Record Weights/Disc Stabilizers

@badgerdms 

Then if you want to hear a remarkable improvement get yourself a Michell Engineering clamp, inexpensive but effective. If it is not good looking enough for you there is the Sota and the Basis clamps. They all work the same way.

I also forgot to mention one other approach that seems to be effective. I noticed a friend's CS Port turntable had an extremally heavy record weight. Because it uses an air bearing the CS can get away with this. But why so heavy? An older person with weaker hands might have difficulty with it.  The answer is the platter. There is no record mat and the surface of the platter is ground concave. Putting a straight edge across it the spindle is down about 1/16". The heavy weight is flexing the record into the concavity, clever. 

If you think you hear a difference put on blinders and have another person man the turntable changing records and weights keeping a log. If you can reliably identify any particular situation you have made a believer out of me. If not then you are letting psychology rule the day. This kind of statement always pisses people off. It should not. I have exactly the same psychology. The only difference is I have learned to identify when it is interfering. On the other hand I am not at all adverse to good looking equipment. It impresses the hell out of your friends.

@badgerdms,

The only instance where a record weight might improve playback is with a dished record when playing the convex side. Otherwise they do next to nothing. With perfectly flat records you don't need anything at all. Unfortunately, that applies to less than 10% of the records we purchase. The problem is not a resonating record. It is pitch variation as the tonearm tracks up and down warps. This is way more audible than people think. Put a test record on and stick a dime under the edge of the record then play it and you will hear the tone warble at 33.3 times per minute. It is not as obvious with a complex signal but it ruins the illusion of being at a live venue. 

Peripheral rings do flatten some warps but are a PITA to use and dangerous around delicate cantilevers. They are always used in conjunction with a record weight. In the absence of vacuum clamping reflex clamping is the best solution. The Sota, JA Michell and Basis clamps are examples. They are no more difficult to use than a record weight. You just have to add a twist.