Simplicity triumphs - even with a technically sophisticated and excellently crafted record washing machine like this one: With the Ultrasonic, Knosti reinvents itself in a way and yet remains true to its 40-year-old basic principles. A successful balancing act and the ticket to the upper class.
The Previous Standard - Knosti Disco-Antistat V2
Knosti's Disco-Antistat - now available in its second generation - once initiated a small revolution in record rooms across Germany. With its ingeniously simple construction, vinyl can literally be cleaned in a flash, much more thoroughly than with conventional carbon brushes or a combination of spray and cloth - and yet hardly more complicated.
The record to be cleaned is held on both sides by two label covers, with which it is suspended in a washing unit with brushes, barely covered up to the center with the cleaning liquid inside it.
By turning the crank, the record is now rotated along the brushes through the liquid. After cleaning, it is placed on the supplied drying rack, which can hold up to 15 LPs and singles.
They dry in the air and can then be truly enjoyed. It is hard to make it any simpler and cheaper for less technically savvy vinyl fans - the current model is available from the Bavarian manufacturer for under 120 euros, called the Disco-Antistat Generation II Plus Ultraclean. A true "people's washing machine," if you will.
The People Want More
At the same time, Knosti is also facing a market development that suggests the last word hasn't been spoken yet with the Disco-Antistat. The much-mentioned "convenience," the desire for convenience, is increasingly becoming a focus in the purchasing decision - even in dealing with a medium like vinyl, which is deliberately considered "inconvenient" compared to digital formats and streaming: large, delicate, demanding.
However, it would be wrong to conclude from this that vinyl cleaning should also be as cumbersome as possible. On the contrary:
Semi- and fully automatic record washing machines have long been available in abundance - and the fact that the more elaborate ones can cost several thousand euros is apparently in proportion to the technology they incorporate and the growing tendency to see vinyl as something worth investing in (and being able to afford).
In other words, when a brand-new double LP now costs 30 to 40 euros or even more, washing machines that cost fifty or even a hundred times that amount suddenly seem not so unreasonable after all.
The Ultrasonic in Overview
Knosti's new achievement, the Disco-Antistat Ultrasonic, sees itself as the affordable among the expensive.
With a list price of around 1,200 euros - equivalent to about 30 to 40 new double LPs - the ultrasonic record washing machine enters the market.
Unlike the classic Knosti, it can no longer claim to be a device for everyone. Those who invest four figures in such a machine likely have either an above-average number of records, a higher demand for their cleanliness and thus sound quality, or they own a record store.
If you then add a certain nostalgia associated with the name Knosti, especially after 40 years of company history, things get interesting:
The Ultrasonic's external appearance clearly pays homage to its hand-operated ancestors:
The black, red, and white - or silver - color scheme evokes the Knosti association, as does the design of the - although elegantly rounded and very massive - washing unit.
The record to be cleaned floats in it, held by the well-proven label covers and half-immersed in the cleaning fluid. This can be mixed with the supplied antistatic concentrate Ultraclean, also from Knosti - but you can also use other vinyl cleaning agents.
What happens next, however, is fundamentally different.
Operation in Detail
Using the buttons on the front of the machine, you select the start and duration of the washing cycle.
The default setting of three minutes is suitable for moderately to moderately heavily soiled records. However, even brand new vinyl that you want to free from possible manufacturing residues before the first play - even if only as a precaution - should not be washed for less time, in our opinion.
For more challenging cases, a slightly longer cleaning time is recommended. The progress can be monitored via the clear digital display between the switches. While the Knosti now automatically rotates the record, the ultrasound principle takes effect initially:
A powerful oscillator creates cavitation bubbles, which gently and deeply dissolve dust, dirt, and residues.
In the further course of the cycle, at the opposite end of the machine, the goat hair brushes come into play. There, the dissolved dirt particles are stripped away. The ultrasound itself intermittently resumes during this process, with no significant noise.
Quiet Operator with a Drawback
That the Disco-Antistat Ultrasonic is one of the quietest machines of its kind is no coincidence.
For structural reasons, an extraction function, which is often equipped in other devices of this and higher price ranges, has been dispensed with - especially since some machines with such a function technically blow rather than actually extract.
Here lies a potential drawback for many:
The Knosti aims to clean vinyl as thoroughly as possible and, for this purpose, has a filter system that keeps the cleaning fluid permanently clean during the washing cycle - an original and above all effective approach that has consistently resulted in excellent results in our test.
However, for drying, the records must then be placed in the typical Knosti rack - at this point, the ultrasonic machine does not differ from its "analog" budget predecessor.
One might view this as a lack of convenience - or as an opportunity to purchase one of the affordable pure vacuum machines like the Record Doctor VI Washer (under 300 euros) and thus combine the best of both worlds.
Two devices for two essential functions: not exactly space-saving, but the results are hard to beat. And still cheaper than many all-in-one solutions.
