Quote:
Originally Posted by CRJCapt
I had the impression that this machine is the reason all the others are now on sale.
I understand it beats or at least matches much more expensive machines.
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Unclear at best.
Looking at their
Web site we find:
Quote:
"35 kHz is the sweet spot, does not remove these details and does not "smoothen" the grooves as would a poorly designed record cleaner leaving a residue which has the same effect. Not 45, not 80, not 90 kHz. NEVER 120 kHz or higher. All are proven to damage records over time. "
"SMALL BUBBLES WHEN THEY EXPLODE AND CAUSE A PLASMA WAVE DAMMAGE THE DEPTH OF THE GROOVE REMOVING TIMBER AND HIGH FREQUENCIES. THE BEST ULTRASONIC FREQUENCY AFTER 3 YEARS OF TESTING IS 35 kHz WITH A MAX TEMP OF 95 DEG F. Higher frequencies such as 100, 125, 130 kHz are used for fine cleaning jobs as they enter small surfaces including microelectronics, printed circuit boards, medical and precision optics where the resulting higher intensity powerful plasma explosions remove post manufacturing matter and dirt suited to those materials. Records need specific cleaning attributes. "
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This is questionable if not false. Higher frequency cavitation produces smaller vacuum bubbles that explode with considerably less force than lower frequency cavitation. There is a greater number of bubbles with better overall dispersion at higher frequencies. This is relevant because cavitation action is strongest immediately under the machine's transducers. Smaller bubbles get into smaller spaces where lower frequency bubbles cannot go.
Ideally you want both. More importantly, there is no evidence I've seen (post it if you have it) to support the notion that higher frequency cavitation has any negative impact on timbre or high frequency sonics or causes groove damage. This assumes reasonable cleaning times. If you leave a record in a USC running for several hours, I hope you have another copy.
The effectiveness of cavitators is partially a function of power. Kirmuss does not state the wattage of their machine. It is also partly a function of how long the process runs. In vertical machines only about 1/3 of the record is exposed to cavitation at a time.
Another company
Degritter claims the prime virtue of their RCM comes from running solely at 120kHz. I cite this only to contrast with the Kirmuss.
Quote:
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The core of Degritter is the 120kHz ultrasonic cleaning system. It has been carefully designed in house to make sure that records are cleaned thoroughly and without any damage to the surface of the record.
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It operates at ~300 watts, which is reasonable for a machine its size. But imo, 120kHz
alone is way too meek.
I wouldn't buy either.
Do the foil test at 35kHz, 80kHz, and 120kHz and immediately you'll see the different impact of these cavitation frequencies.
My DYI RCM