Turntable record weight?

For the most part a weight/clamp is a useless item to waste money on, audio eye candy. Upgrade your turntable, purchase a better turntable. Same subject comes up every month with all the same answers.
 
I use a hockey puck. Its cheap, but not very heavy - 1/3 pound or so.

Does it help? Maybe, I like to think it reduces the ability of the vinyl record to vibrate by coupling the vinyl to the platter mat.

At least I feel better when using it. Cheap and not so heavy as to ruin the DD bearings. Perhaps too light to do any good? Who really knows without test equipment?
 
I had the same question a few months ago. After researching and discuss here I bought a clamp. It seems to really help on thin or warped records. It doesn't work on thicker records as it doesn't grab the spindle. So I bought a weight which I now use 80% of the time over the clamp.

Look for the "Big Ben" weight on Amazon for around $38.
 
what is the consensus on this, are they truly necessary, is one weight better than another?
I use a clamp because of occasional LP dish warps. It just helps to keep the record from slipping on the mat. The cheapest clamp I have is 3-cent binder clip with electrician's tape wrapped around the bottom edges for extra grip.
 
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I can tell by obsessive listening test, there is a slight trade off with and without one. I have a beautiful weight that I use when showing my system to friends. They will not notice a difference in sound, nor will 100% of the people that stop in for a album play. one night i was listening to a album while on my computer and thought , dam this system is making the hair stand up on my neck tonight, and continued listening, as I looked up I noticed my weight was sitting beside my turntable, huh??? I had something now to figure out, and I had to be sure about the magic that I heard was real, like I said it is NOT obvious to everyone. I switched over to headphones, replayed the album with the weight hovering over the spindle in my hand, and proceeded to set it on, and remove it , with the record playing ,and reset the needle in certain hair raising spots, over and over and over, weight, no weight through rather loud head phones, then quiet listening. This is my factual conclusion with my weight. WITH adding a heavier record weight, I think mine is 280 grams, the midrange instruments ( horns, piano, guitar) are a tiny/ tiny/ tiny bit recessed in the mix, BUT the lows are a tiny bit tighter and compressed. I relate this to possibly having less feedback from the album against the needle. This is only enough to know something has changed if I listen very hard, then it is obvious. This is only my experience, with my weight and table. I now prefer no weight when listening for my own pleasure.
 
WITH adding a heavier record weight, I think mine is 280 grams, the midrange instruments ( horns, piano, guitar) are a tiny/ tiny/ tiny bit recessed in the mix, BUT the lows are a tiny bit tighter and compressed. I relate this to possibly having less feedback from the album against the needle.

I believe you're correct in your analysis. I think the tighter bass and midrange is caused by less flutter (kinetic feedback from the needle to the album) making it a bit boomier. With the weight, I notice things are tighter and more precise, for lack of a better word, most especially the bass. Everything is a bit more defined, (likely with less acoustic overlap from the same cause). That said, I have heard tables which take out almost all flutter and vibration, and I find them a bit lifeless. I believe the turntable is an instrument that should be tuned to your taste, and mine is.
 
I guess it's a weekly thing.

Ya, right on time..

checking-time.jpg


;)
 
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A Bren record weight is what I use. Effective with slightly warping records and brings a solidity to the sound. Nicely machined and looks great!
 
Would really like a peripheral ring weight but those are kinda expensive and it adds another few steps to playing a record which is already 16 plus steps...

16 steps!?!? Good grief Blue,you're really overthinking this whole thing.

Trust me,just blow off the ashes,add a quick belly-wipe to dry the Scotch if necessary and you're good to go. I have also found that a reasonable amount of groove sludge helps to reduce the popcorn and surface noise as well. Remember,an oily motorcycle never rusts:)
 
I made one out of a 10 ounce practice Hockey puck. It improves the bass on some recordings.
 
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