Wayne's Audio Problems?

@audiofool1982
First of all, I have no connection to Wayne's Audio (likely a one-person operation) and have nothing to say about his record clamps nor about his business ethics.  I am a user of a 3rd party (TTWeights--no longer active) peripheral weight on a VPI platter.  I have often written about the clear benefits of such devices.  As Wayne's is the seller of that kind of device at a reasonable price, I have referred to him in a post as a source here or elsewhere.

I find two problems with your description.  First you say there was "a small dent on the inside of the ring."  The inside of the ring is the part of the ring that is the most precise and the most expensive to produce.  It is a thin (mine is about .01" the VPI is spec'd at .006") sliver of steel and must be perfectly flat.  I don't know what you mean about a "dent" but if I received a ring with a dent on the inside of the ring, I would seek to return it ASAP.

I have used my ring, one probably lighter than yours, for many years and have never experienced any of the "throw around" that you describe and, frankly, I have some difficulty believing your description.  VPI platters are generally heavy (20 lbs.?) and driven by relatively small motors. They start quite gradually.  The steel ring is in contact with the vinyl record all around, the two materials providing at least some limited friction.  So it has been for me for at about 6 years.  I have seen many VPI TTs and have never seen a platter jump-start in such a way as could upset a ring.  All assuming that the centering plate is fitted well to the ring and is, in fact, centered.

Just my $.02

Lets bad rap Wayne big time.

I have purchased used equipment produced by VPI and Bryston.  When I needed parts or repair options (some things not fully disclosed by the previous owners), both VPI and Bryston took great care of me even though I bought this gear from sellers who were not dealers of these companies.  In fact I was not even charged for some of the parts!   They did replacements as if it was under warranty to the original owner.  Based on my experiences, I will always be a customer of Bryston and VPI in the future.

It sounds to me like Wayne's Audio isn't doing good solid engineering of his products before they are shipped out on the market.  I have not purchased any of his offerings, but after reading this thread, I now know to avoid them.

Here is my review of Wayne's ring. I think there is a design flaw in the ring and worse than that, wayne has the worst business ethics.

I wanted to get a periphery outer ring for my VPI Scout Master. The VPI ring was around 1200 bucks and I couldn’t convince myself to spend that much for something that wouldn’t make a significant night and day difference in sound quality. So I decided to look for other cheaper alternatives and came across Wayne’s Audio. These rings are advertised as “universal rings” and seemed significantly cheaper (almost 1/2 price). I asked around on the VPI forum if anyone used these and someone replied saying he wasn’t happy with the quality. Considering its mostly a “VPI only” forum, I took his comment with a grain of salt and decided to reach out to Wayne audio regarding the “quality concern” and Wayne replied saying his products were top notch and I could return them if I wasn’t happy for any reason. I was convinced and bought the ring. The ring arrived and here are my findings:The ring was much bigger than the VPI Platter. A “centering plate” came with the ring. This plate should be used to center the ring while placing the ring on the platter and then you remove the plate. After placement, when you turn on the tt, the circular motion of platter creates a centrifugal force and since the ring ( which is not exactly the same size of the platter) is being pushed around and hits the sides of the records. Centrifugal force is the same force that makes you feel like you are being thrown out when you sit on a merry go round. If you directly look at the record while its spinning, you could see the ring moving around. I am fairly new to turntables but I assume, vibration control is very important in turntables which is why people buy expensive platforms, better feet, heavy platters and outboard motors. This subtle movement of the ring (being thrown around by the circular motion of the platter) creates micro vibrations by hitting the record. You can clearly see this while the record is spinning. Though the spinning ring looks really cool, it defeats the purpose of anti-vibration and in my humble opinion creates more issues than providing any benefit. To add to this, there was also a small dent on the inside of the ring.My 2 cents - If you are looking for a ring, spend the extra money and find the perfectly sized ring for your platter, probably the one that your tt manufacturer makes. Universal rings sound like a great idea, but in my experience they worsen your sound instead of improving them.When I was in the market to buy a ring, I couldn’t find much reviews on Wayne’s ring, all I saw was cool YouTube videos. I was misled by those videos and ended up buying one. In my humble opinion, you are better off with no ring, than a ring that’s not the same size as your platter.

I reached out to Wayne's audio for a refund. This is where things got a little complicated. I reached out to him with pics and videos explaining why this will not work for my tt explaining the reasons above. I was thinking he'd charge me for 15% restocking fee but he never said anything about a restocking fee and reluctantly agreed for the ring to be sent back. He also emailed me the address the ring should be sent to. I packaged the ring and sent it back to him through USPS. The tracking said the ring was delivered to him but I didnt hear back from him. When I reached out, he said he didnt receive the ring. Although I sent him proof that the ring was sent to the right address and was delivered he said it was probably stolen from his front porch and would not refund the money. After a lot of back and forth emails and phone calls I was able to get 50% of my money back. So in the end, I paid 50% of the cost for a product that I don't even have with me lol. However I learned 2 valuable lessons from this whole experience:

1. Never send anything without "signature reqd" option.
2. When a reputable company sells a product for a higher price, there is probably a good reason behind it. Don't discount that and go for a cheaper alternative as you may at loss in the end. Now I believe a company like VPI would have never done this to me.

I just dont understand someone just so blatantly giving a customer, another audiophile, who had sat in his living room and listened to music and equipment together, the finger over such a small thing! I also bought a periphery ring from him as well for about $500 and to hold me up over a defective product for $25 is just flat out uncool and very non-audiophile treatment IMO. Never again. 

No idea what exact metals are used in my Mitchell record clamps.
But I have had one approx 7 years and openly admit to at times being a bit heavy handed when tightening it down.
Never once has it stuck after years of near every day usage.

Sounds like Wayne screwed up in his design tbh.

Thank you for the suggestions I will set about trying them to remedy this defect in materials,  design and/or workmanship, since no satisfaction can be had from the seller. 

80, There are several things you could do. 1st would be to get a mid weight oil like 5W-30 auto oil and lubricate the ferule with that. If that does not work you can buff the ferule on a polishing wheel with gray compound. A Dremel tool with a felt wheel will do. Then use oil also.
It sounds like Wayne used the wrong angles for this to work right as well as the wrong metal.  Brass or gun metal, which is self lubricating and won't gall would have worked much better.

The ferrule is split into 4 sections which used to compress and grip the spindle but now just stays compressed. It saw light use and was only tightened enough to grip. Then it just would no longer release. I unscrewed the top of the clamp and removed the base by sliding it upwards then had to wiggle it back and forth to get it off. My half speed master of Tea For the Tillerman was not improved by this back and forth but it finally came loose enough to get off the spindle.  I lightly pried it open with a small jeweler's flat bladed screwdriver and reassembled and tightened again (off the turntable) and it compressed and stayed that way. Very disappointing seller response-- pay me more $ to replace my defective product. Beware this guy! 

Also if its stainless steel on stainless steel you could be encountering galling, that's when the metal binds with a similar metal and bonds itself together. Stainless is notorious for galling, not a great metal IMO there are better for almost every condition, but highly corrosive situations. 
As Teo_ audio mentioned a little lubricant can help. 

Glen

I’ve looked at image of the clamp and clamp bits..and I don’t quite see the problem.

Please elaborate...

the only potential point where it might lock up, from my best guess, is that someone might torque the living crap out of it and it might lock up. (not saying that you are, but that this is a possible problem area. for all clamps of this design type - which is most)

At that point, bit of oil on the stainless steel threading might be in order.

which did you get? the solid metal or what looks like a wood bodied one?...ok, just checked, it is something akin to anodization, and they appear to all be metal, just different finishes. A dab of oil in the right spot might fix any sticking or binding.