zerostat fresh out of drying from the Spin Clean. And super quiet on the table, not perfectly silent on all records, but reduced to the point that I don't notice it and it doesn't bug me.
Now, having reflected on why in God's name I would spend that kind of money cleaning records (my wife still isn't speaking to me), I absolutely made the right call. If you have a few dozen records, this machine is maybe not the best choice, financially speaking. But, when a few hundred are involved, maybe.
Would I buy one again, in a heartbeat. Would I go to another machine, not with what is currently out there.
Not to sound like a cheesy advertisement, but seriously look at the Audio Desk.
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