Who knows what "groove guard" is?

Thank you, Albert. Your explanation is a good one. Do you think the phrase (and concept) 'groove guard' is common knowledge among vinyl folks?

I am not even certain that I am right. The concept of removing what is no longer needed to improve modern reproduction is just a guess on my part, knowing the dedication of the folks at Classic Records.

Albertporter you are right. I recently bought a couple of lp's without the groove guard. What it does is to allow them to lay perfectly flat and provide a more stable surface for the stylus. I was very pleased with what I heard.

For a point of info, the Teres turntable also has a platter which is bevelled at the edge to allow records with Groove Guard to lie flat.

Thank you all. Yes, Albert's explanation is correct. Other analogue folk (not on this thread) have also confirmed it.

All TT platters I have ever seen are slightly smaller than 12" to allow the groove guard lip to over hang; thus, the playing surface can lay flat and "couple" with the platter more effectively. As I recall, even inexpensive TT's have smaller-than-12" platters--or a beveled one to account for the increased thickness of the g-guard at the disc's outer edge. Maybe the platters on record changers were the full 12" so that the GG could be used as GG was intended.

The record disc contact with the platter has already been pretty good on every TT I have had: Thorens TD-316, SOTA Sapphire, and VPI TNT 3.5. Has anyone found a non-record changer TT withOUT a platter that mitigates groove guard?

I wonder if the added bead of vinyl around the outside edge of the record increases the likelihood that some sort of resonance can propagate.(?) Doesn't the added thickness around the outer edge also serve to somewhat protect the playing surface from other interference such as the sleeve as one takes the record out or put back in?

Kinsekt, does your TT platter already allow for the GG either by its smaller circumference or a beveled edge? If it does not, I can understand how a non-groove guard record would sound better. Otherwise, I am baffled. I don't doubt that the non-groove guard records sound better. It would be nice to know on what kind of platters we're talking about here….