Furutech / Air Tight LP Flattener - do they work?

Forgot to mention,one other friend has the Air Tight unit.He claims it works great.....Yet,for thirteen bucks I made a superb(looks great too)DIY flattener,that seems to be quite effective.

I took two nice pieces of marble/sandstone slabs(12x12 inch),which can color match to almost any room decor.Found at any good Home Depot type outlet.

I then attached a sheet of self adhesive cork liner to one side of each.This gives a slightly pliant aspect to the two pieces and when put together will not hurt grooves.

Just use gravity,and maybe a nice warm windowsill for a few days(not alot of heat,which scares me)and my three LP tries have been quite effective.Mostly on dished LP's so far.

I am sure the expensive Furutech and Air Tight units are better,but my DIY'er looks really cool,takes little space and is effective.

Best

It is puzzling at times to buy a $2k disc flattener and you are flattening 99cent LPs or even $30 new releases LPs. Question is how often will one use the flattener? My take is I'd look for another 99cent LP and I'd return the new $30 LPs and ask for a replacement (I assume you are buying them new from reputable vinyl sources such as elusive disc, music direct etc). Sir Speedy's method is as effective I am sure. Just my thought!

I have the Air Tight unit and very seldom use it. I have been lucky with my LP purchases. It has performed well the few times I have used it though. As Yagbol2 suggests, it would be cheaper to look for another copy.

Yabol

It may also be puzzling that you are playing 99c LP's on a 10k plus turntable. Not sure exactly what your point is. It would depend on how many LP's you currently have as well.

Very expensive to return US or Euro presssings from Australia.

BTW, you can buy the unbranded original manufactured Air tight unit for $650 in Japan so I classify that as very resonable price.

A surprising number of new heavy audiophile pressings have severe dishing that can't be removed with a record clamp, not to mention older discs. There's another thread here that outlines the frustration of both customer and retailer regarding the difficulty getting satisfaction through returning warped LPs. The economics are primarily about what it's worth to YOU to have a convenient, safe and effective way to deal with this frustrating situation. Granted they're expensive, and granted there are cheap, if not slick, alternatives.

Incidentally, I was reading on the website for the new Blue Note reissues that RTI was having trouble with making 200 gram pressings on presses designed for 150-180 gram discs and that that was responsible for a lot of the warping problems. They do not recommend 200 gram to their clients for this reason, preferring 180 gram pressings. It seems to me that some of the problems I've observed stem from the flimsy packaging of some of the 45 reissues, where 4 discs are shrink wrapped together without a box.

Twould be nice to know a source for the Japanese generic one.