I agree with Raul on the value of record clamps, for exactly the reason he stated: resonance dampening. The sonic benefit is obvious even on flat records. I'd want to use one even if I had a vacuum hold-down platter.
I use the knuckle-rap test he described on nearly every record. Tapping around the clamp (in the dead wax of course) is a great way to make sure the clamp is screwed down just enough. Clamping pressure is alot like VTF, too little is as bad as too much. Under-tightening doesn't engage the resonance-control capabilities of the clamp. Over-tightening beyond the "dull rap" point does not improve sonics, and it can actually break a record (trust me!). The knuckle-rap test lets me find the happy medium.
This is why I prefer a threaded clamp to a weight. Every record needs a different amount of clamping. A threaded clamp offers control and adjustability that a weight cannot.
Doug, Speedy and Raul, you may be right, though I wonder that they don't use other than the vacuum on cutters. My Goldmund table has a very slightly concave platter, and except on perfectly flat records, if I apply too much clamping, a segment of the record will actually lift off the platter. I was considering a mat; do you use one?
Dear Nsgarch: In my case the vaccum hold down is the mat. Like alternative I use a metal mat from SAEC: SS 300, great one with metal platters and maybe with other materials too.
As a fact there is no flat records: all them are concave. So we have to " fight " against this issue.
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