OK, so I have heard two LPs before and after the KL Ultrasonic Cleaner. (We didn't try more because we were having too much fun listening last night -- when you go from The Weavers "Guantanamera" to Led Zep's "In My Time of Dying" and Gina Bacauer/Dorati playing Chopin, it's an interesting evening!)
On the first LP, the difference was like a system upgrade, much more vivid presentation. With the second, the difference was minimal. The noise did not change with either. My null hypothesis based on this extremely limited experience, the KL gets deep into the grooves and lets the cartridge dig out more info. The convenience is to die for. I could see using the Loricraft for an initial deep clean, then the KL for maintenance.
Doc, clarify please, since you said the KL sounded like it got deeper into the grooves (I appreciate that it is a hypothesis), but then you go on to say that you'd still use a vacuum type cleaner for an intial deep clean.
I too am a bit troubled by all the issues surrounding both reliability as well as utility of the Autodeske, and like Mep, have an aged VPI that won't die.
I'd love the convenience of a really good machine that doesn't blow my ears out and is far less labor intensive.
So, it's ultrasonic, maybe - let's see what the KL yields-
string type vacuum ala Keith Monks and its progeny, which is even more time intensive than the VPI type, or
another, perhaps quieter conventional suction arm vacuum type cleaner, like the VPI.
I use multiple fluids (Walker), so initially excluded consideration of the Clearaudio Double Matrix Pro but I see there is an aftermarket single fluid offered by the importer.
My mind remains open- the idea of having multiple cleaning machines is a bit obsessive, but I guess that's part of the job description.....