Thoughts On Turntable Clamps And Weights

I've been using a DIY 8 ounce weight (Thorens TD125 MkII) for 20 years without any noticeable decline in sound quality (the deck/bearing seem to be fine).

I tried a few heavier (some much heavier) commercial weights, but did not care for the sound (decline in harmonics/reverb), but mine is a "sprung" deck.

Give a light weight/weight a try.

For my taste I prefer the contact between the weight/record to be hard/solid (no leather, felt or other soft interfaces).

I suspect that I might be satisfied with an even lighter weight, but never got around to experimenting.

My DIY weight is a small Mapleshade brass cone mounted to a Thorens 45 rpm adapter (oddly the diameter of the cone and the adapter are the same).

DeKay

I’ve found the sonic distinctions between various weights & clamps to be subtle at best. That said, over time I’ve settled on Stillpoints LPI as favorite.

The real value of a center weight comes when used in conjunction with a ring clamp to effect whole-record clamping. There’s only so much clamping you can do from JUST the label area.

Also of importance are ergonomics and thoughtful design features like: if an end groove fails, does this weight help or hurt my stlyus’ chances of survival? The thick pucks (like Stillpoints) are helpful because they’ll block the headshell / body well before a cantilever gets near a clipping edge.

I also remember an early version of Clearaudio's Twister clamp where the metal twist knob would pop off surprisingly easily; might as well have been a cartridge & record wrecking ball at that point. Wtf! Fortunately later versions fixed this.

I would contact Pro-Ject and ask them to make a recommendation. That a clamping device wasn’t included with the turntable suggests it sounds best without one. You will need a threaded spindle to use a clamp. It can flatten a warped record  somewhat but don’t expect miracles.

I prefer a weight. My turntable sounds better with one and once the platter (it’s heavy) is spinning, I don’t have to turn it on and off to change a record versus a clamp.

CAUTION!

Whether you are using a clamp or any kind of weight, it will often rise up the edges of the vinyl. Therefore you also need an outer clamp. That's what I ALWAYS do. Welcome to the world of vinyl. Totally worth it but highly demanding. And then came streaming... I do that too, when I feel lazy, or old :)

On my VPI Scoutmaster Signature, which includes a clamp provided by the manufacturer, I find I prefer a weight. I tried a brass weight by TT Weights, it’s fairly heavy, and the sound of my records played using the weight does sound better than with the stock screw down clamp. The sound with the weight is more vibrant.. more lively. The clamp makes the music sound a bit more dull and bland. So I’ve just stuck with the weight. I’ve noticed no excessive wear on the motor or bearing. I’ve been using this combo for ~15 years. Ymmv