Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner Review

[jdandy]

by J. Dan Daniell




Let me begin by saying if record cleaning gets any simpler than using the Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner it would be child’s play. It does not get any easier than this. What used to be a cumbersome time consuming chore done by hand has now been improved to a simple one hand maneuver. It’s as easy as inserting an album into the top loading slot on the Klaudio record cleaner and walking away. In approximately six minutes you return to a perfectly cleaned and completely dried LP on both sides, ready to play or store. It is an absolute joy to use the Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner. You are free to go about other business, surf the net, grab a snack, whatever you wish while the Klaudio record cleaner does its thing. No more scrubbing one side of a record at a time on a rotating platter with various fluids going everywhere, then moving a vacuum wand around to suck fluids off the record’s surface. The Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner makes all of that a thing of the past. It truly is a vinyl lover’s dream come true.

The Klaudio KD-CLN-LP200 delivers 200 watts of ultrasonic cleaning power to every LP in your collection. It does this without the need for expensive enzyme based solutions, detergent mixtures, or rinsing solutions. All that is needed is 0.66 gallon (2.5 liters) of distilled water poured into its reservoir tank with the provided funnel, nothing more. The Klaudio Owner’s Manual states that you can use tap water or distilled water. I chose distilled water for its purity and total absence of minerals. There is a window in the front of a welded stainless steel tank that allows a user to see the correct water level while filling and using the machine. Once the reservoir tank has been properly filled, the power cord connected, and the power switch on the front is turned on you are ready to go. Cleaning is started automatically by inserting a 12 inch LP into the top slot. Immediately a pump is turned on that transfers water from the reservoir tank to the ultrasonic wash basin. You can watch through the reservoir window as the water level drops during this liquid transfer. When that task is complete the ultrasonic cleaners are energized and the record begins to slowly rotate. Wash cycles are adjustable in one minute intervals from one minute to five minutes. Once the ultrasonic wash cycle has completed the LP momentarily stops rotating while the water drains from the ultrasonic wash basin back into the reservoir tank, then the air dryer turns on and the record begins to rotate again. Drying time is adjustable between 2, 3 or 4 minutes. When the wash and dry cycles are complete the Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner emits two beeps and a green LED light labeled Completed begins to flash and the record album stops rotating. You simply lift the LP from the slot to marvel at the spectacular cleaning job that’s been performed.

There is a row of LED lights that illuminate when an LP is first loaded into the top slot for cleaning. The individual lights signal different events like Priming, percent to complete of washing cycle, Draining, percent to complete for drying cycle, and Completed. Just for fun I timed the two minute and three minute wash cycles, and the three minute drying cycle. They are accurate to the second. You get exactly the minutes you selected down to the last second. I viewed the time accuracy as a classic example of the exemplary design and attention to the smallest details of the Klaudio record cleaner. Another thing, the Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner is no lightweight. This contender weighs in at 42lbs. of stainless steel, molded polymers, and associated components. Be prepared when you lift this machine. It is hefty. A peek down inside the cleaning chamber with no record inserted shows plenty of stainless steel, close precision parts and rollers. I also noticed the lifting handles have been upgrade from their original design. They are now attractive cast and chromed latching type handles that fold down when not in use and latch up in the lifting position. Another notable function is the air dryer. There is no wimpy little blade fan generating a slight breeze, no sir. The Klaudio record cleaner uses a powerful motor to spin a squirrel cage fan that moves a substantial volume of air. I estimate it moves 250 cubic feet of air per minute, perhaps even a bit more. It has no problem completely drying both sides of a 12 inch LP in 3 minutes. You will also find a small toggle switch on the front panel that selects between a full wash and dry cycle or a dry only cycle.


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It is evident to me that all aspects of the Klaudio record cleaner have been designed and manufactured for trouble free, long term use. It is built to a high standard. When one looks at the parent company that manufactures the Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner you will discover Koolance Incorporated, an ISO 9001 manufacturer specializing in custom liquid cooling systems. They provide cold plates, sub-assemblies, heat exchangers, chillers, liquid-air cooling systems and sub-ambient water cooling systems. They are pros at designing systems that handle liquids on an industrial level so it stands to reason when the owner set out to design a record cleaner to best all others it would be built to their exacting standards. Once you have cleaned your first LP with the Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner you will understand what I mean. This is a professional level record cleaner, not some box with a rudimentary rotating platter, plastic vacuum wand and leaky connection to a polyurethane water bottle. This is a serious record cleaner designed with premium grade parts that ensure continuous duty operation and long term reliability. Klaudio supports this record cleaner with a full two year parts and labor warranty.

I was curious about the noise level of the Klaudio record cleaner. Most other record cleaners I have experienced, including VPI and Nitty Gritty machines were quite noisy. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the Klaudio record cleaner was relatively quiet by comparison. This curiosity drove me to set up my Extech sound pressure level meter to capture some measurements. During the wash cycle with the ultrasonic cleaners agitating the water the sound pressure level was 54.5 decibels. During the drying cycle the sound pressure level increased to 74.2 decibels. The measurements were taken with the SPL meter attached to a tripod placed 3 feet from the record cleaner. Noise levels were never objectionable during cleaning or drying cycles.


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Additional features include a dual voltage switch on the rear that allows for 115 volts or 230 volts operation and a label warning the owner to select the correct voltage before plugging the record cleaner into a power outlet. The rear panel also has a provision for attaching the provided drain hose that is necessary to empty the reservoir tank. There is a hand operated knob on the side that opens the drain valve to empty the reservoir tank. Also, on the rear panel there is a 3 inch round threaded cap with gasket that can be unscrewed when the reservoir tank is empty that allows thorough cleaning and drying of the tank. The owner’s manual is clearly written and explains all functions. In addition, there is a white dust cover provided that covers the record cleaner when not in use. That’s a nice bonus. The overall thoughtfulness of the Klaudio design is apparent from every angle. This is an ingenious and meticulously crafted record cleaning machine.

From the first record I cleaned through the last record I cleaned the Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner performed flawlessly, going about its fully automated cleaning process without a single hiccup. All of the records I cleaned in the Klaudio machine had previously been cleaned using my lowly Spin Clean manual record cleaner. I don’t mean that as a disparaging remark about the Spin Clean because it did a decent job cleaning my otherwise unwashed record collection, albeit manually and hand dried in a dish rack. Even after a cleaning in the Spin Clean I still had some noticeable ticks, pops and background noise on some of my favorite albums. It was these albums I selected first to go through the Klaudio record cleaner. I set the Klaudio for a two minute wash and a three minute drying cycle. My Original Master Recording of Rickie Lee Jones was the first album cleaned. In just over five minutes the LP was spotless, dry, and on the platter of my Michell Gyro SE turntable with the SME309 tonearm and Ortofon Cadenza Black moving coil cartridge. Holy mackerel, the album was dead silent from start to finish. I have never enjoyed “The Last Chance Texeco” more. Now I was excited. I placed Stevie Ray Vaughan – Couldn’t Stand The Weather in the Klaudio record cleaner. Once cleaned and dried I placed it on the turntable and listened to “Tin Pan Alley”. Again my jaw dropped. I was astonished at the dramatic drop in the noise floor and the wonderful absence of any ticks or pops during playback. Fabulous. I cleaned another favorite album, Lalo Schifrin – Ins and Outs and played it immediately afterwards. Dead silence throughout the entire album. This is such an impressive record cleaning machine. The Klaudio’s 200 watt ultrasonic cleaners dig all the crud from the grooves in one cleaning and delivers a perfectly dry and ready to play LP in no time at all. To put the Klaudio record cleaner to the ultimate test I borrowed an old Billy Holiday LP from a friend who is not known for taking care of his albums. The LP didn’t even have an inner sleeve. The album was just sitting loose in the record cover. Heart breaking. I carried it home, cleaned it with the DiscWasher brush and some DiscWasher fluid, and then played it. It was horrible, I mean really noisy and full of loud ticks and pops. I ran the Billie Holiday album through the Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner using a four minute wash cycle and three minute drying cycle then played it again. I could hardly believe I was listening to the same record. The noise floor was substantially reduced and the ticks and pops had been dramatically reduced. The Billy Holiday LP was now listenable and enjoyable. This triggered a record cleaning frenzy for me that lasted until 2:30 AM and 52 albums cleaned, one after the other without a glitch.






The Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner is a top shelf record cleaning product by any measure. I am inclined to say the Klaudio record cleaner’s only competitor in the market is the Audio Desk Systeme record cleaner, also an ultrasonic cleaner that employs rotating brushes and requires a special cleaning fluid to perform its task. I have not auditioned the Audio Desk System so I have no reference to compare it to the Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner, but I can testify to the astonishing cleaning ability of the Klaudio record cleaner. When one considers there are no pricy consumables necessary for complete and successful record cleaning using the Klaudio record cleaner, with no parts needing periodic adjustments or replacement, it becomes apparent to me which machine I would prefer. As I progressed through cleaning my entire record library, limited as it is at 126 LP’s, I drained the reservoir tank once after 65 albums, then washed the remaining 61 albums with a fresh tank of distilled water. Total cost of consumables to clean 126 LP’s was $2.00 for two one gallon jugs of distilled water. I drained the first tank of water into an empty one gallon jug and then poured it into a white sink basin for inspection. There were some tiny bits of light gray matter floating around but not much. There were no signs of any tiny black particles that might indicate the ultrasonic cleaners had scoured hard enough to damage the vinyl. After the final 61 LP’s were cleaned I emptied the second reservoir tank full of water, inspected it in the white sink basin and found it to be nearly clear with the exception of some faint light colored debris floating around. The old rumor about ultrasound cleaners doing any harm to our precious vinyl collections can be laid to rest. It is clear the Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner does a thorough job of cleaning LP’s with absolutely no sign of damage to the vinyl or grooves.

I know I am sounding like a broken record myself, but I only have the highest praise for the Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner. Place your LP in the toaster type slot in the top of the machine and everything else is completely automatic. A record goes in dirty and comes out clean and dry. No water ever touched a single label and there was no water or moisture left on any of the LP surfaces once the drying cycle completed. In my humble opinion, the Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner raises the bar on proper record library maintenance while setting a new standard at the same time. Owning a Klaudio record cleaner removes all the hassles from cleaning vinyl LP collections while making it totally painless and trouble free to clean new albums as they arrive. I am impressed with the Klaudio Ultrasonic Record Cleaner. In fact I like it so much I bought the review sample. That is the highest personal recommendation I can give it.

[1KW]

Nice review Dan . With your writing ability I am not surprised that you were sent a sample to review, good for you Now that you have a good rcm you will no doubt enjoy vinyl even more.

[Masterlu]

Dan... What an informative, fun, and thorough review. I for one, can't wait to get back to Cape Cod so I can experience the same with my vinyl collection.

[AM123]

What was the color of the emptied water?

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by AM123

What was the color of the emptied water?

AM123.......Clear.

[Myles B. Astor]

Dan, you haven't really experienced what the machine is capable of if you only cleaned your LPs for 2 mins You need to do 4-5 mins on the cleaning cycle and 2 mins drying.

[jdandy]

Myles.......All of my albums were purchased new. No used albums. Very few albums have more than ten plays. All albums were previously cleaned in the Spin Clean so it isn't like they went into the Klaudio record cleaner in a filthy state. My current results have been impressive but I will take your advice and give the additional wash time a try. Thank you.

[Myles B. Astor]

Yep, give it a shot. Even with new LPs. New doesn't mean clean eg. mould release and other things. Some feel the mould release actually traps particles and leads to the record becoming noisier.

[Masterlu]

My Double Matrix at $4k doesn't even remove ticks & pops very well.

[dkrm]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

My Double Matrix at $4k doesn't even remove ticks & pops very well.

Could not agree more. I am disappointed with double matrix. Very hard to justify to myself to get ultrasonic RCM when i just bought double matrix not more than 3 months ago. Sigh!!