I have used my copper TTW outer ring with a variety of decks. I have used it with and without center weights. Here are my thoughts. The outer ring does help with records that have minor warps. I can see the difference with less tonearm movement and less pumping of the woofers on the first and second track of warped records where the deviation tends to be greatest. On every record I can hear a difference. Without the ring, in general, the sound is more vibrant and "alive" on first blush but at the loss of inner detail and firm low bass that sound true to tone. After trying dozens of center weights with my VPI Prime and highly modded TD124 with a Reed 3P, I have a favorite with both; the original Thorens Chrome and rubber O-ring classic. But I have several custom made wood center weights (very tall and high-mass) and they sound great with the outer ring as well. Everything makes a difference-mat, center weight or clamp, and outer ring or no outer ring. Whether they are positive or lateral differences is up to the listener. I've settled on the Gem Dandy cork and rubber mat on my VPI and a carbon fiber mat on my Thorens. I'm pretty clumsy and I have never come close to taking out my stylus/cantilever with my outer ring. So what I am trying to say is this; the main benefit of an outer ring IMHO is to damp and absorb energy dissipated across the record surface by the stylus in the groove. I can't prove this is what the outer record does, but it makes perfect sense and from what I hear, the theory behind the outer ring and the benefit coincide. And one more thing; don't even think about an outer ring with a 9" arm (if someone has succeeded with a 9" arm, I am sure I will hear about it). Most times, you will need a 10.5 or better yet a 12" arm so that there is plenty of clearance between the outer edge of the ring and the tonearm column.
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I use the VPI Periphery Ring on every play. It does what it's supposed to do. It stabilizes the image, lowered the bass floor as well as helping to deal with warps. I've used the screw on clamp with the grommet under the record. It can cause the record to form a dish or a dome. The ring does a very good job of damping resonance generated from the record not in contact with the platter, even with warped records. |
I was always fussy about my records. In the day; record shops exchanged records with Pops, Tics and Warps for the same record; No Problem. I live in Chicago. Music Direct was less than 10 minutes from my condo and they had the same policy in their early days. Don’t know how they handle this now. So most of my records are flat. Used records do have some long warps or sudden edge warps. I have multiple pressings. Not really a big problem. My new Technics 1200G, modded with Triplanar Classic SE tonearm handles these warps with ease. I believe Atmasphere was the one who explained it. The Triplanar bearings are in the plane of the record. One of the SME arms also features this setup. Seems to be working well for me. Also bass is tighter and more textured. Speed control brings the spatial qualities recorded in the grooves to a new level. Neither my LP12 or Kuzma can extract the info in the grooves the way the Technics/Triplanar rig can. Unless I hit a lottery; this will be my final rig. Two other tweaks on the Technics; I use an Oracle hard acrylic platter mat and an HRS 315 gram record weight. I have been pondering the purchase of an AFI Flat. German made record flattener with a difference. It not only flattens records. It has a Relax function that supposedly Relaxes the stresses in the vinyl incurred during the actual pressing process. Users have reported results that equal that of US cleaning. There is is no doubt in my mind; that flat records play and sound better. Just listen to One. Try a MoFi UHQR or a UD1S. The Oracle mat and HRS weight are good for dealing with the resonances generated in the grooves. Start with Flat Records and I don’t think that you will need a ring anymore. IMHO. Best to All on this Journey |
"melm233 posts07-13-2018 10:51amI also have a VPI with an older acrylic-lead platter that I wouldn’t change. So I opted for a 2.5 lb. 3rd party ring. It is a TTW ring; they’re out of business now, but there's still a reasonably priced vendor.. Would you name the aforementioned vendor please?" Here ya go: Turntable Outer Ring SS-1 VPI Clearaudio Sota Linn Music Hall Rega Hanss Basis https://www.ebay.com/itm/Turntable-Outer-Ring-SS-1-VPI-Clearaudio-Sota-Linn-Music-Hall-Rega-Hanss-Ba... |
- 54 posts total