Ultrasonic Vinyl Record Cleaner- 40kHz Ultrasonic Vinyl Record Cleaning Machine with Auto Drying, Vinyl Record Cleaner Kit with Filters, 1Y Warranty (HG01 Dark Gray, 12 Inch)

Own a 5-year-old Pro-Ject VC-S (vacuum) machine, an excellent vinyl-cleaner if ever there was one. Use this in conjunction with Audio Intelligent Vinyl Solution's 3-step liquid process - enzyme, record solution and pure water rinse. All and all very happy with this system and the results, but... I felt it was time to move to the next level in my continuing vinyl adventures. Enter the world of ultrasonic cleaning, specifically the Humminguru Nova.Wow, wow, wow.I set the Nova up a couple of hours ago and it couldn't be easier. First candidate in this ultrasonic "bath", a 1958 Henry Mancini RCA pressing, "More music from 'Peter Gunn'". I picked this up 2 weeks ago in (a fairly) used state and immediately got to work cleaning it with the aforementioned Pro-Ject machine utilizing the AIVS fluids. Ended that process with another (fantastic) Humminguru product, the Orbit anti-static spindle/wand (or however you can describe it). Popped it on the turntable (Rega Planar 6) and listened. Sounded really good but those 65-year-old pops and crackles were still somewhat present. Fast-forward to a few hours ago. Grabbed that same Mancini album, which was still pretty clean, and ran it through the Nova. Whatever noise, pops, static, etc that remained from that first go-around were GONE. Just dead quiet vinyl from a very old recording. And, to boot, sonically the music just opened up - stereo separation and soundstage were vastly improved.O.K., so.. the bottom line is should you lay down $800 on a record cleaner? Absolutely. Yes, you can definitely spend more, way more. The DeGritter ultrasonic goes for $3200 and - from what I've researched - a pretty fantastic cleaner. But, a $2400 improvement? Definitely not. On the other end of that scale there's the $199 Vevor ultrasonic. Um, no thanks. I get it, it's cheap. Very cheap. I've also researched this and read enough negative press to surmise that this ultrasonic contraption (you can clean up to 10 records at a time! Why???) is great for cheap jewelry and stainless steel flatware, Sorry, no way I'm getting my precious record collection anywhere near that machine - especially my pristine (and expensive) MoFi One-Steps and AP UHQR's. Each one of those records cost more than the Vevor and at the end of the day that math simply doesn't add up.Which takes us back to the Humminguru Nova. A fabulous cleaning option, modestly priced and dead-simple to use. At $800 (or less) I believe it to be worth every penny. If I had to put a price on my vinyl collection both monetarily and mentally I know my record collection is worth at least that - and so much more.

This machine is awesome! You have to use the right cleaning solution though. There is a product by the name of Tergicleen that improves the cleaning abilities of the machine tremendously. What is rather surprising is that you only need one drop of tergicleen per water tank. I add one drop to the tank and add the distilled water to it. This helps to get it mixed properly. I found that I can clean 6 to 10 records with one tank. The solution is very weak so I don't wash and rinse. I just run the double wash and dry cycle. The record comes out dry unlike using distilled water with alcohol which leaves a couple of small drops remaining on the record. You can literally see the water go brown after several uses . I noticed a big difference in the sound after cleaning. Everything sounds much better. Clarity, ambience, space, texture, fullness etc. Make sure to super glue the little rubber feetEk in plek at the bottom of the machine. They fall out and the machine can spill water when standing uneven. With the rubber feet glued in place, it works perfectly, no spilling. I found the machine very convenient and easy to use. I will clean one record while listening to another,...... In the same room. This machine will bring new life to your records. I also prefer using this machine since I don't have to use one gallon of water for each cleaning cycle. It is easy to store and don't take up a lot of space. Every now and then I will run into undersized records the won't spin. They do include a rubber foam spacer for the idle wheel but I just hold my finger nail against the record edge and it will spin. The machine comes with several spare wheels etc which is comforting to know. I am very happy with the machine. It has done a tremendous job. I did run into some very old records that had deeply embedded pops that it would not remove entirely, but, it definitely made the record listenable.

I bought the HG01 (7/10/12) model brand-new via Amazon. I had it for a little over a month. It worked beautifully and removed a lot of the popping/crackling/ticking sounds from old vinyl records. It's easy to maintain and to run. Then, I read about the top model, the NOVA, and I decided to sell the HG01 (7/10/12) to a friend and buy the top model.I wanted to write a separate review for the NOVA, but that option is not available, so I will share my thoughts in the same review. After cleaning over a dozen records on it, I would rate it as a ONE star. The originally installed tank filter has already disintegrated and contaminated all the records I passed through it. Since I did the cleaning during the night, I did not notice the problem until the next day. Now the entire machine is also contaminated, and I am not sure how to clean it. In addition, the drying function is not working as well as on the HG01 (7/10/12). It takes a few passed in manual mode to completely dry the record. Lastly, the NOVA tray which tries to act as a funnel is very shallow and that couples with the fact that the top of the machine is not tapered for the water to drain into the water basin. You will spill a few drops of water whenever you clean a record.I will be returning the NOVA and buy another HG01 (7/10/12). This whole experience cost me $150.00 which is the difference between the purchase price and what I got for my first machine when I sold it.