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Scratches on acrylic platter Clearaudio Emotion

Hi there!

My question might sound very anal but hey, here it is. I noticed some tiny concentric scratches on the acrylic platter of my Clearaudio Emotion TT. They are isolated from each other and don't come in bunches, so to speak. Although they are very small and very few, I'm a bit disappointed to see them

Are those scratches normal and are they on the platter from the beginning, or could they have been made by some LP? I noticed that once, one LP slipped a little when I brushed it. Otherwise I don't see what could have made those tiny scratches on the platter. But on the other hand, I think it's very strange to have such tiny scratches (however small and few they might be) on a $2000+ TT.

Did someone here have a similar experience with an acrylic platter, especially a Clearaudio acrylic platter?

So as said, this question is very anal and I'm sorry for this but I couldn't help asking it. If everyone wants to share its experience or provide advice, he or she is welcome.

Thank you very much!
boozendormi

Showing 2 responses by moonglum

moonglum
619 posts
 
Do you normally brush the LP while it is moving? Could there have been some hard grit in between?
In theory the characteristics of vinyl and acrylic are similar enough that they should not scratch each other?

If this is happening because of grit (and indeed the LP itself could end up being scratched) you could try a mat such as the Ringmat. It offers minimal contact between table & mat as well as Mat-LP.
moonglum
619 posts
 
My turntable has a heavy thick composite platter which was intended to be used matless (although the manufacturer did originally supply a carbon fibre + felt "sandwich mat" which could be "flipped" to cover alternate preferences) but I preferred (by a large margin) the undamped approach of using a mat which decouples the LP from it's surroundings.

Might not be for everyone but in various AB comparisons - VTA precisely matched - it's a clear winner for me...

It also means no fussing around with clamps & weights as the mat couldn't handle the extra loading. Speeds up the process of playing LPs. :)
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