A $300-$400 turntable tweak

I forgot to add...I think my Well Tempered Super sounds better without the center clamp. Alot less fuss too.

Like a vampire sucking the blood from a human victim, the outer rim weight sucks the life and soul from the vinyl.
It seems like such a logical thing to do.........flatten and couple the record to the platter......that it is bewildering to me that it doesn't work?
Perhaps vacuum suction similarly can be deleterious as there are many decks which 'make do' without?

I think it all depends on the table, platter composition and surface material, and the ability of the tonearm/transducer to accurately trace the LP. I have tried 6 or 8 center weights/clamps/doohickeys, as well as a perimeter ring and found that on each occasion they detracted from my musical enjoyment in precisely the way Halcro has described - lifeless, boring, flat, sterile, dead. Perhaps folks who prefer these devices are simultaneously taming platters and plinths that are improperly damped or have resonance issues to begin with. Maybe this iron-handedness simultaneously "helps" other issues further down the chain, such as distortion/overload in the phono stage (a phenomenon more common than I ever believed) – any system freed from having to reproduce distortions is, subjectively, better sounding, even if the proverbial baby has been thrown out with the bath water. You never realize the baby is gone, since you couldn’t hear it through all the muck in the first place. I’m not saying destructive over-damping occurs all the time with a clamp/ring, but going too far is a distinct possibility.
Then again, maybe those of us with high(er) mass tables are already sufficiently damping the things that need control, and to further damp the sound is a step too far. As a disclaimer, I've never personally tried a vacuum platter deck, but every time I've heard one, I've always felt that the sound was overly damped. YMMV and all that. Have a nice weekend.

Halcro is right with the outer ring. I was never mad for it after listening.
Vacuum is a bit different, different depending on the idea behind and some other solutions. Basis for example uses low sucking force and has an extremely clever made platter with an superior suspension. Here is definitely an improvement to hear, still full of live with all tonal details.

Henry - it must have been a difficult 3 weeks for you wondering where all the music went :(