Dynavector 17D3 hitting clamp on VPI Scout

Geoff, not sure it's a problem with the clamp(s) so much as it's a problem with the wide body of the 17D3. The Michell clamp is a similar width to the VPI at 3.5"/87.5mm, which is a very common record clamp diameter.

Record weights are ok but I prefer to use the relatively lightweight clamps that Pro-Ject, Michell, VPI, and others provide. A record weight has to be heavy enough to provide the same amount of pressure as a clamp and so puts additional weight on the platter bearing. When a platter bearing is designed for a heavy weight there's no problem, but when a platter bearing is not designed for the heavier weight there can be additional wear on the bearing itself. The amount of wear may be negligible but I'd rather not find out after a thousand hour of record play that I have to replace the platter bearing.

I haven't done an exhaustive search for a lightweight clamp with a smaller diameter bell (perhaps 85mm would do it) but so far I haven't found anything. If you come up with something in your search, please post. Otherwise I think a visit to a machine shop is in order.

Tom

I did a little more research and found the KAB Record Grip Mark II, which is a clamp and not a weight, with a diameter of 3", a half-inch less than the VPI clamp. That extra space might be enough clearance for the 17D3.

Thanks again to everyone for all your help!

On the subject of mats/clamps, I am using a TTW copper mat, with the heavy brass VPI TTW clamp. To get the clamp to work with the mat, I had to modify it by grinding down a 1/4" 20 nut to just the right size, and pressing it into the clamp, to make the threads extend down far enough to enable tightening the clamp on the lp. I then squeezed the VPI washer between two steel plates to the proper thickness and baked it at 300 degrees for about 25 minutes. It is just the right thickness. The TTW clamp has a concave radius on its bottom side, so when the clamp is tightened, all but the very worst warps are flattened out and playable. A very important benefit is the solid contact now between the bottom of the lp, and the Mapleshade Integrated Record Coupling System, which concentrates the area of contact to three points on the copper mat. This helps to drain vibration into the mat(s), which has made vinyl playback have a clarity I have never heard before from my table. This works, but feel I must be some kind of nutcase whenever I mention it, as no one seems willing to try it. Pierre Sprey may be eccentric, but he is not a nutcase, and the proof is in the listening.

Yours in music,
Dan

I have a VPI "Classic" and experienced the same problem as the OP. I have a TTW lightweight stainless center weight, a TTW copper peripheral ring, and I have an Ortofon A90 cartridge mounted. I also have a Boston Audio Design mat. In my case it was the headshell that ended up hitting the center weight not the cartridge, but the result was the same; probably the worse noise I have ever heard come from a turntable. As it turns out, I decided I prefer the sound of the table without the center weight, but absolutely, no question, prefer the set up with the periphery ring.