The New Keith Monks ReduxTwo: Archive Standard Record Cleaning Machine and Universal Disc Cleaner
Jonathan Monks, the son of the founder Keith Monks, today announced the new ReduxTwo, an Archive Standard Record Cleaning Machine and Universal Disc Cleaner.
After ten years of successfully re-establishing Precision Record Cleaning into the mainstream with discOveryOne and the award-winning Prodigy record cleaning machines, Keith Monks Audio returns to its professional roots. It’s time for ReduxTwo, designed in collaboration with two university libraries and a specialist audio restoration engineer, to deliver Archive Standard Record Cleaning.
It all started with the world’s first-ever Record Cleaning Machine, a design collaboration between Keith Monks Audio and the BBC Radio Record Library in the late 1960s.
Over half a century later, ReduxTwo pays homage to its famous ancestors with a striking aesthetic and finish in keeping with its state-of-the-art performance.
All design aspects are geared for professional use, just as much as for the discerning audiophile at home. Attention to premium quality components, simple build and modular construction, and simple, trouble-free operation deliver the quality and reliability traditionally associated with the name Keith Monks.
ReduxTwo will be available internationally beginning November 2024, priced at
UK £4930 Euro €5570 USA £5930
Features
- Zero recontamination of cleaning fluid, vacuuming system and disc surface
- ReduxTwo cleans the 1000th record as well as the 1st
- Fast, deep clean wash, then Precision Point Suction Dry.
- SmoothFlowPro Brushless Pump
- Three-year warranty (T&C apply)
- Quiet operation.
- The worthy, natural successor to the original pro Monks
- Move the suction arm, apply the fluid, then leave it to it – ReduxTwo does the rest, then switches itself off
- Safe, consistent results – guaranteed
- Compact – quiet – automatic – simple to use
- Heavy-duty medical and industrial components throughout
- Supplied with a brush block holder and Pyr/\mat StayClean for 12″ LP records
- Supplied with discOvery cleaning fluids for Vinyl, Shellac 78s, Optical discs (CD, DVD, Blu-ray, etc), and concentrate for extra dirty records and system cleaning
- The vacuum system dries all sizes from 12″ vinyl to 5″ optical discs (CD, Blu-ray)
- Hand-built in the UK
Optional Extras
- Brush block holders for 10″ and 7″ records. All brush blocks are quick and easy plug-in connections.
- Pyr/\mat for 7″ records is also available.
SmoothFlowPro Brushless Vacuum Pump
The beating heart of the Keith Monks is the proprietary heavy-duty brushless Monks SmoothFlowPro medical grade diaphragm pump, a joint design with the medical pump manufacturer and exclusive to Keith Monks. An array of air valves is synchronised to open and close in sequence, reinforcing each other’s collective vacuum creation, achieving an elevated (a further 3l/min), sustained suction, and smoothed-out airflow without turbulence.
Airflow is more important than the degree of vacuum for effective fluid removal. SmoothFlowPro allows the machine to run faster, reducing the user’s time to clean each record while improving performance.
Better still, the smoothness of the airflow allows the Threadless suction tip to ‘reach’ even deeper into the groove, removing every minute droplet of moisture and contamination.
SmoothFlowPro also runs quieter, and its brushless motor technology ensures increased reliability.
Professional standard, built in as standardModular construction was a design remit for ReduxTwo from day one. Dealers and customers have grown tired of the inconvenience and expense of return-to-factory necessary for high-end record cleaner repairs and maintenance.Keith Monks has planned to avoid these problems with all its newer models. ReduxTwo is no exception and delivers the ultimate local (and often, end-user) serviceability.Precision engineering ensures reliability in this professional design, but when any maintenance is necessary, all aspects of the ReduxTwo design allow for quick and easy access. All main functions of each machine are a series of plug-in sub-assemblies.All workings are accessible under the lift-up top deck.These are simply removable for servicing and will also be available as simple plug-in replacement modules at a reasonable cost.Furthermore, all electrical parts are 12-volt DC and run from an external heavy-duty inline regulated switch mode power supply unit for always-safe use and work under the hood.Up top, ReduxTwo wears its 1960s heart on its sleeve. The two major components – the washing brush block and vacuum wand – are shameless reworkings of the original 1960s BBC-Monks design. They not only have the “cool retro” look of the original, but it turns out they work the best, too.Archive standard build and reliabilityReduxTwo requires one pump unit to achieve all these benefits.The new specialist Institutions division, Keith Monks Archival Works, takes this benefit further with its Archivist version, which houses two Monks SmoothFlowPro pumps that work together in tandem.Each pump cruises at a lower level and reinforces each other’s performance, delivering the ultimate long-term reliability for heavy-duty use in archives and libraries.This Archivist version of the pump unit is available for a standard ReduxTwo special order for domestic customers desiring the ultimate in Archive Standard Cleaning.As with the entire ReduxTwo cabinet design and construction, Keith Monks Audio builds both versions of SmoothFlowPro into its unique sub-cabinet, all laser cut and hand-built in-house in the Monks UK factory.Easy plug-in connections make both standard single- and Archivist twin-pump versions of SmoothFlowPro available as a simple plug-in accessory with its own power supply. This allows legacy customers to benefit from the new design and upgrade any vintage Monks back to the original Monks Mk II, the world’s first production electric record cleaner back in 1969. |
The advantages of the Monks Method
The most significant benefit of a Monks, which no other system can claim, is Zero Recontamination. A teaspoon of discOvery cleaning fluid, used only once, then vacuumed away with all the dislodged dirt and dissolved oils.
The same fluid also washes the suction nozzle tip while cleaning your discs, so there is no build-up of anything like dirty vacuuming wands or oils in an ultrasonic tank.
Then, being all-natural and biodegradable, you can flush the fluid down the sink.
Precision vacuuming all the fluid away from the record groove – precisely, one turn at a time. As you might imagine, this will always remove all contaminated fluid, much more so than blow-drying the record, which can make some contaminated fluid evaporate and dry hard onto the surface. This is why the consistently perfect cleaning result is unique to the Keith Monks and why, some 55 years after it was co-invented with the BBC, it is still the only system approved and used at all the major archives and libraries worldwide.
Your 1st, 100th, and 1000th records are just as clean as your first—a proven, trusted method, not an unproven new technology.
And as almost everybody who has tried the Monks with discOvery fluids knows, the difference in sound comparing other systems with ours is very clear.
Why clean records – A bit of info for the non-enthusiastIt is easy to forget or not realise that many people own and play records and have never thought of owning a Record Cleaning Machine. Record Cleaning Machines have differing efficacies across price ranges and technologies.Owners of a small record collection may never choose to clean a record or just give it a quick brush before playing. Most owners don’t have the experience to know that a properly cleaned record usually sounds better than one that has never experienced some TLC. Most don’t know that many record and hi-fi shops around the country will clean records one at a time for a small fee.Someone buying second-hand (pre-loved) records will have experience receiving records covered in dust, smelling of mould and or smoke. Ideally, clean these before playing as they will sound better, reduce wear on vinyl and stylus and improve the longevity of both.Keith Monks has argued that all their machines clean equally well, but the differences are in noise and speed of cleaning. This held until the launch of ReduxTwo, where the improved pump delivers small but significant improvements.It makes no sense for someone with a record collection of 100 records to buy a ReduxTwo, but it does make sense to buy a Keith Monks Prodigy, especially if more record purchases are on the horizon.Remember, all Keith Monks machines are quiet enough to listen to records while cleaning others.BackgroundJonathan and his father agreed on two critical issues of record cleaning: Firstly, the cleaning must be efficient without over-stripping the vinyl of its natural plasticisers, and secondly, the experience must be pleasurable.One of the essential features often forgotten is the pleasure factor. If you can clean records while listening to records, records get cleaned, and the machine earns its keep. Make it unpleasant to use — usually too noisy — and it hardly gets used, making it an expensive paperweight.Vinyl record sales are growing worldwide, and more enthusiasts and younger people are finding or experiencing again that vinyl records deliver music and emotion that many playback systems seem to have missed. Plus, it’s possible to read the sleeve notes while enjoying an appealingly tactile user experience.Pre-owned records are a fabulous music source at often very attractive prices, and here, a record cleaner is ideal for restoring the best performance. Cleaning also improves the performance of new records as it removes the excessive mould release agent frequently left after manufacture. |
