Height of VPI Stainless HW-19 LP Clamp?

Hi, I must've been 1/2 asleep this morning when a measured with the dial indicator! lol

Re-measuring again, with a conventional Tape Measure, I come up with almost precisely 1-5/8"

So then, I'm gathering that the newer Delrin-Stainless one piece that I see advertised at MusicDirect is actually taller then than mine?

I tried calling VPI this morning, and they were closed?
I'll try again tomorrow, and perhaps if I can get someone to answer the phone, they can shed a bit more light on this for me, what Clamps are currently available, and what their measurements are. Thanks, Mark

You might try going clampless. I just demonstrated the merits of this to a HW-19 Mk 14 user yesterday, first with a DIY spotmat and then with my Boston Audio Mat 1. In both cases the sound opened up a lot without the clamp and there were no detectable downsides. YMMV and all that, but I gave up on clamps on my TNT Mk 2 quite a few years ago. Good luck, Dave

Hi again, Had my BDR Clamp buttoned up with my 180-200gm Mofi LP's, I'd be set, as it's a much lower profile Clamp, but it won't.

I caled both VPI this morning, and tried getting ahold of BDR, but had no luck with BDR. I had to leave a message.

Mike at VPI stated that the new Stainless Steel Clamp for the 19's is identical in height to my All Delrin Clamp, and that is 1-5/8", so I won't gain a height advantage going with this newer Clamp.

The Brass threaded Insert on the BDR Clamp I have has been recessed inside the Puck too far. Whether this is just a press fit into the Puck, or is also glued in, I have no idea? Perhaps BDR will take back the puck, and either reset the insert, install a new insert, or possibly replace the Puck? The problem only occurs with thick LPs. Standard LPs will clamp up fine with my BDR Clamp.

I'll try to keep all posted. Thanks again all for your advice, and help

I would suggest removing the dustcover when playing an album and removing the clamp when not. Problem solved. I think my turntable sounds better with the dustcover removed anyway.

OK, so here's my run down from tallest to shortest:

1 11/16 (= 1 22/32) inches -- all stainless HRX clamp, early version.

1 19/32 inches -- stainless knob on delrin disk, able to rotate independently of each other.

1 17/32 inches -- stainless knob on delrin disk, bonded together, hole not threaded, came with very early HRX.

1 13/32 inches -- black delrin knob on delrin disk, able to rotate independently of each other, came with HW 19 Mark III. Mark, you mentioned that you had one of these, and it measured about 1 5/8 inches (= 1 20/32 inches). It would seem that yours is clearly taller than mine.

I measured these by inverting them on a flat surface, ensuring that the discs were parallel to the surface (versus wobbling like a toy top) by using perpendicular bubble levels on the discs' flat bottoms now facing up, then measuring the distance from the surface to the upper edge of the discs using a metal tape measure. I checked to make sure the tape measure didn't "add" a little bit at its end before starting to count the distance at "0."

Assuming you don't go with Dreadhead's suggestion, both getting a taller dustcover or finding a way to use the BDR clamp are possible ways to go. Best would be getting a BDR with the threaded insert where you want it. A question: if you don't screw the BDR down but just place it on the spindle, is it heavy enough to press the record down on the platter to your satisfaction? or is the screw down essential? Good luck.