Stillpoints LP Isolator Record Weight

Assuming that you buy into the Stillpoints "technology," the LPI operates differently from other weights and clamps. The idea is that its five pyramidal bearing pockets convert vibration into mechanical energy dissipated as the heat of friction between the bearings. With this approach it should be possible to drain vibration without resorting to higher mass. I use it and like it.

At an audio show I experienced a demo in which an LPI was placed on top of the switching power supply of a headphone amp. After a few seconds background noise fell off and the presentation gained clarity. When the LPI was turned upside down (decoupling the bearing pockets from the interface) there was a lesser improvement.

Dgarretson, what one has with the Stillpoint technology is ceramic balls sitting on three same size ceramic balls that are spread just far enough apart to not allow the one on top falling through. This makes the vector of vertical vibrations almost entirely horizontal but this is restrained by a stainless ring, meaning it is turned into heat.

It's an interesting approach with the primary function of draining vibration from the spindle bearing area, and the secondary function of clamping the record to the platter. A heavier weight or clamp might be more effective at the latter, while less so at the former. A peripheral ring is probably better at clamping then any clamp, with the further advantage of increased flywheel effect contributing to speed stability. Maybe the best of all possible worlds is LPI for vibration in combination with peripheral ring for impedance matching and speed stability.

I use a Harmonic Resolutions Systems ADH record weight and the improvement vs. the standard VPI delrin clamp is beyond dramatic. There may be "better" (in a given system) clamps/weights out there for more money, but I doubt you can buy a better record weight for $400, which is what the ADH costs.

Btw, I use the ADH with the VPI periphery ring.

Here's the difference I heard on my Kuzma XL (with Airline arm), compared to the factory screw down clamp which is also heavier than the Stillpoints:
not as loud, not as prominent a bump in the upper bass which tended to give music explosive power and propulsive thrust; more relaxed but less apparent bass b/c of that 'bump' mentioned above (which may be due in part to the table and set-up; if you are familiar with the table, it is a heavweight, and I have a oversize HRS platform beneath it, all sitting on a massisve old mahogany prayer table which weighs hundreds of pounds, with extremely thick chunks of sorbothane underneath the table legs (which are really 'panels,' not individual legs), to isolate the whole assemblage from footfalls (the room is at the top of the house with wooden floors).
I found that I needed to readjust the woofer gain and cross-over settings slightly to give me 'more bass' relative to the horn mids (not much latitude to change speaker position to compensate for change made by the clamp/weight). I also had to crank up the gain a bit, not a big deal.
There is more ease, less apparent punch but I think that 'punch' is a coloration; I bought the thing when it came out and have used it ever since (after doing repeated comparisons with the factory clamp).
My take: this is something that you do after all else on the table has been sorted. Not sure if the difference I heard is more pronounced given my set-up and system (which is shown in my system pics here), but there it is.