301 platter dampening rings - yeah or neah

[Wakefield Turntables]

simple question, yes or no? I've seen a few people use them and I even have one on 1210 mike new platter, but should I bother with the 301 :scratch:

[DSJR]

For less than a tenner, they WON'T make the thing worse :)

[Wakefield Turntables]

Good point ;)

[Mika K]

They dampen the platter nicely if you perform "ringing test" with nail etc. I think that they are worthy upgrade and easily justified because of low cost, especially if you spent some time with diy mindset. However one of my friends does not like them with his 301 as he feels that they steal life out of his deck.

I think the platter dampening rings might decrease some certain coloring that Garrards (especially the 401) might have making the sonic signature a tad more neutral. Anyway worth of trying how do you feel about that as said, it's not like you have to sell your kidney for this.. ;)

[Wakefield Turntables]

They dampen the platter nicely if you perform "ringing test" with nail etc. I think that they are worthy upgrade and easily justified because of low cost, especially if you spent some time with diy mindset. However one of my friends does not like them with his 301 as he feels that they steal life out of his deck.

I think the platter dampening rings might decrease some certain coloring that Garrards (especially the 401) might have making the sonic signature a tad more neutral. Anyway worth of trying how do you feel about that as said, it's not like you have to sell your kidney for this.. ;)

I'm always a little wary of dampening decks. I remember when I tried to dampen to 1210 down as far as I could it was an experiment in how to kill the musicality of the deck. I will have to listen to he sonic signature of the 301 for a long time to see if I like it s it is. Life's hard isn't it :D

[Clive]

You can buy Nitrile cord which you cut to length and then super glue. Don't use Nitrile cord if you want the rings to last more than a few months as they stretch and won't provide any damping. They are an easy way to try it though.

If you use the standard rubber mat then the changes will be relatively minor, if you use a mat that damps the bell less then there should be greater benefit. Sorry it's a platter not a bell. :)

[Wakefield Turntables]

I have access to cork, so I was thinking about making a cork mat, somewhere between 3&5mm and then seeing if this could dampen the platter down a little further. Any thoughts? Perhaps I could use cork and a cork platter mat?

[Clive]

You never know until you try. I've not yet found a mat that damps the 301 platter better than the standard one. Usually a rubber mat will suck the life out of music but it works on the 301. You need to try these things, especially as such tweaks are virtually free.

[krugdoktor]

I got great results with an SDS Isoplatmat on the original Techy platter. Somehow the damping of the awful ringing of the Techy platter was amazing given the very light weight of the Isoplatmat. Maybe it works its wonders on the Garrard platter too? IMHO there should be some device to damp the platter and a platter mat to provide a perfect interface of record and platter. I don't think damping rings around the perimeter of the platter could do much against ringing.

[Mika K]

I'm using a Loricraft mat with my 401. The mat has mixed cork and some rubber compound and seems to work pretty well, not sucking life out of music but still making things clearer and easier to follow. However still the dampening rings have bigger effect I think.

[Clive]

One thing you need to bear in mind with the 301 platter is that it's ever so slightly concave so any mat needs to follow the contour of the platter if it is to damp it.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Why did they make the platter concave?

[Clive]

Why did they make the platter concave?
It seems it was thought to be a good idea to support the outer part of the record as much as possible, though when 301s came out records were quite hard and less likely to warp. I think this was the reason....I did read about it but those memory locations may have been damaged by strange liquids.

[Wakefield Turntables]

It seems it was thought to be a good idea to support the outer part of the record as much as possible, though when 301s came out records were quite hard and less likely to warp. I think this was the reason....I did read about it but those memory locations may have been damaged by strange liquids.

:lol: no worries.