To ring or not to ring?

Just took delivery of a VPI ring that I found on Audiogon. Seems to improve the sound on all records, even flat ones. Highly recommended. Aaah - I feel my Classic 3 is now complete!

Johnny Cash. Where are you when we need you? (Ring of Fire.)
I have a peripheral ring made 30 years ago by Kenwood for use with the L07D. I use the ring only to improve the inertial mass of the platter; I place it UNDER the lip of the LP, rather than OVER. Puts the stylus in less jeopardy that way.

This is one of the eternal controversies in audio: flatten the LP like a pancake with vacuum or a peripheral ring vs float the LP off the mat entirely, a la the Resonator tt mat and Transcriptors' turntable platters. Each side believes completely in its preferred approach. I am an agnostic.

Lewm
Can you share with us what you hear when the ring is used as intended?
Thanks

Lewm,

I believe firmly in both approaches, since each has its merits. ;-)

If one has a noisy TT bearing or motor, isolating the LP from them will benefit the sound.

OTOH, stylus/groove interactions generate energies that travel through the vinyl, bounce around and ultimately muddy the sound. Coupling the vinyl to a platter which can sink some of this energy away will also benefit the sound.

Doing both on the same rig at the same time seems impossible, so which is better will come down to the essential charactersistics of the rig. If its motor and bearing are really quiet, coupling may be best. If they're noisy, not so much.

I think an outer ring is well worth it.

I am selling my TTW mega ring used with excellent results on my clearaudio master solution that my buyer did not want.

I bought a clearaudio innovation TT with matching clearaudio ring otherwise I would keep the TTW ring for my Innovation

Here is link to my ad:
http://app.audiogon.com/listings/turntables-ttw-mega-outer-ring-clamp-2013-07-26-analog-92675

Note this ring needs a table with at least a 1. 5 " thick platter.