LP clamp shootout! - on a Techie 1210
... and in the shiny, pure aluminium corner, we have Hamish's LP clamp - kindly loaned to me while his tt is off galavantin' (350g-ish)
... and in the cool black & strobed corner, we have my cheapo clamp off eBay (250g-ish) with rubber base
... and in the rubber fetish cornerwe have the original Revolver Pig (negligible g), which works by gripping the spindle and pushing down on the LP
... and in the 4th corner ... nowt! - we have an absence of clamp.
This contest was performed on a standard SL-1210 with a Herbie Mat and 3 RDC1 cones onto a glass shelf, itself atop 3 aluminium cones on a concrete slab (courtesy of B&Q). A Dynavector DV17D3 fed into a Loricraft (Garrard) Missing Link phonostage - into an AVI Lab Series LSI integrated (300wpc into 4 ohms) and and thence to my Infinity RS2.5 ribbon hybrid speakers (see avatar).
Playing a single LP - Tchaikovsky symphony #6 as conducted by the excellent Fritz Reiner and his Chicago Symphony Orchestra on a good condition RCA LP. (These 1960's RCAs are not far off legendary as far as sound quality goes).
Yeah, I know that most of you futzes aren't classical fans, but this music has everything from delicate solo flute up to 120 musicians going hell for leather and giving their all, including a very enthusiastic brass section.
Sound quality differences seemed to focus on ... err ... image focus, solidity and definition, and also overall dynamic slam & speed.
Surprisingly, there was a pretty obvious hierarchy with no clamp being at the bottom.
My lovely shiny rubber bottomed strobed clamp improved things a fair amount, but it was pretty clear that Hamish's aluminium jobbie was doing an even better job. Images were, to my slight dismay, obviously better focussed and palpable.Damn - I'd hoped my clamp would win out.
In quiet desperation I had a think - aha, I still had that rubber fetish job from my old Revolver tt .... after a quick rummage in my spares drawer, out it came. And the Revolver Pig is The WINNER!!... the difference wasn't as large as between my black clamp and Hamish's aluminium job, but it was still pretty damn clear that the grippy rubber did an even better job. That was a surprise.
Obviously, I don't have any posh / expensive clamps here, but it does seem clear that clamps do differ in their effect and that it is worth experimenting to see what works best on your deck!
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Originally Posted by hamish
