Atmasphere, I have been using vacuum hold down for 30 years and have never damaged a record. I suppose if you threw sand on the platter before the record you might be able to do some damage. No flat mat of any material can control a record that is not flat. They can dampen platter resonance and to some extent in the record (fortunately vinyl is pretty lifeless stuff) A properly designed vacuum system works perfectly all the time and every time regardless of the condition of the record at some additional expense and another box ( big box for the Walker) |
@rocky1313 you’re thinking about diameter, but think about the thickness and concave of the vinyl, look here Then look at the proper mat and try to understand why it is not flat as a pancake, but curved inward on the label area and on the area under the edge of the record. SAEC engineers were a bit smarter and designed their mat not only for LPs, but also for 45s, this is why SAEC SS-300 mat shape is not flat. There is an inward curve circle for the 7 inch size of the recod. Using an LP as a mat is bad idea. The best mats designed 30-40 years ago, you can’t find a better solution than Micro Seiki CU-180 / CU-500 Mats and SAEC SS-300 mat in my opinion. |
rocky1313, In my post, the Platter Pad is the name of an actual mat that is almost 1/4" thick. It was a somewhat flexible, but firm mat. This was sold back in about 1980 and is probably not being made anymore. Someone might still have one if you put in a wanted ad. The combo with the KD-500 and Grace 707 was very highly reviewed back in the late 1970's to early 1980's. Bob |
