I recently received the KL Audio ultrasonic record cleaning machine. I have owned the Audio Desk for about 1.5 years, so I have a lot of experience with that machine. First the KL. It arrived packaged very well with high density poly urethane foam to suspend the unit inside the box to better protect it from shipping abuse. Setup was rather straightforward. Unlike the ADS which is very simple to add water to, the KL requires a steady hand to funnel the water in the unit. It cannot be simply poured into the slot as there are electronics that cannot get wet. This was my only gripe with the machine. The funnel is far too small and it is very easy to over flow, so it's a slow process filling the machine with water. The issue could easily be resolved with a larger volume funnel, although that may provide for a packaging engineering issue due to it's larger size. A small quibble. Once the water is added, you are ready to plug it in and turn it on. One note of caution, before filling the water tank, make sure the valve on the bottom right side on the unit is turned all the way to the right (closed) otherwise you will have water on the table as I found out.
The unit starts to clean the record automatically when inserted into the tank. There is no button press required. Do make sure the toggle switch is in the desired position prior to inserting a record. The options are dry only or wash/ dry. You also need to select how long to wash and how long to dry. Once set to your desired setting, there are no button presses required to clean...truly automatic. Let's talk about the sound. The KL is considerably louder than the ADS in clean mode. I liken the sound to that of Dr. frankensteins lab jump starting a corpse. there is an electrical arching sound which is from the ultrasonic transducers. I think this is a good thing as it means there's significant ultrasonic action occurring. You can barely hear the far weaker ADS transducer. What you do hear is the swishing of the rollers in the water tank. The drying sound is similar in level and sound for both units. The ability to do a dry only cycle after the first wash/dry cycle is done is a nice option with the KL. After you complete the first wash/dry cycle, simply flicking the toggle switch to dry only initiates another dry cycle without removing and reinserting the record. The days of water droplets being left on the record are gone with the KL Audio machine.
I have only washed a few records so far and they were records originally cleaned by the ADS. My initial impressions is that the KL cleans deeper and better than the ads. The records cleaned so far have become even quieter with the latest clean via KL. I will share more impressions on the sound as I get more experience, but it seems to me I am hearing even deeper into the music once the record gets the KL treatment.
Reliability...it's too early to tell, but I have high hopes for long term reliability with the KL. There are far fewer moving parts (record gripping rollers) and the build quality is like a tank. I personally have had issue with the ADS breaking down. One time was the actuating arms for the rollers failed to release the record during the dry cycle and more recently, complete failure of the ultrasonic transducers. It is once again in for repair (still under warranty) and going back to Germany. Once repaired, I will probably put it up on the 4 sale block. I will share more impressions once I get more KL Audio cleaning experience under my belt.
The unit starts to clean the record automatically when inserted into the tank. There is no button press required. Do make sure the toggle switch is in the desired position prior to inserting a record. The options are dry only or wash/ dry. You also need to select how long to wash and how long to dry. Once set to your desired setting, there are no button presses required to clean...truly automatic. Let's talk about the sound. The KL is considerably louder than the ADS in clean mode. I liken the sound to that of Dr. frankensteins lab jump starting a corpse. there is an electrical arching sound which is from the ultrasonic transducers. I think this is a good thing as it means there's significant ultrasonic action occurring. You can barely hear the far weaker ADS transducer. What you do hear is the swishing of the rollers in the water tank. The drying sound is similar in level and sound for both units. The ability to do a dry only cycle after the first wash/dry cycle is done is a nice option with the KL. After you complete the first wash/dry cycle, simply flicking the toggle switch to dry only initiates another dry cycle without removing and reinserting the record. The days of water droplets being left on the record are gone with the KL Audio machine.
I have only washed a few records so far and they were records originally cleaned by the ADS. My initial impressions is that the KL cleans deeper and better than the ads. The records cleaned so far have become even quieter with the latest clean via KL. I will share more impressions on the sound as I get more experience, but it seems to me I am hearing even deeper into the music once the record gets the KL treatment.
Reliability...it's too early to tell, but I have high hopes for long term reliability with the KL. There are far fewer moving parts (record gripping rollers) and the build quality is like a tank. I personally have had issue with the ADS breaking down. One time was the actuating arms for the rollers failed to release the record during the dry cycle and more recently, complete failure of the ultrasonic transducers. It is once again in for repair (still under warranty) and going back to Germany. Once repaired, I will probably put it up on the 4 sale block. I will share more impressions once I get more KL Audio cleaning experience under my belt.