A $300-$400 turntable tweak

Suteetat/Halcro, Popper learned from Tarski about 'the
truth'(aka 'satisfaction approach'). Then he used this
approch to illustrate his 'theory of refutation'. A 'theory' in the sense of 'all swans are white'. Thanks to his stay in Australia he was able to demonstrate at some philosophical meeting in England how easy it is to refute an theory. He repeted the universal quantification:
'All swans are white' and then pulled just one black swan
from his hat (?) which he brought from Australia for the
purpose. The colleaques were astonished but the most of then wanted to check if this swan was not painted black.

Regards,

Elizabeth: "we are all aware of the little flaws we can see in others, (and how hard it is to see our own!)". EXCELLENT! (standing ovation)

Not to beat a dead horse but, For me this hobby is about voicing a system to your taste. We've all heard systems that measure great but arent satisfying to listen to. I prefer some systems to others depending on the type of music (classical, jazz, etc) or source. I think the OP's statement reflects his system. There are times when my unclamped ES1 sings prettier than my Cosmos IV but in general I prefer the Sota.

Here is one more vote for NOT using the ring. I, too, found that my Clearaudio periphery ring was making the music more digital like than analog. Since I had bought it i kept using it in the beginning wondering what is going on- never occurred to me that the ring might be the culprit. Since 'common sense' will tell you that a flatter record should perform better. after trying many tweaks. adjustments, one day i just omitted the ring and Valla! Glorious Analog sound.

I still have the ring and use it with few warped records- reluctantly.

never occurred to me that the ring might be the culprit.

Same here Nilthepill.
I also left off the outer rim by chance because the inbuilt stylus guard on the Technics EPC-100Mk3 was scraping on it for the first few revolutions at the beginning of a record and voila.............the magic was back!
The difference between 'magic' and 'pedestrian' in analogue is ephemeral.
Without it, there is no reason to persist with the trials and tribulations of the 'record playing ritual'.
With it, all adjustments are a joy.