Record Weight on a Techie

[keiron99]

What is the point of clamps?

[Ammonite Audio]

I recommend the KAB Super Record Grip - see http://www.kabusa.com/usagrip.htm . It's relatively inexpensive at $40, lightweight and I like what it does on my TD-124 and Kenwood DD decks; however I don't have a Technics.

[MartinT]

What is the point of clamps?

To hold the record down against the mat and thus dampen resonances. To effectively bond the record to the mat/platter system for the purposes of playing it.

[Marco]

Marco -

Did you get a chance to compare the Bruil with the Michel Record Weight? If so, what are your thoughts?

And did you get my PM I sent to you the other day?

Hi Mike,

Yes on the latter - not had a chance to reply to it yet, but will do later today

Yes, I've used both the Bruil and Michell clamp, and whilst I liked the latter, I felt that the Bruil produced the better results. The Michell clamp, I feel, (unsurprisingly) produces its best results on Michell T/Ts, where the whole design system works 'as one'.

I've also tried other clamps with the Technics and results have been less than inspiring. My view is that record weights are likely to be more effective on the Technics, but not ones too high in mass. The Bruil weight does pretty much everything that it says on the tin, and isn't stupidly priced:

http://www.soundfountain.com/amb/puck.html

Marco.

[Marco]

Interesting explanation here, from Michell, on the design principles of their clamp (and platter):

http://www.michell-engineering.co.uk...ter-and-clamp/

Note in particular:

Michell turntables clamp the record to a hard platter. This flattens out warps, and it also couples the LP tightly to the platter so that internal resonances can be drained away from the stylus, as if the LP effectively is of a much higher thickness and rigidity. The Gyro SE and GyroDec models use a simple clamp to press down the LP record; the Orbe and Orbe SE benefit from a more advanced screw-down clamp and a washer that raises the LP at its center: under action of the clamp the record’s playable area is then very tightly pressed down onto the flat platter, right to its edges.

We make the platter from a proprietary self-damping compound of carbon/vinyl -loaded acrylic. This material closely approaches the mechanical and acoustical properties of the vinyl record itself, enhancing the coupling between both.

Observe the highlighted parts in blue... It is obvious that the clamp and platter have been designed to work in tandem with each other, in an effort to remove resonances from the playing surface. However, the coupling effect is only of benefit if the material you're coupling it to (what the platter is made from, and also the mat) is a good impedance match with the vinyl record itself.

Therefore, using a Michell clamp (or any clamp) on a T/T whose platter and/or mat haven't been optimsed for that effect is more likely to produce negative results, as effectively all you're doing is coupling the record to a sub-optimal interface, thus superimposing its adverse sonic signature onto the music signal.

What we are trying to achieve, by using a record clamp or weight is precisely what is outlined on the website, where the Bruil weight is discussed:

One important aspect of any turntable is that bearing-spindle-platter-tonearm are firmly connected in the horizontal plane . and are an entity. There should be no play, no independent movement possible, horizopntally nor vertically. This construction is crucial.

In my experience, most turntables benefit from the use of some sort of weight or clamp, and those benefits are obtained when the above goal has been successfully achieved.

However, in terms of the Technics SL-1200/1210, experience also suggests that the above goal is met more successfully with the use of a record weight than a clamp, and therefore, sonically, the results with the former are generally more positive. As ever, though, nothing is written in stone, so the key is to experiment and see what works best with your T/T!

Marco.

[keiron99]

Anyone any experience with the Harmonix TU-812M? A mere £2,494.99.
http://www.analogueseduction.net/rec...s/HTU812M.html

[MartinT]

Anyone any experience with the Harmonix TU-812M? A mere £2,494.99.

Strangely enough, no!

[Wakefield Turntables]

Yes I bought one and thought it was crap, I then upgraded to one which cost £5000 and got a deeper separation of instruments, black backgrounds, etc... A very worthwhile purchase.

[MCRU]

Yes I bought one and thought it was crap, I then upgraded to one which cost £5000 and got a deeper separation of instruments, black backgrounds, etc... A very worthwhile purchase.

I don't think anyone on AOS is stupid enough to spend that much on a record weight !

[MCRU]

anyway the clearaudio cleverclamp is quite possibly the no brainer of the century for keeping the record tight against the platter or mat?