I have found that the periphery ring weight and the heavy center weight are important to the voicing of my TNT Mk. 6 turntable. In upgrading my turntable, I first upgraded my Mk. 4 lead/acrylic/cork platter to the Mk. 6 acrylic platter and inverted bearing, and I used this platter/bearing with my Mk. 5 record clamp for a little over a month. I found that the resulting sound was a bit analytical and on the cool side of the spectrum. The addition of the center weight and periphery ring weight restored some warmth to the sound of the turntable in my system. I gather that the weight and the clamp are designed to do more than just flatten the warps in an LP and that they serve a role in vibration damping that, at least in my system, is important and beneficial to the sound.
VPI periphery record ring for VPI Scoutmaster
How much of an improvement does the VPI steel periphery record ring make? Do you think it's worth the $500 US retail price? Or would it be advisable to first look for the SDS, then afterwards purchase the ring? I'll be using it on a Scoutmaster turntable.