A $300-$400 turntable tweak

Like a vampire sucking the blood from a human victim, the outer rim weight sucks the life and soul from the vinyl.
It seems like such a logical thing to do.........flatten and couple the record to the platter......that it is bewildering to me that it doesn't work?
Perhaps vacuum suction similarly can be deleterious as there are many decks which 'make do' without?

You're right Chris.
Three weeks of un-fulfillment without being able to pinpoint a reason is frustrating.
The strange phenomenon is that the 'sins of omission' are not instantly audible when one inserts the outer ring into the system?
The return of the air and 'magic' is instantly audible upon removal of the outer ring??!
Perhaps this is one of the reasons that blind testing is so difficult and unpredictable and, in my opinion, unreliable?

Syntax and Rccc are probably right about some vacuum tables. They seem to be a different kettle of fish.......I've heard the Basis Debut Gold and the Continuum Caliburn which seem to suffer no ill effects?
I would really like to comprehend a scientific explanation for the audible effects?

When you try it in every table and find it is universally bad then may be you can talk.

As this is an impossible task for any component in audio, you are effectively canceling all comments henceforth.
Sounds slightly 'idiotic' to me?

I suggest that you remove your outer rim weight and actually listen to some music.
Perhaps you might hear something?
If not......please carry on.

I have only one record warped badly enough to cause mistracking on the leading few stanzas of Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto (DGG).
This would now be the only valid reason for me retrieving the rim- weight from the depths of my cupboards :-)
YMMV,IMHO,Only tested on 2 turntables, Personal Opinion, Warning:may be totally wrong.

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.

Hmmm.....interesting about centre clamps?
I lived happily without one for 25 years on a Rega Planar 3 but have since tried one on both my turntables (Raven AC-3 and Victor TT-81).
Whilst I cannot detect with any confidence any benefits to the centre clamp on these two decks, I also cannot hear any detriment?
What to do....what to do??

Oh come on Lew.......we have agreed on other occasions methinks :^)

Interesting Jonathan,
Have you also ever tried a peripheral rim weight?
Cheers
Henry

Thanks Jonathan,
I have a 450gm centre clamp on my belt-drive Raven AC-3 and a 640gm clamp on the DD Victor TT-81.
Both clamps seem to improve the sound but at least never do harm.
Based on your impressions I shall continue to use them :-)
Do you know if your adjustable weight clamp is still available?......and if so, do you have a link?
Cheers
Henry

Hi Emailists,
Thanks for the kind words.
Perhaps the differences we are hearing on both our Ravens with the peripheral clamp, are due to the fact that you don't use the Millenium mat and I do?
Interesting......I have to try it.
Cheers
Henry

As Manitunc and others here have suggested.........I believe that it may be the mat in combination with the rim weight which is the culprit here?
I removed the Millenium mat from my Raven AC-3 and placed the record directly on the copper top platter together with a centre weight and the rim weight.
All the life and magic, which had previously been sucked from the presentation with the mat in place, suddenly returned.
I am unable to repeat this experiment with the Victor TT-81 DD table as the aluminium platter has a raised outer rim to contain the thick rubber mat, and without it, the record's outer edge sits upon this rim and thus does not make contact with the platter itself.

Is the sound quality without the Millenium mat on the Raven but with the outer rim weight, better than a record without the rim weight but WITH the Millenium mat?
Not really.
So unless I'm playing a seriously warped record (and I only have a few which cause problems), why would I bother with the fuss and ceremony involved in the placing and removal of the outer rim?