[orthobiz]

Ordered mine today. Been saving up for a while. Will keep my Loricraft as the Audio Desk does not do 10 and 7 inch records and I think it's OK to preclean really bad garage finds. I will report back.

Paul

[pumpkinman]

Wow !!!!!

[roscoeiii]

Oooooo. Very nice.

[vinyl_guy]

let us know. I may be next. I'll keep my Loricraft too, but I'm getting ready to sell my VPI 17 with an extra mat, 3 - 12" wands.  2- 10" wands and a 7" wand.

[roscoeiii]

Yeah, I am hoping that the ultrasonic technology trickles down to lower priced RCMs eventually (or that I get a better paying job).

Laura, let me know when you decide to sell the VPI 17. I may be interested.

[vinyl_guy]

Laura, let me know when you decide to sell the VPI 17. I may be interested.

I will do that. It works great and I also have the TWWeights screw down clamp that covers and protects the label. I have all the original packing and shipping boxes too.

[orthobiz]

I am lucky enough to have bought a preamp from Laura. And if you buy something from Laura, you can be assured that the only way you'll know it isn't new is the fact that it's missing the warranty card!

Paul

[deauguie]

Just saw on agon...a guy from Spain has 2 for sale, new in box, for $1800.00 each.  Even with shipping, should be way less than new.

Just an FYI...

Dan

[vinyl_guy]

Just searched agon and not there. I'd be very suspicious. That is less than 1/2 price. Getting the warranty is critical.

[roscoeiii]

Just searched agon and not there. I'd be very suspicious. That is less than 1/2 price. Getting the warranty is critical.

I agree with Laura about getting the warranty. This is a new technology, and so I'd be extra skeptical about grey market goods.

[orthobiz]

Mine arrived yesterday. Last night I fired it up with the cleaning solution and 4 liters of Aquafina. Cleaned one record. So far so good, will report back!

Paul

[orthobiz]

Just saw on agon...a guy from Spain has 2 for sale, new in box, for $1800.00 each.  Even with shipping, should be way less than new.

Just an FYI...

Dan

BTW, someone from Spain contacted me about the Audio Desk, someone who had seen my post on Audiogon, had one for sale. I had already purchased mine but I would not trust anyone other than an authorized dealer on this one!

Paul

[vinyl_guy]

BTW, someone from Spain contacted me about the Audio Desk, someone who had seen my post on Audiogon, had one for sale. I had already purchased mine but I would not trust anyone other than an authorized dealer on this one!

Paul

Is it as good as advertized and as claimed by Michael Fremer?

Laura

[orthobiz]

OK, two weeks into this. Nary a hiccup. Machine works flawlessly. I have already cleaned 60 LP's, far more than I would have on my Loricraft. I had a couple of moldy oldies that I cleaned on the Lori first but the majority of the vinyl I buy looks clean so I put it right into the Audio Desk. I am using a counter on my iPhone, one for the current batch of fluid and one for the lifetime cleanings of the machine. At 100 to 200 the fluid gets changed. At 500 some rollers get changed.

It is a bit loud, I still play records while cleaning is going on but no critical listening can occur. It's as loud as a quiet hair dryer.

I will keep the Loricraft:
1. As a backup if this machine goes down (I have two turntables, two preamps, two amps...)
2. For 7 and 10 inch records

Cleaning works well. Hard to tell if it's actually better than the Loricraft. WAY WAY easier, of course. I did rescue an early Zappa recording that "failed" the Loricraft and was much quieter after the Audio Desk. I have other records I've been somewhat unhappy with that I will check in the future.

I am also the kind of person who deliberates over whether I should use Audio Intelligent 3 step or 1 step, if I should use my special enzyme concoction followed by L'air du Son followed by reverse osmosis. Or should I use distilled? Lab grade or supermarket? etc etc etc

Here, I use 4+ liters of Aquafina with their solution and away I go!

Paul

[orthobiz]

Is it as good as advertized and as claimed by Michael Fremer?

Laura

It's a good question. I have a little tinnitus and listening to bad compressed music just grates and grinds my ears so I think I know good from bad. But I'm not generally the kind of person who waxes for paragraphs on end about PRaT and soundstage and spaces between instruments and black backgrounds, etc. So I'll leave the philosophical ephemera to the experts. I don't doubt that there are differences, just please don't make me accurately point them out!

There's a youtube where they run a record through the Loricraft and do a scanning microscopic view of the grooves proving that they are absolutely free of debris. But then I hear that the more potent vacuum on the Lori makes the records sound better (I have the machine just before the more expensive upgrade a few years back). But my critical thinking says "clean is clean" and "dry is dry."

This machine is expensive, all the higher end machines are, and I saved up for it for a long time. And was nervous about buying it right up to the last minute. And some have had trouble after a couple of hundred cleanings, like leaking machines, not spinning properly, etc. So only time will tell.

But right now, this minute, this machine has vastly improved the actual quality (and quantity) of my life. And how often can you say that about a piece of audio equipment ?

Paul

[Yikes]

ADS - Clean more records in one weekend without really trying than I would clean in a year with either the 16.5 or a Nitty Gritty, both of which I have owned. It's not quiet, but it doesn't wake up the household at 2 am. The only system that is quieter is the Hannl, but it's close to two grand more.

I have been told in no uncertain terms not to use Lab Grade Water. It's way too pure, it actually damages plastic/rubber parts and the Vinyl as well. US Importer and Germany as well say that the system is designed to use Once Distilled Water.

I'm no chemist, but as I understand it the frequency and amplitude of the ultrasonics in conjunction with their cleaner and once distilled water will clean the record while not damaging the vinyl. Change stuff and damage to the vinyl may result.  I figure the ADS does a fantastic job, the ADS Cleaner is inexpensive, as is Distilled Water, why risk using something else?

Only real problem is that since I got the ADS I have purchased a boat load more Vinyl than I was before. It is also making my VPI/Benz sing. Which has me wanting an even better front end.

[TONEPUB]

Mine has been working flawlessly for the better part of the year now and have been using it quite a bit.

[vinyl_guy]

I have been told in no uncertain terms not to use Lab Grade Water. It's way too pure, it actually damages plastic/rubber parts and the Vinyl as well. US Importer and Germany as well say that the system is designed to use Once Distilled Water.

Curious as to who told you this as I have not heard it from my dealer or anyone else.

thanks,

Laura

[blakep]

I have been told in no uncertain terms not to use Lab Grade Water. It's way too pure, it actually damages plastic/rubber parts and the Vinyl as well. US Importer and Germany as well say that the system is designed to use Once Distilled Water.

It "may" not be a good idea to use Lab Grade or ultrapure water in the AD as continuous exposure to the plastic/rubber parts might well be detrimental as ultrapure is definitely an aggressive solvent. However, the idea that ultrapure or reagent grade water will damage vinyl within the context of the timed exposure when cleaning a record is absurd.

It will clean a record (without damaging it) very effectively, which is why most of the best multi stage record cleaning solutions use it as the final stage of cleaning. I've been using ultrapure for probably 6-7 years with a traditional RCM and I can assure you it has not damaged any of my records.

The issue here is exposure and time of exposure. The AD is a different beast altogether when using ultrapure as (opposed to all other RCM's) there would be continual exposure to many of those plastic and rubber parts which could possibly result in their deterioration.

I would bet a lot of money that the AD would indeed clean more effectively with ultrapure but the downside would be that those plastic and rubber parts with continuous exposure to the high purity water (particularly if the tank was left filled permanently or semi-permanently) would have their lifespan reduced which, depending on cost and complication of replacement, may be problematic.

[vinyl_guy]

I have always used reverse osmosis, deionized water I buy at Culligan for 50 cents per gallon in my VPI and Loricraft RCM. It has worked great. I use it as a final rinse and also for mixing cleaning fluid concentrate. Never had a problem. I'm also using it in my Audio Desk Systeme vinyl cleaner. I don't see how RO deionized water can hurt the AD or any other vinyl cleaner.

Am I missing something?

Laura

P.S., there is nothing on the Audio Desk Systeme website or in the owner's manual suggesting that one should not use RO, deionized, lab grade or ultra pure water. There is however, a strong caution not to use any other cleaning fluid and using a different fluid can void the warranty.