Hey 6TCyclehum,
Thanks. I picked up the washer and instructions form my guy yesterday ( he had forgotten to give them to me), and the instructions say;
" Place the black rubber washer over the spindle and onto the mat surface. If you have a vacuum platter, you may already have this washer in place".
I do have the vacuum platter, and there is a washer already in place, but if I do not use the provided additional washer, the record pulls down from the clamp and makes no contact with the clamp, so I am using the additional washer and with great affect.
The other thing I wanted to tell everybody is this. I bought the 4" thick maple slab from Mapleshade for my old turntable and I'm in the process of selling my old table, along with the maple slab. So last night I had the idea why not try the 4" slab under the SOTA. I already have it and can try it for free. I have to say I don't understand it at all. I have seen the video of Dan playing his SOTA and banging on it with his hands to no effect at all. I have tried this myself, and it's true. I was playing a record on the SOTA and took my finger and banged on the plinth, and also the dust cover while the record was playing, and NO sound was transmitted to the speakers what-so-ever! Amazing!
So last night I put the maple slab under the SOTA and expected nothing at all, and boy was I ever surprised. The extension and clarity of the bass was nothing less than remarkable!
Like I said, I don't understand this at all. My understanding was the maple slab and brass heavy footers were designed to removes the teeny-tiny micro vibrations from the TT motor and the cartridge itself, and if banging on the TT doesn't make a sound how could these micro vibrations make any sound at all. But it is absolutely true, the maple slab works wonders! This is a picture of the maple slab and footers under my old Walker, and I'd suggest if you can spare the $400 you should really try this under your SOTA. You will be amazed.