04
Kirmuss Audio KA-rC-1
ult rAsoniC reCord CleAner
Theprinciplesofoperationofthe
othercleanersinthisroundupareclear,and
familiartoanyonewhohasevercleaned,
well,anything.Twoarevariationson
soapandwater.Theotherusesanadhe-
sivetopickupdebris.Allverysimple.
TheKirmussKA-RC-1usesa different
principle:high-poweredultrasonic
sound.Youputtherecordina fluid.
Thesound—200wattsat35kHz—isfired
intothewater.Then,somehow,thedirtin
therecordgroovesfallsout.Howdoesthis
work?Indeed,doesit workatall?
We’llseeshortlythatit doeswork.And
I willnotethattheKirmussdeviceisn’tthe
firsttobebasedonsuchprinciples.What
makesthisonespecialis thatofallthe
ultrasoniccleaners,it appearstobethemost
affordableone.
Theprinciplebywhichit worksis touse
theultrasoundtocausecavitationstoform
betweentheparticlesofdirtandthevinyl.
Cavitationsaretinyairbubbles(there’s
alwayssomeairdissolvedinwater).They
arecreated,andthentheycollapse,creating
smallshockwaves...small,butintensein
theirimmediatelocality.Thisis whatmoves
thedirt.
TheparticularimplementationintheKir-
mussKA-RC-1is neat.Theunitis a largebox
witha plasticoutercase.It appearsratherlike
a pieceoflabequipment.It measures515mm
wideby280mmdeepby280mmtall.There
arecarryhandlesbuiltintoit.Whenemptyit
weighsaroundtenkilograms.Filled,it weighs
around 17 kilograms.
Onthetoparefourslotsfortheinsertion
ofrecords.Twoaredesignedfora standard
12 inchLP,onefor 10 inchrecords(typically
78rpm)andonefor 45 inchEPsorsingles.At
oneendofeachslotaretwopadstoguidean
edgeoftherecordtomakesureit’sparallel
totheslot.Thesealsoperforma littlemild
scrubbing.
Underneaththeslotsis a motor,someny-
loncogsandsomewheelguidesuponwhich
theundersidesoftherecordsrest.Themotorandcogsturntheseslowlyso
thatthewholerecordingrotates,withthe
groovesunderthefluid,butthelabelheld
clear.I didn’tthinktotimetherotation,but
it probablytookabouttwentysecondsper
rotation.
Thefluidis ina largestainlesssteeltub
withinthehousing.Yousupplythewater,
leavenedwitha touchofethanol.Tofillthe
tubtothecorrectlevelI usedaboutsixor
sevenlitresofwater.Kirmussrecommends
distilledwater,butthat’shardtoget.I used
demineralisedwater,whichis availablefrom
mostsupermarketsforabout 80 centsper
litre.Tothatonehastoadd40ml(alarge
shot)of70%alcohol.Youshouldonlyuse
99.8%isopropylalcohol,whichis available
fromwww.ausoptic.com.au.Thepointof
thealcohol,asI understandit,it tohelp
breaksurfacetensionsothatthewaterflows
smoothlyallthewayintothegrooves.
Youpopinyourrecordsandsetthe
built-intimergoingforthedefaultoffive
minutes.Thenyoutakeit outandworkinto
thegroovesusingthesuppliedcamel-hair
brush(mywifetellsinformsmethattheone
suppliedis justa high-qualitymakeupbrush)
someofthesuppliedsurfactantsolution.This
is 98%distilledwaterand2%of1,2-propan-
ediol(alsoknownaspropyleneglucol)orcan
be99%distilledwaterand1%propanediol.
Youget60mmofthatwiththeunit.I reckon
that’dbegoodfora hundredorsorecords.
Thenyouputtherecordsbackin,doanother
fiveminutes,takethemout,rinsethemwith
morewater(distilledrecommended,deminer-
alisedusedbyme)anddrythemoffusingthe
includedmicrofibrecloth.Cleanthemupwitha softpadandcar-
bon-fibrebrush(included)andthenthey’re
righttogo.Well,notexactly.Kirmussrec-
ommendsanadditionaltreatmentwiththe
surfactant(italsosuppliessomemorewitha
prettyuselessbrushforcleaningthestylus).I
skippedthatstep.I likemyvinyltobenaked.
Asusual,withanythingwetyouhaveto
exercisecare,andkeepsomepapertowels
handytodabofftheinevitablesplasheson
therecordlabels.Oneshouldreplacetheflu-
idinthebathevery 25 orsouses.Clean-up
is easy,thankstoa drainageholeandtapto
alloweasyemptying.
Thisis a well-thought-outpackage.All
theneededbitsareprovided,includingeven
a drainagehoseanda microfibre‘bunny
rug’tocoveryourworkarea.Allyouneedto
supplyis thewaterandthealcohol.PerformAnCe
So,doesalltheultrasonicstuffwork?
Absolutely,withoutdoubt.Again,it hadno
seemingeffectonsomerecords(particularly
myownones).But,wow,someoftheothers
weretransformed.OneoftheoldrecordsI
foundwasCrosby,Stills& Nash.It wasutterly
unlistenable,particularlyonthesecondside
(Graph13).Therewerestillsomeclicksand
popsaftertreatment(Graph14),butperhaps
fivepercentofwhattherehadbeen.It was
notrestoredtoout-of-thefactorypurity,butit
wascertainlylistenableafterwards.Anotheral-
bumthatbenefitedenormouslywasa glorious
performanceofBeethoven’sViolinConcerto
inD,Op.61,withtheBostonSymphony
OrchestraconductedbyCharlesMunchand
theamazingJaschaHeifetzonviolin.Doestheultrasonic
work?Absolutely,
withoutdoubt...and
wow,some records
wereabsolutely
transformed!
ON TesT
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