Hama record clamp upgrade.

Just bought a Hama record clamp from hmv for £9.99. Always a bit sceptical re clamps and weights. I always felt weights somehow took some of the life out of a recording.

Anyway I stuck the Hama on my Thorens td309 playing Florence and the Machine to hear if any improvements.
Unbelievably on a quick A/B listen there were obvious improvements at the top end. Less apparent smear. At the other end the bass is deeper which I find a little bit more difficult to understand.

When I first noticed the clamp in hmv I thought it looked pretty nasty. However, it's a bit cleverer than I appreciated with a nice rubber like base and an excellent grip of the spindle and positive pressure on the record. Takes a bit of a push to fit but comes away easily.

At £9.99 I can hardly believe it!

And I have nothing to do with Hama or hmv.

5mm achromat next!

Cheers

Kev

Hmmm. That looks interesting. It's for sale on line. Got to be worth a punt.

https://cdn.hmv.com/r/w-1640/p-webp/.../01-672146.jpg

5mm Achromat now on. I still think the Hama has given the most noticeable improvement. The Achromat may take time to appreciate whereas I believe I could hear larger, immediate improvements with the Hama clamp.

First impressions with the Achromat is better separation between instruments within the soundstage. An example of this are the first few bars in Florence and the Machine Lungs album where the Achromat placed the notes much further to the left of the stage. Again, not really sure why this should be - maybe just the instrument separation with less smear between notes.

Listening to Sheryl Crow Threads album and the voices are now placed wholly in their own space rather than clumped together.

Conclusion for me is that Hama clamp plus Achromat is a great, cost effective upgrade for my glass plattered 309.

;-)

Had a chance to listen to some records I've had for 30 odd years and some newer Taylor Swift would you believe.

I can now confirm the soundstage with Achromat fitted is considerably bigger and with space between performers. Bass is also much improved in terms of depth and lack of bloat. I think it's the lack of smear and absorption in the mat doing it's thang!

Really quite excellent results overall. It's like a turntable upgrade without the cost!

You have just entered in the field that can swallows you easily.
Audiotechnica, Sony and Kenwood has some extremely well thought Ceramic turntable mats.
I have the Kenwood mat. It has Alumnia-Ceramic-Sapphire crystals blended into one and called Open Pore Ceramic mat. Can absorb high amount of vibration and won't add any character to the sound signature. Greater separation and deeper bass, cleaner mids, highs and wider sound stage in every directions. I Call it purifier. They are affordable.
A VTA must have on turntable when people are experimenting with these. They all have different thickness depend on manufacturer.
I am experimenting with CU (copper) mat as well. Pricey stuff.
Japanese were making some interesting mats back in 80's.

Re. Achromat 5mm: Would effectively raising the height of the record by a few mm not alter the vertical angle of the tonearm to an audible degree? Apologies if it sounds stupid, but it is a serious question!

It will potentially alter it yes. Whether you hear it will depend. If you've a keen ear then yes.

I would probably be ok then with my cloth ears. My turntable is supplied sans mat, and they recommend it stays that way. I don't get why something that works for one deck wouldn't necessarily work with another though. All I can think is that the differences come from, for example a mat, reducing a sound artefact from say, the motor or airborne vibrations, whereas another deck may not have so much of a problem to start with, so the improvements from the mat are less.

They do a 3mm version too

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

Re. Achromat 5mm: Would effectively raising the height of the record by a few mm not alter the vertical angle of the tonearm to an audible degree? Apologies if it sounds stupid, but it is a serious question!

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Yes indeed, my Thorens td309 allows easy raising of the tp92 tonearm to compensate which I have adjusted accordingly. These are lovely tonearms btw.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

I would probably be ok then with my cloth ears. My turntable is supplied sans mat, and they recommend it stays that way. I don't get why something that works for one deck wouldn't necessarily work with another though. All I can think is that the differences come from, for example a mat, reducing a sound artefact from say, the motor or airborne vibrations, whereas another deck may not have so much of a problem to start with, so the improvements from the mat are less.

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They (Funk Firm) recommend 3mm for Rega turntables that don't have vta adjustment but 5mm for most is the way to go. I think the Achromat works best with glass platters although I dare say experimentation with other platters could prove interesting. I think Funk does a money back option so no harm in trying.

My Hama record clamp arrived today (with a record I <cough>had</cough> to buy to take the cost over the free postage threshold.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/3...923/CWEcKS.jpg

Once on it works well. It works by clamping the spindle rather than by weight. It's actually quite light, which I like ... but:

It takes too much downward pressure to put on, on my LP12, and I can't apply it while the disk is spinning as that results in a lot of complaining noises from the belt.

So I think it may well be a very good solution for unsprung decks, especially direct drive ones, but not for sprung belt drive decks.

Thanks Kev (scotty67) for the heads up. Definitely worth the punt.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ReggieB

My Hama record clamp arrived today (with a record I <cough>had</cough> to buy to take the cost over the free postage threshold.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/3...923/CWEcKS.jpg

Once on it works well. It works by clamping the spindle rather than by weight. It's actually quite light, which I like ... but:

It takes too much downward pressure to put on, on my LP12, and I can't apply it while the disk is spinning as that results in a lot of complaining noises from the belt.

So I think it may well be a very good solution for unsprung decks, especially direct drive ones, but not for sprung belt drive decks.

Thanks Kev (scotty67) for the heads up. Definitely worth the punt.

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I always stop my deck before clamping and therefore have no belt issues. I know many don't like to start/stop so may be a deal breaker.

My Thorens is sprung and while it does indeed take a bit of force to fit it's probably just the same as most clamping devices and less harmful than a heavy weight?

I'm giving it to a friend to try on his Rega P2 so will be interesting to hear how he finds it.

I use one of these Vinyl Styl clamps, just under £4 off Amazon and it works well on my deck, i'm of the opinion that if your deck wasn't designed to use a weight then a simple lightweight clamp is the way to go and for less than a fiver it's got to be worth a punt.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1Rdd9pkv1L.jpg

Congratulations on your result, its very satisfying wringing noticeable performance gain out of your existing components and it often doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.


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Feedback when using clamp on Rega P2, Ortofon Red and Edwards Audio Apprentice phono stage. My pal struggled to hear any difference with and without clamp! He thought there was slightly better separation.

He wondered whether on lower end systems differences are more difficult to discern.

He still thinks he'll buy one:-)

My clamp is one that Richer Sounds used to give away as a promo. It’s plastic, with a rubber centre that pushes down over the spindle. Presses out warps a treat. Never failed or perished and I must have had it for 25 years or more. Does it sound better? No idea!