Orosonic/Monster Cable Reflex Record Clamp

If you insist on a clamp, the BDR was a good one. Two versions were made---a 1-piece, and a 2. They come up for sale occasionally, going for $100-$150.

Hi @bdp24,

I own the two piece BDR clamp.

@rauliruegas ,

I have become curious to your post. You mentioned that what I may perceive as clamps taking the life out of music as distortions, ...

So when I make that statement, I hear the music becoming more free from electronics, more free from the room, more free from the speakers.....and by the way, the bass is more "fleet of foot" so to speak.

So, I ask you, if I'm hearing these sorts of positive things, how am I hearing more distortions? I view my listening at home through the lens of listening live.

Dear @slaw : The overall function of TT mats and clamps are to damp resonances that at the end is a kind of distortions.

Exist a lot of " nice distortions " that are generated by the room/system and for analog mainly inside the analog rig and there with what happens at the ridding of the stylus tip where is here what every thing starts about, through the " noises/distortions " generated for the cartridge that is trying to follow the grooves modulations and in that movements adds a lot of non-existen information in those recorded grooves but additional to that exist a feedback coming from the LP surface that adds more " trash "and then the degradation proccess continue trhtough the headshell and tonearm own resonances and feedback goes on and on.

Unfortunatelly does not exist perfect mats or perfect clamps that can make that damp in perfect way so through the time we are accustomed to listen our systems with several " nice distortions " that puts some kind of " life " additional " life " to the recorded signal and when we change the mat for a better damping one or a better damping clamp some of those " nice distortions " disappears and gone with some of that " life " but in reality what we have after the changes is not more recorded information but a cleaned-up information that through some time we take in count that what we listen is clearer music information ( notes/harmonics ) .

For years I used the AT666 disc stabilizer ( after market vacuum hold down mechanism. ) and I remember in a thread that a gentleman posted that he does not like it that device because the music " life " just disappears when in reality is not in that way.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

@rauliruegas 

Personally I feel the same way. Vacuum clamping is the choice I prefer as you get the most even coupling of record to platter. But even that has degrees of success. When I bought an early SOTA Star Sapphire as a proof of concept to see if I wanted a SOTA table, that one had adjustable vacuum suction levels. I found if I got over 50% the music was dead, as the low level detail was lost. If I kept vacuum in the 35% range, the music had low level detail, but also even tonal texture and body. 

SOTA has gone to an automatic vacuum level in their current products where the initial vacuum pressure is applied and then reduced to maintain a desired level of pressure. From what I hear they have gotten the system dialed in properly. So on my main table this is what works the best for me, and I appreciate it.