Record Weights: Are they worth it?

One needs to know what to listen for. It's not a night and day but, without the weight I picked up that A was "with the weight" right away as B sounded a little less focused and woolly... but it's subtle and unless you're listening to equipment rather than music I doubt anyone would pick it up.

The thought process behind the weight is that it mates the record to the platter. I would assume that it works better with a solid platter (like those made from acrylic or glass) rather than a hallow metal one, but I still heard a difference. I heard a difference in an increase of bass heft of the first song (most heard on the last four banging piano chords). In the second song, you can hear vocals become a little more smooth. Considering you can get one for $25 off Amazon, I think it's worth trying.

I think the Fluance weight is the heaviest I have seen. It’s 3X the weight of the one on this video.

A useless product. Created just to take your money.

LIKE ALWAYS! Another newcomer who knows NOTHING of vibration or sympathetic vibration. I'm fed up with this crap-this table is NOT sensitive enough to gain any benefit from a weight! Jump to a $8k VPI they come with screw down clamps! Why is that? Clamps are the same thing but slower to operate!! Stop this ignorance, please?

I heard the difference even on my iMac build-in speakers and was right at the blind Test. But still not sure of buying it.

I'll be buying one for my turntable soon.

My records could use it.

I own an Audio Technica 120- USB direct drive turntable.

Toneyanne is the name.

I named her after me.

I plan to upgrade.

By adding weight 800gms …won’t it put unnecessary pressure on the drive motor…

There is indeed a difference!

Applying weight and applying pressure are effectively the same thing here. Have somebody put 5lbs of pressure on your chest and then compare that to having a 5lb weight on your chest.

i ear a difference, i dont know if it makes sense: with weight on, it sounded like it had more atmosphere, more texture, and it tracked better.

The Emperor’s new clothes.. for up to hundreds of dollars.🤫😵‍💫

Both add weight lol.

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

Be careful the heavy weights can destroy spindle axis'

All of my records are super flat. Where do you find those wavy vinyls lol. And I can't hear any difference.

Weights and clamps help to bond the record to the mat/platter creating an interphase of damping and overall resonance reduction. This bonding means that stored energy (resonances) in the vinyl is transferred to the object of higher mass... (the mat & platter). This reduces unwanted spurious resonances that move through the record (and are picked up by the cartridge). You also need a rigid, dead, non-resonant platter for this damping to be effective. Theoretically clamps an weights help to achieve this. But you need to be careful that in the case of a record weight it isn't so heavy that it puts too much strain on the main bearing increasing bearing noise and wear. Another method is vacuum hold down which a few expensive turntables have employed.

The weight makes more difference on treble sounds. Funny that neither of the original two samples had treble. I could easily tell with the blind test because it did have treble.

yooooooo masked intruder! impeccable taste

no audiable differences, that's all I can say

I spotted the weight on blind test just because I heard less floor noise... So even if the sound and frequencies and image ecc. Do not changes, it change the noise floor... So it is an improvement

I stopped collecting records before they started using cheap warped vinyl about the mid 80’s, when the CD came out. I don’t have any warped vinyl. 👍👍👍

After being a sceptic for many years I tried a modest (250gm) weight on my turntable, a rare vintage model with high mass platter. I found it made a small improvement in clarity with a cork mat. However, I've recently switched to an acrylic mat, which I'm really pleased with. The weight now makes a much more noticeable improvement in A/B comparisons as it seems heavy enough to stop micro-slippage between the polished platter, smooth mat and record, improving pace. In short I'd say that the usefulness of this kind of accessory depends on your particular setup.

What album is the Yellow vinyl ? I like just from the small clip 😃

No they’re not worth the money. Get a new record instead.

It may look cool and 'pro' but in reality I doubt the difference is even audible, measurable at most.

And then there's the added wear to your turntable platter bearing.

Nah, I'll skip on this gizmo.

Just came across this since I’ve been researching and testing weights recently. I’m also doing blind tests and can’t tell the difference between weight/no weight, let alone differences between weights. I also haven’t seen any sonic improvement with warped records. The reviewers that say the difference “is not subtle” are being tricked by visual cues, leading to confirmation bias.

Placed carefully, a heavy inverted vase would do the same thing.

What was that second song???

i used a weight and noticed my records sounded a tad slower so i personally think weights are a pointless turntable fassion acessory

On the blind test I did notice that a sounded more crisp and cleaner but just barely slightly if you really really really pay attention

I can't tell a difference in what a weight does for me, but I don't have any warped records, really. But it looks sweet! LOL

With earphones in i could hear a difference on all 3 and guessed straight away on blind test which was which, more clear in the highs was the main difference for me.

Yes I was just able to detect a small, but helpful, improvement in sound with the weight and got the blind test right too -

very good comparison -- I somehow knew which was weighted in the blind test, only after hearing the labeled samples. Weighted muffles or soften mids which may be good for some records

I have ha d my Revolver Black Ash turntable since the early 90s & that has had a rubber design called a PIG to put on the spindle to act as this type of thing, to help with the album staying firm on the turntable.. does it work.. Well because this was sold as part of the system for the Revolver Turntables I would say yes. but I now have a weight which I use on the same Turntable, does it sound any different, not as far as I can hear but it does look good.. So maybe you don't have to go with this type of idea by spending a lot of money unless you are an Audiophile person who has millions to spend on gear.🤫🤔🙂

I use the weight to push the album down more on the platter. I have read that, in general, it helps to give a better overall frequency response and enhances bass. There are other ways to fix a warped piece of vinyl prior to playing it.

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Ho fatto qualche prova ma non ho percepito cambiamenti, niente. Quindi non saprei.
Continuerò con i saltellanenti.

No one talk about extra weight affecting speed on direct drive, wear on motor, premature wear on belt drive models. Maybe I'm just to old school

I usually don't find myself of the "smoke and mirrors" crowd, but... A actually did sound slightly better to me, more lively and the sound a bit more sharply focused. Be sounded "flatter" and the instruments didn't seem as clearly defined.

I can't believe I'm saying this! It's what I heard, though. Night and day? No, but enough to make it worth my while to purchase. Thanks for helping me decide!

The experts design and build turntables,if you think you know better then go ahead,risk wrecking your turntable.

If i had a vinyl axs warped as the first one it would be in tghe dustbin

What are the songs?

I can hear a difference just using my iPhone and yes A is the weighted one. Cleaner, more alive. Great…now I have to buy a weight…

with weight A is overal cleaner, detailed and litle bit brighter sound, bether dynamic and punch but miisng litle bit of deep reverbs and body of instrument.