Ring Clamps. What do you think?

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

When the stylus traces the groove, it induces energy into the LP. Where is that energy going to go? If the LP is clamped tightly to the platter, the mass of the platter will absorb the energy. Without the platter to dissipate the energy, it is transferred back into the stylus. This is what gives the aura of life to the music. Which is a distorted sound reproduction.

I use a 3.1 lp center weight and a 3.2 lp periphery ring. You have to listen for a while to get used to hearing only the music versus the distorted music.

With critical listening you discover just how much more music you are hearing with the clamping.