Late last night I tried the cork and the Herbie's. The cork sounded a bit different but not much. The Herbie's was a different sound altogether. The Herbie's seemed to have a very black background, smoother but not quite as quick or dynamic. Of course then I must change the counter weight due to the change in height. The cork has a glue on it's bottom side which I thought might really stick on the platter after I lifted it off, so that's why I was asking about it before I did it. Well almost all the glue stayed on the platter, so I spent an hour cleaning it off. Maybe VPI should mention that.