Record Weights: Are they worth it?

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Turntable weights are designed to reduce vinyl warping, and some even staff a noticeable improvement of sound? But do they really work? In this video we'll test an entry level record weight to see how it affects the sound.

[ElectoneGuy]

My concern would be about the added weight on the main spindle bearing.

[JANEWAY]

I always enjoy your videos because you have a soothing, calm, mellow voice. That's especially good when many others are literally almost screaming at the camera (which is NEVER necessary).

Keep up the good work and keep those videos coming!

[albertflasher]

I'm in the snake oil group. It is quite possible the weight or clamp could also make the edges of the record less flat, depending on where the variance in flatness is on the record. Tone arms are designed to float with the record, motors are designed to turn a specific mass...the human ear is only capable of so much. These are my thoughts...like anybody else really cares.

[MichaelLevineHair]

I have that weight. Great value. It definitely helps on my warped records. I figure it can't hurt so I use it on every record.

[MultiCowboy]

I use a weight, whether it makes any significant difference i, m not sure but i think it looks cool on my turntable 🙂

[metrodraft]

Easy one for me. I had been planning on getting a weight but after watching this, I won't be. I couldn't tell a difference in the least and I was wearing my best AKG headphones. I can see if you want the turntable to look cool (it does) but no way I'm spending $30 minimum for no reason at all when it comes to sound quality. It certainly helps for warped records but I don't have any so it wouldn't help me there either. Thanks for the video!

[rael]

The weight does improve the sound removing the majority of crackles and pops, and the blind test made it easier to appreciate the difference, specially in the definition and clarity of the piano. Although I didn't see a significant flattening of the waves on the record.
As many other reviewers stated, a weight will definitely put stress to the motor, and in case of motors with low torque, ruin them. And even with motors with great torque, the weight can reduce the life of the motor. So it's better to check out the motor specs to avoid damage.

[jessefillmore]

I absolutely heard a difference . I paid $30 for my record weight . Works great .

[profesorGrzegorz]

Also. You add weight to increase overall weight of turning platter with a record. Heavier platter means less possible inconsistencies in revelations of it.
That’s why high end turntables are heavy as hell.
Weigh will also push record against your platter matt which will remove static charges from record better. Reducing vibrations of the record is a sound improvement too.

[stevewiles]

For me, it's more about stopping the record sliding on the turntable

[christopherward]

The trick with the weight is to couple more of the surface of the record to the mat. Energy travelling through the vinyl is damped and attenuated faster. The mass acts a both as a weight and lowers the resonant frequency of vibrational modes that have a vertical component. The amount of resonance caused by the mechanics of tracing the springy record surface with a hard diamond in the audible band drops too. The mistake most people make is that the mass is not there to make the disc flat. It is to attenuate resonances and to lower fundamental resonance frequency. The effect is that the mean position of the stylus in the groove has a smaller amplitude of error on each side and the vibrations caused by the stylus do not feed back into the cartridge to the same extent. The record will sound less resonant. There are some mats that exploit the resonance by tuning the record to ring at more specific frequencies e.g. RingMat. So it’s not a story about record flattening at all.

[richardriley]

The weight may not be good for the spindle bearing especially on direct drive turntables. In my case a clamp noticeably improved the sound but with that said it has to be taken in consideration with the type of mat you are using. In any case you need a certaing level of system before you can hear these minor differences.

[rawheadjim]

I appreciate the very clear side by side visual and audio comparison, it was easy to see the difference it made. I also thought A sounded a little fuller and had slightly better definition. One advantage to the weight over a clamp, my Rega owner's manual said not to turn the table on and off during a record playing session to avoid unnecessary wear on the motor. A clamp forces you to turn it on and off for every record, the weight does not.

[owens]

I didn't hear a difference in the first song but I was able to hear the slightest little difference in the second. I was able to hear his breath before singing and it was muffled in the other one. I was also able to identify which one was the record with the weight in the bling test. It's such a small difference that I probably wouldn't notice if I wasn't hearing it back to back and specifically listening for it.

[PaulHariuPowell]

Thanks for posting this! And THANK YOU for the blind test! It made sure that my decision was not bias. I’m an audio engineer. What I heard, especially in the blind test, was not so much a shift in frequency, but a difference in detail and separation in the low-mids. My educated guess is that the weight helps dampen any unwanted micro vibrations in the vinyl, which can cause low-mid frequency smearing. 👍👍

[scottspencer]

Differences like this are often pretty subtle. It helps a lot if the system in use is high resolution vs one that masks subtle difference....the clearer the system, the easier it is to hear differences. Record weights come in a variety weights. In general, more mass in a turntable tends to dampen vibration and noise, so even if additional flattening or clamping isn't necessary, a heavier weight is likely to make more of a difference in dampening than a low mass weight....how much of a difference depends on lots variables that are unique to each system.

If you're a music buff with an average sound system, there's a valid argument for spending the $20 on another album vs a piece of hardware that you can barely detect a difference with, if any. If you're more of an audio buff who enjoys excellent sound and the pursuit of improving it, $20 for a potential sound benefit is pretty cheap compared to other hi-fi components. A good cartridge tends to make way more difference in the sound chain than most things, but there are many small audio tweaks that can be made fairly cheaply. Some really push the threshold of detection....if you pursue none of them because of that, there will be zero improvement to your system. But if you implement several, the summed benefits can become pretty audible. I can't afford to experiment with the expensive snake oil non-sense, but I'll grab for the low hanging fruit every time when it makes sense. $20 for a 15 oz record weight, $14 for a cork/rubber slip mat, $25 for better audio cables, and $8 for isolation pucks under my turntable, and I've optimized my $400 TT expenditure, and gained some audible improvement that I can enjoy for years.

[TheCranberrySource]

Great video. There is a slight improvement in the bass frequencies when you use a weight. You’ll notice it more when playing sections with bass guitar and other low frequency instruments.

The weight will slightly clean up the low end a bit. It’s a minor difference, but you really need to use samples with more bass to notice it.

Like with anything in Audiophile vinyl land, it’s lots of slight improvements to make a bigger improvement. The issue is the cost involved to achieve that.

[edwardferry]

It seems to put more air into the treble, very subtle. Thank you for this

[nievesofficial]

Great video. Also liked the Muse record you showed lol

[cjsvinyl]

Great video! It is funny that different brands give different wording between weights and clamps. IE, my gold Rek-o-Kut clamp does not have any threads on the inside to screw it down, it simply slides down and levels out my warped records more. Yet, I have the box right in front of me and it says 'clamp' on it. Different wording from different brands. I too was skeptical if it would have any impact on LP's being as small as it is, but it really does help!