Outer ring - who uses and what are your findings

I have a Clearaudio Ovation with Universal arm and VTALifter2, fitted with a Dynavector DRT XV-1s cartridge.

I use a HRM ADH 850 gr record clamp and the new style 1500 gr. Clearaudio Outer Limit ring with the black Delrin locator ring (it no longer needs that spider centering thingy). I use the clamp and ring on every play. I get absolutely no HF ringing or harshness ever, and the bass is fast, tight and detailed. It’s just a part of my routine for playing records (that also includes cleaning the stylus and brushing the record). Not to mention obsessing about slight warps is a thing of the past.

Sound like it would be much cheaper to just replace a few warped records with new copies which will probably sound better anyway.

Sound like it would be much cheaper to just replace a few warped records with new copies which will probably sound better anyway.

Easier said than done when you've been collecting records for 45 years as I have.

I observed first hand today another benefit of using a clamp/ring on my rig today. I put on an old pressing of Chick Corea "Song of Singing" that's I've had for decades. I was doing a sound check pre cleaning and played the start at higher volume than I normal listen. I noticed my paid of subs with excessive excursion at the lead-in groove and beginning of play. After I added my 5+ lbs. of clamp and outer ring and started play again, the woofer pumping disappeared completely. The tight coupling of the disc to the POM platter certainly seems to help with LF stability.

An important comment about centre "weights" vs centre "clamps". 3-point/5-point centre clamps and tight full circle centre clamps act in a fundamentally different way on the vinyl record, compared with centre weights and gentle clamping mechanisms. All centre weights and clamps have the desired effect of coupling the vinyl record to the turntable platter. However tight active clamping has the undesired side-effect of stressing the vinyl, which audibly negatively affects the sound during playback.

Those clamps which have you spin the clamp until it gently grips in position do not tend to have this problem, but those which you push down hard and manually clamp tight are not recommended. The 3 or 5 pressure-point tight clamps are particularly bad in this regard. A centre weight, no matter how heavy, is not going to cause this problem. It is pretty easy to hear that my records sound better with my 1.4kg Nugget centre weight, while my Audio Technica 3-point clamp actually makes the same record sound WORSE than no weight/clamp at all!

This regardless of whether a ring weight is also being used.

Another important point about adding a centre weight OR a ring weight, specifically to a SUSPENDED SUB-CHASSIS turntable such as a Linn LP12 or Sota Sapphire.

These suspensions are tuned to the weight of the platter and everything which sits on it. The difference between the weight when playing a 200g or 120g record is not going to make an audible difference, but adding a 1.2kg ring weight or centre weight will, on many such turntables, be too great an additional weight to be able to compensate by tightening the suspension. In these cases, a LIGHTER weight needs to be used.

Just as importantly, if you tune the suspension to include say a 400g centre weight, then you MUST use that weight EVERY time you play a record, or the suspension will FAIL to do its job, with a much worse result than any gains you achieve by weighting the record.

It’s quite a upgrade on my vpi aries ,first model with heavy platter , I think it’s platter dependent ,  I use it all the time , I have friends that come over. To listen ,On and off with the ring , Big sound change for the better . 

Just recently I got a brand new considerably warped record; What do I do, send it back?

I've been through that before, and they sent me another warped record. I don't feel like going through the hassle.

Fortunately, I didn't hear the warp on playback. Since it was a collectors item LP, I recorded it on new expensive R2R tape (RMG/EMTEC Studio Mastering Tape 900 Series/ 1/4'x2500' 10.5') so that I could hear it without handling the record.

So far, I haven't heard the warp, not even on playback with the reel.

(The above was posted a couple of days ago on another thread, since that time, I have been listening to the tape trying to find some fault)

I recall watching the cartridge ride up and down those warps like a car going up and down hills without flexing the stylus, my tone arm is so well balanced, and the cartridge compliance is such that it's not affected by warped records, and this one is more than mildly warped. The cartridge is a "Grado Master 2"



Today, I am verifying the validity of the statement I made in regard to the playback of this severely warped record.

"Mingus Ah Um/ Charles Mingus" is the album; I first purchased it in 1960, this one is new from "Music Direct". To say that I am familiar with this album is an understatement.

After listening critically to the entire album, in which the music pronounced it to be flat as a pancake, I give you another way to deal with warped LP's.