Record Weights/Disc Stabilizers

@kfscoll I had a VPI for a while and started with the clamp and moved to the center weight and periphery ring.  Over time I just found it detracted from my wanting to play records.  I respect anyone who wants to squeeze every ounce of performance out of their deck, but a little like record cleaning, it needs to be simple.

For example, I'm not s person who would ever go through the Kirmuss method of cleaning a record, but I would put in in a Degritter and hit a button.  Likewise, I'll get the initial setup right but refuse to do things like VTA on the fly for every record.  To me, anything that might actually make you avoid playing a record is a negative, That's pretty much why I'm sticking with weights/stabilizers for the Technics--I want to enjoy listening to records but not fixate on the setup, so I'm in total "set and forget" mode here.

@badgerdms I hear ya.  I never mess with VTA-on-the-fly either, primarily because it's a PITA but also because changing VTA also changes VTF.  I used a generic 180g record to set up my turntable and those are the settings I use with all my records.

I can totally understand if you don't want to use the periphery clamp.  I don't find it much of a bother, and I've never come close to damaging my cantilever when using it, so I just go for it.  There are a few records I have that are just a bit too small for it to work...oh well!

@wrm57 Great call on the Origin Live Gravity One!  I'm still comparing it to the Furetech Monza, but it sure seems like the winner right now.  It seems to provide a more three-dimensional image in which individual instruments in complicated passages are much easier to pick out.  And everything it does seems to be for the positive with no negative side-effects.  

@badgerdms , glad it’s working out for you. I think it is terrific, the only one I’ve found that doesn’t affect tonal balance and the energy of the recording. It seems merely to dissipate some slight, spurious resonance or chatter, bringing notes and transients more into focus while leaving the music itself intact and lifelike. No real tradeoffs to me. I haven’t tried the Monza, which people seem to like. But I’ve gradually determined that, for me on my turntables, mass is counterproductive. Seems good at first, especially in the low frequencies, but ends up subtly discombobulating timing and my toe stops tapping.