By Michael Miguest
There are a plethora of different camps in this audio hobby of ours. Tubes vs Solid State, LOMC vs MM cartridges, Belt-Drive vs Direct Drive or Rim Drive or Idler Drive or Magnetic Drive or Loop Drive Turntables, Analog vs Digital, Silver Cables vs Copper Cables, High Efficiency Speakers vs Low or Medium Efficiency Speakers etcetera, etcetera. This is a review for the JA Michell Record Clamp and a perspective on the Clamp vs No Clamp Camps. One of the Turntables I use in my system is a suspended, belt drive Thorens TD 126 MKIII with an original Thorens rubber mat with the indentation in the record label area. My other Turntable is an unsuspended, direct drive, KAB modified Technics SL-1210 MKII with a Funk Achromat mat and a VPI center weight. The difference in the sound using the center weight is extremely significant. The VPI center weight couples the record to the Achromat which effectively extricates the resonances inherent in vinyl play. This yields much greater detail, more articulate bass, solidifies the soundstage, and presents a more musical, realistic presentation of the recorded event.
With regard to my Thorens TD 126 MKIII, and my experience with the extremely improved musical presentation from my Technics with the VPI center weight, there was no doubt in my mind that a clamping system would take the musical presentation of my Thorens to a much higher level. I spent a considerable amount of time researching a clamping product that would not compromise my turntables' suspension. One of my Mantras is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I did not want to get involved in redoing the suspension on my table in order to use a clamp. I ultimately decided on the Michell Clamp. I have the Black Delrin reflex clamp with the anodized knob and I find its performance is best without the felt washer, minimal pressure downward, and tightening the knob only to the point where you feel the collet gripping the spindle. Again, it is imperative that you do not over tighten or over clamp in order to achieve maximum analog performance. Once you feel tension while tightening, that's about all you need. Maybe an 1/8th of a turn, possibly not even that. It's light-weight, reasonably priced, and unbelievably effective. Dampening the resonances and coupling the vinyl to the platter results in a lower noise floor, greater detail, an enhanced cohesiveness to the musical presentation, timbres become more life-like, more air is present around instruments and vocals, a more formidable and believable soundstage is presented, it provides a death like silence between notes, bass becomes more articulate creating a more captivating foundation which adds more realism to the musical presentation, musical layering spawns a more realistic 3 Dimensionality, and mids and highs take-on an ineffable beauty that astounds and mesmerizes. The JA Michell Record Clamp simply does what needs to be done to immerse you more profoundly into the recorded event. Test spin one.
In conclusion, my perspective on the Clamp vs No Clamp Camp is predicated on my belief that "perfectly" flat
records do not exist and an unclamped record takes longer to play than the same record clamped. Each of these concepts, in my opinion, justifies my irrevocable decision to validate the (Clamp/Weight) Camp. Clamping flattens and allows greater coupling to the platter so that internal resonances can be drained away from the stylus - as if the LP is of a much greater thickness and rigidity. LP records vibrate along with the music as the stylus traces the groove as well as tending to move or bend under the pressure of the arm and cartridge when they are insufficiently supported. Clamping provides the support that allows the stylus to trace the vinyl grooves with greater efficiency which minimizes vibration, mitigates slippage, and maximizes the sonic presentation contained in the record grooves.
There are a plethora of different camps in this audio hobby of ours. Tubes vs Solid State, LOMC vs MM cartridges, Belt-Drive vs Direct Drive or Rim Drive or Idler Drive or Magnetic Drive or Loop Drive Turntables, Analog vs Digital, Silver Cables vs Copper Cables, High Efficiency Speakers vs Low or Medium Efficiency Speakers etcetera, etcetera. This is a review for the JA Michell Record Clamp and a perspective on the Clamp vs No Clamp Camps. One of the Turntables I use in my system is a suspended, belt drive Thorens TD 126 MKIII with an original Thorens rubber mat with the indentation in the record label area. My other Turntable is an unsuspended, direct drive, KAB modified Technics SL-1210 MKII with a Funk Achromat mat and a VPI center weight. The difference in the sound using the center weight is extremely significant. The VPI center weight couples the record to the Achromat which effectively extricates the resonances inherent in vinyl play. This yields much greater detail, more articulate bass, solidifies the soundstage, and presents a more musical, realistic presentation of the recorded event.
With regard to my Thorens TD 126 MKIII, and my experience with the extremely improved musical presentation from my Technics with the VPI center weight, there was no doubt in my mind that a clamping system would take the musical presentation of my Thorens to a much higher level. I spent a considerable amount of time researching a clamping product that would not compromise my turntables' suspension. One of my Mantras is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I did not want to get involved in redoing the suspension on my table in order to use a clamp. I ultimately decided on the Michell Clamp. I have the Black Delrin reflex clamp with the anodized knob and I find its performance is best without the felt washer, minimal pressure downward, and tightening the knob only to the point where you feel the collet gripping the spindle. Again, it is imperative that you do not over tighten or over clamp in order to achieve maximum analog performance. Once you feel tension while tightening, that's about all you need. Maybe an 1/8th of a turn, possibly not even that. It's light-weight, reasonably priced, and unbelievably effective. Dampening the resonances and coupling the vinyl to the platter results in a lower noise floor, greater detail, an enhanced cohesiveness to the musical presentation, timbres become more life-like, more air is present around instruments and vocals, a more formidable and believable soundstage is presented, it provides a death like silence between notes, bass becomes more articulate creating a more captivating foundation which adds more realism to the musical presentation, musical layering spawns a more realistic 3 Dimensionality, and mids and highs take-on an ineffable beauty that astounds and mesmerizes. The JA Michell Record Clamp simply does what needs to be done to immerse you more profoundly into the recorded event. Test spin one.
In conclusion, my perspective on the Clamp vs No Clamp Camp is predicated on my belief that "perfectly" flat
records do not exist and an unclamped record takes longer to play than the same record clamped. Each of these concepts, in my opinion, justifies my irrevocable decision to validate the (Clamp/Weight) Camp. Clamping flattens and allows greater coupling to the platter so that internal resonances can be drained away from the stylus - as if the LP is of a much greater thickness and rigidity. LP records vibrate along with the music as the stylus traces the groove as well as tending to move or bend under the pressure of the arm and cartridge when they are insufficiently supported. Clamping provides the support that allows the stylus to trace the vinyl grooves with greater efficiency which minimizes vibration, mitigates slippage, and maximizes the sonic presentation contained in the record grooves.
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