Ring Clamps. What do you think?

There is no doubt that any believable theory would tell us that the LP has to be held flat and firmly in position, for maximal accuracy in tracing the groove. However, I own a peripheral ring and a heavy center record weight, and neither of these devices increases my listening pleasure. Both seem to dull the sound. Used together, they kill the verisimilitude entirely. So I use a minimal center record weight, and I'm happy. One hypothesis to explain my aural finding is that the nature and composition of the platter surface become much more important when the LP is physically clamped to it. Maybe therefore I should be experimenting with platter mats. But life is short.

Ding....ding...I think you got it when you indicated that it was the platter and not the ring.

Ttw
We will publish a spectral analysis report next week.

The above does little to substantiate whether it will improve
SQ.

The point you're missing is that a record SHOULDN"T breathe at all. It is not a musical instrument. It wiggles the stylus which make electric signals that are amplified, and brought to your room via the speakers. The stylus should only react to the bumps on the record...anything else is distortion. Ring clamps flatten the record to eliminate the "wow" from warps...riding up the warp raises the pitch, down the warp, lowers it. In my experience, ring clamps work.

My VPI ring clamp and center weight take < 10 seconds. The center weight doesn't screw down. There's no worry over proper adjustment. IMHE, bass is tighter and clearer because records are flatter allowing for better tracking. Warped garage sale and Quality Record Pressing LPs ;-) are not a concern for me. The ring clamp solves the problem.

IMHO if you are hearing dullness etc. when using a ring clamp, then you might want to play around with mats as mentioned above or reevaluate your setup parameters such as VTA etc. Cheers,
Spencer