Harmonic balancer's and Subaru flat 4's

[AC sports]

What are peoples opinions on replacing the heavy factory front pulley with a lighter weight , smaller billet aluminium unit? Flat 4's are supposed to be inherently balanced, but this is different to frequency vibrations caused at certain rpm/load. Could a solid, lighter pulley destroy bearings on a flat engine at high rpm?
There seems to be some debate on certain sites about this, but I've not read anything conclusive.

[lefty o]

for me, there is no way in heck i would take a dampener off and replace it with just an aluminum pulley. ever notice how much that flat 4 shakes/vibrates. dampeners absorb harmonics, you just make things worse without one. a flat 6 is much more smooth, and id still not run just a pulley. if you want to remove weight to gain performance, lose the weight with different wheels, different brake rotors, or a carbon fiber driveshaft. these give you a benefit without the negative.

[dannobee]

If an H4 is balanced, then an H6 must be better, right? Porsche had problems with the GT3's breaking crankshafts when, you guessed it, the factory went to a lighter weight RS front crank pulley and did away with the harmonic balancer.

[panic]

Only directly opposing cylinders with male/female rods do not have rocking couple.

[436monte]

I DAILY DRIVE A 2000 LEGACY AND IT HAS A PERRIN PULLEY ON IT. I'VE PUT 100K ON IT AND ONLY THING I'VE HAD TO DO IS THE HEAD GASKETS. LOL CAR HAS 279,000. I HAVE NO CLUE HOW LONG THAT PULLEY HAD BEEN ON IT BEFORE I GOT IT