The Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2025, Part 2
Details Written by: Jonathan Gorse Category: The Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2025 Created: 14 March 2025
The delightfully lab-coated Jonathan Monks, son of the firm’s founder, was demonstrating a range of Monks record-cleaning devices to all comers. I reviewed the entry-level Prodigy machine for SoundStage! Ultra last year and was so impressed with its forensic cleaning abilities that I purchased the review sample. This year at Bristol, the flagship Redux Two model made its debut. This must be the coolest and most beautifully built record-cleaning machine ever made.
The stunning Keith Monks Redux Two
Priced at £4495, the Redux Two is clearly aimed at libraries, archives, and well-heeled audiophiles. It contains not one, but two cleaning-fluid tanks enabling you to experiment with Keith Monks’s own range of dedicated cleaners, as well as trying alternatives should you wish. Cleaning fluid is electrically dispensed at the push of a button. The machine offers a superior ultra-quiet brushless motor compared to the lower-end Prodigy models. The cleaning arm is a fabulously engineered all-metal affair. It even has a light on the end to illuminate the cleaning head—perfect for use in the dark cellars of the British Library. Unlike the Prodigy, the Redux Two has a full-size rather than label-sized mat. The mat is sculpted with hundreds of tiny rubber pyramids to reduce the risk of recontamination of the playing surface. All components are laser-cut in house and the exterior casework is beautifully finished in navy blue.
The interior of the Monks machine is innovative and beautifully thought-out
Given the cost of vinyl nowadays and the giant leap in replay quality that occurs with clean records, anybody with more than a couple of hundred records absolutely should invest in a record-cleaning machine. I was foolish to wait so long and I have been staggered at the contribution having one makes to my musical enjoyment.