Thanks for that Ron. I'm pretty comfy with drilling to tight tolerances but have decided to let the base plate pass me by. While I will never know for sure I reckon the added support and stability provided by the KAB wax is likely to be giving me a fair proportion of the benefits to be gained with a MN base plate - the improvement in bass articulation with the KAB wax was readily noticeable. I probably will go down the road of changing my Vantage Audio platter when funds permit but I really am undecided as to whether this will be the Funk or MN but I'm leaning towards the former which I understand has the more neutral presentation of the 2.

Steve