Truly, genuinely Professional
Exclusive 5 Year Guarantee
A conditional 5 year manufacturer's guarantee is standard on all
Keith Monks professional Record Cleaning Machines.
All Keith Monks Record Cleaning Machines are true professional standard for studio, broadcast and archive use.
Uniquely, you won’t find any domestic parts here at all - all Keith Monks Record Cleaning Machines employ only genuine industrial and medical grade components. Specially customised to our precise requirements, heavy duty yet very quiet and designed for use 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (our traditional broadcaster and archive customers, for which the RCM was originally designed, absolutely insist on it).
(Available on: all models)
Standard cleaners vs. the Keith Monks
Huge, cool, quiet medical-grade pump
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Felt ‘lips’ can leave audible fluid and dirt on record
No fluid and no dirt left behind with a Keith Monks
Fluid evaporates, small particles congeal together, hardens into large particle and driven into groove by travelling stylus |
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Raised outer edge on all LPs holds tube off record, often leaving fluid & dirt behind Raised outer rim on all LPs presents no problems for a Keith Monks
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‘Tubes and lips’ often cannot vacuum uneven discs Uneven and warped records present no problems for a Keith Monks
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(All above features available on: all models)
The Keith Monks discOvery™ Precision Record Cleaning Brush
Unique and over 2 years in development, an even better design with a brand new superior bristle – custom formed, soft tipped yet firm bodied - perfect for wet cleaning.
This brush type may look familiar, but the only standard part we use is the regular wood stock for the handle.
Keith Monks discOvery™ brushes are specially made to our specifications, the only record brush fitted with a brand new and greatly superior synthetic strand - extra fine bristles which are then specially formed and tapered with custom contoured tips for deep yet gentle cleaning right down to the very bottom of the record groove.
It is this combination of contour and fineness that allows the discOveryTM brush to deliver the best-ever performance on both the shallow narrow grooves on standard LPs as well as the deeper wider grooves found on audiophile discs, 12” 45rpm records and 78s. This strand material also offers excellent anti-static properties. And coupled with the rigidity of the strands, this allows records to be given a really firm scrub to dislodge the most stubborn of particles without fear of damaging the delicate modulations on the groove wall.
Especially hard-wearing so brushes will not wear out early, and no ‘mickey mouse ears’ tips: rough and jagged bristle ends left where the basic plastic strands used on cheaper brushes have been chopped down - clearly visible to the naked eye, these jagged tips can damage the delicate groove wall. Our exclusive bristle material is not a cheap option, but we know what Keith Monks customers demand. Two years of searching and testing has revealed this is the only bristle that cleans so effectively and safely.
There really is no better brush anywhere else for caring for your precious records – as you would expect from Keith Monks.
Now available in 4 sizes for 7”, 10”, 12” and 16” transcription discs.
(Available on: all models)
Unique Keith Monks deck-mounted brush block with built-in fluid application system
Unlike virtually all other record cleaners, the Keith Monks is more than just a suction machine. The classic Keith Monks RCM configuration uses a deck-mounted brush holder with built-in fluid application system for simple, precise, effortless LP cleaning.
Much faster than using a bottle and brush, the fitted brush block is very convenient and easy, and even more of a pleasure to use - especially if you are cleaning a lot of records in one session.
(Available on: optional on ‘Sovereign’, standard on all other models)
‘Mini Cooper’ manual handpump: on-deck fluid application system for easy, precise washing control
An instantly recognisable part of the classic Keith Monks RCM configuration, our unique deck mounted manual handpump system uses a car windscreen/windshield wash fluid pump (as used in the classic British 1960s Austin Mini Cooper).
This handpump delivers a controlled amount of fluid through to the on-deck brush block. It allows precise control of the washing cycle and makes the whole process fast, simple and less prone to mess from spills.
And, if you’ve got a lot of records to clean, this popular feature makes the session less fatiguing – and actually even more enjoyable too.
(Available on: optional on ‘Sovereign’, standard on all other models)
The Keith Monks ‘Nozzle33/45’ classic Precision Suction Nozzle for vinyl LPs and 45s
The Keith Monks ‘Nozzle33/45’ classic Precision Suction Nozzle for vinyl LPs and singles has a unique shape and narrow hand polished tip specially designed to provide optimum suction capability while keeping contact with the disc to an absolute minimum.
The ‘Nozzle33/45’ overcomes all the suction problems often associated with other cleaners. Its narrow dimensions accumulate less excess fluid which others can leave behind on the disc, and is made from a specially selected plastic that’s even softer than the vinyl it’s cleaning.
Instead of having the usual long tube lined with felt ‘lips’, the ‘Nozzle33/45’ leaves no fluid and dirt residue at all. It vacuums dry even badly warped records, the raised outer edge of LPs and almost any other disc deformity with no problems at all - as if it were a completely flat disc. The Keith Monks RCM cleans every part of every record just as effectively and beautifully as the next.
The nozzle material is specially selected to be even softer than the vinyl it's cleaning. This softness does make it difficult to machine the precise shape, but we know it has to be worth taking the extra time to get the most effective, optimum drying results from our unique nozzle.
(Available on: all models)
The Keith Monks ‘Nozzle78’ special Precision Suction Nozzle for shellac discs
The Keith Monks ‘Nozzle78’ is a unique new version of the Keith Monks Precision Suction Nozzle, specially designed for cleaning 78s and other shellac discs.
Since 1969 the original vinyl cleaning Precision Nozzle has proven the best shape for vacuuming the softer surface of vinyl records, but its narrow tip was easily damaged by harder shellac 78s.
So we have now developed a new version of the nozzle, still recognisably Keith Monks in style but with a new specially contoured hand polished tip that is less prone to wear and damage from the harder shellac surface. While wider nozzles can leave fluid behind on vinyl microgrooves, the ‘Nozzle78’ works perfectly on the deeper wider grooves of 78s.
As with the ‘Nozzle33/45’ for vinyl, records with uneven surfaces present no problems at all for the Keith Monks ‘Nozzle78’, and are vacuumed as effectively as a completely flat disc. Changing nozzles for different discs is simple and takes less than a minute.
The ‘Nozzle78’ keeps your Keith Monks Record Cleaning Machine cleaning better, for longer.
(Available on: fitted as standard on Mk.IV/V ‘Archivist Uno/Duo’, will also fit other models and available as retrofit spare part for older Keith Monks RCMs)
From the inventors of the suction nozzle and buffer thread principle, our unique automatic motorised thread reel out system
Another unique - and critical - part of our system is our motorised reel-out system for the soft yet robust thread that buffers the suction nozzle off the record. As you can read in the Making History section, it was Keith Monks Audio engineers who took the original Percy Wilson concept and developed both the world’s first ‘pickup’ style suction arm and the first ever thread system used to act as a buffer between suction nozzle and record, neither of which were used on the Wilson prototype.
The original Keith Monks thread design feeds out a precise amount of thread slowly and automatically using a special reel holder linked to a customised motor, all fitted inside the Machine. The thread passes down a brass conduit in the suction arm to the arm head, and the suction then takes the used thread away with the waste fluid.
This special soft yet sturdy thread suspends the nozzle off the record surface, creating a clean protective buffer between nozzle and disc, and creating just the right size gap necessary to enable an optimum degree of suction to take place. So the part of the Machine that actually touches your precious record is tiny and always fresh, clean and uncontaminated.
Our thread is custom made from a special type of nylon selected for its improved anti-static properties. One ‘dry’ cycle on the RCM uses only about 5mm (1/4") of thread, so each reel cleans many hundreds of records.
Of course other cleaners have since adopted the same ‘Monks Method’, but only with manual thread reel-out. So why do we go to so much effort to make this automatic? Mainly because it is so vital to the vacuuming process that a fresh piece of thread is reeled out every time you clean. If you forget, the thread is much more likely to fray and break from constant friction; but much more importantly, the same piece of thread will then vacuum several records and trapped particles could re-contaminate the next record.
When servicing ancient Keith Monks Machines where the thread motor has eventually failed, the customer has usually noticed because marks start appearing on the record surface. This is an early warning of stationery thread at the nozzle tip: particles caught in the thread fibres, or hardened fluid dried on from a previous session. We feel it just isn’t worth the risk, and this is why you will find this elaborate mechanism fitted on every Keith Monks professional model.
Rather than leaving it outside to clutter up the top deck and attract dust and greasy finger marks from reeling out manually, the Keith Monks thread is kept clean safely concealed yet easily accessible inside the Machine.
Again, this is a unique feature of Keith Monks Record Cleaning Machines, and is fitted as standard on all models including the entry level ‘Sovereign’.
(Available on: all models)
Probably the biggest, coolest, quietest vacuum pump in the industry
A genuinely Professional machine with probably the biggest, coolest-running and quietest vacuum pump in the industry. Yet the system purrs along at a whisper-quiet sound level – about the same as a modern refrigerator.
The heart of the Keith Monks Record Cleaning Machine, our medical grade vacuum pump is specially customised to our requirements. This critical and extremely expensive component has been fitted to our RCMs since around 1980. The key to the success of the Keith Monks, its reliability record is unsurpassed - and no wonder: its ‘normal job’ is in such critical medical equipment as kidney dialysis machines, so this pump absolutely has to keep going. People’s lives are literally depending on it.
To hear a record at its very best, there is no such thing as ‘degrees’ of cleaning. Rather than risk confusing people with different models and varying ‘flow rates’, all Keith Monks professional RCM models use exactly the same high performance medical grade pump. We use exactly the same vacuum pump in all Keith Monks RCMs at every price point right across the range. So private individuals have access to the same quality and reliability that has been enjoyed by most major broadcasters and archivists around the world since 1980.
In fact it is the suction capability at the nozzle head rather than the pump’s flow rate that is the significant measurement that determines the performance of the 'drying' cycle. Although our vacuum pump has an adjustable power facility which can be increased, we have it set at 20in Hg (20 inches of mercury). This is partly to be in accordance with one aspect of the original Percy Wilson design, but mostly because we found that higher suction rates exerted too much force on the record and made the nozzle prone to leaving spiral marks on the disc.
Since we introduced this exact same pump model back in 1980, this large device has proven entirely capable of vacuuming completely dry even the most flooded of discs. Its setting also allows the pump to 'cruise' without stress and strain, so it runs cooler and quieter - making the Monks more pleasant to use and further extending its service-free operating life.
(Available on: all models)
Custom built heavy duty turntable motor – but why only one-way operation?
The Keith Monks custom built turntable motor, a very heavy duty unit designed for cool running 24 hours a day as demanded by our broadcast and archive customers.
Other cleaners make a virtue of their two-way motor for backward and forward scrubbing action. So why doesn’t the Keith Monks do this? Simply because in tests we found that, when the motor changes direction, the brush tips get forced deep into the grooves for a moment before starting to move the other way. Even with the soft bristle tips of the new Keith Monks discOvery TM Precision brushes, this can cause damage and, if there are any larger particles floating in the fluid underneath, they could get driven into the base of the groove causing a permanent ‘click’ during play.
Our clockwise turntable system, tried and trusted by broadcasters archivists and audiophiles since 1969, works in combination with the pivoting movement and convenience of the unique Keith Monks brush block and the specially tapered soft bristles of the Keith Monks discOvery TM brushes - delivering all the washing and scrubbing action necessary for a perfect Precision Clean.
(Available on: all models)
Keith Monks. “Making records sound better since 1969.”
