My Platine is set up without the ball bearing. Without it, the platter can be bounced up and down on the supporting magnetic field (the field acts as a spring). The platter does not rock in any way, it rotates absolutely flat. When playing, there is no up and down movement of the platter.
To me, the bass is great, but I haven't tried it with the ball in place. I may someday, but basically I'm too lazy to bother. Verdier told me in an e-mail that they recommend trying it both ways to see which you prefer. I was surprised. I thought they would have had a preference since it was designed with the ball in the first place.
One potential advantage of the ball is that it provides a 'better' mechanical ground of the platter to the spindle. But the platter/spindle clearance is pretty close, so there may be sufficient grounding at that interface?
The other BIG advantage I see is regarding set up. If you DON'T use the ball, you need to set your arm's VTA with EVERYTHING in place (platter/mat/record/clamp), since the height of the platter is weight dependent, whereas with the ball in place it isn't.
Maybe that is/was your problem?
To me, the bass is great, but I haven't tried it with the ball in place. I may someday, but basically I'm too lazy to bother. Verdier told me in an e-mail that they recommend trying it both ways to see which you prefer. I was surprised. I thought they would have had a preference since it was designed with the ball in the first place.
One potential advantage of the ball is that it provides a 'better' mechanical ground of the platter to the spindle. But the platter/spindle clearance is pretty close, so there may be sufficient grounding at that interface?
The other BIG advantage I see is regarding set up. If you DON'T use the ball, you need to set your arm's VTA with EVERYTHING in place (platter/mat/record/clamp), since the height of the platter is weight dependent, whereas with the ball in place it isn't.
Maybe that is/was your problem?