2020 update : JC Verdier La Platine

@thekong With this recent round of plinth discussion, you bring up several interesting points. I am in the design field, and I despised MDF…..it’s birch plywood at a minimum and / or Finish plywood. But in audio, I live with it. Plinth replacement or improvement was never seriously considered as it would involve messing with magnets, thrust bolt / bearing, and spring footers. But replacing MDF with plywood or granite would be highly appealing. You mentioned  CS port with granite plinth, OMA with  slate La Platine plinth, and the AJ Conti Transcendence. These have all been my inspiration at one point or another. I had looked for a OMA slate replacement plinth to no avail; I was thinking of getting a CS Port TAT 2 as a second deck; and after spotting a used Transcendence, and its price, I will be admiring it from afar. 
 

@dover You must have mentioned the Final Audio Research VVT-1 from an earlier post. I recalled researching it. Looking at the beauty now, and particularly the motor, I can understand your opinion of the Verdier motor. 
 

Here’s a thought: without the original motor and plinth, is it still a La Platine?

@ledoux1238, when it comes to replinthing TTs, I think the Verdier is probably one of the easiest to do. If the original suspension is not needed, then just a plain slab of material with a few holes drilled! On the Whatsbestforum I have seen a modified Verdier with a Steve Dobbins plinth, which hide the magnets below the surface, so only the platter can be seen! However, this arrangement required a relatively thick plinth, which is not that pleasing to my eyes! 

Since we are discussing about potential upgrades, I also think the cantilevered armboard design, while convenient for adjusting mounting distance, probably not the most stable arrangement. So, I am also thinking of using a more conventional arm pod design if I go ahead with the new plinth. 

One interesting design of the Basis Transcendence is that it seems like both the arm pod and motor pod are just sitting on the plinth with no hard connections! I wonder how much those pods have to weight to make this design feasible! 

@thekong 

One interesting design of the Basis Transcendence is that it seems like both the arm pod and motor pod are just sitting on the plinth with no hard connections! 

No I think they are through bolted from under the plinth.

Plinth

Some years ago Azzolina Audio did a run of terrazzo plinths for the Verdier.

They might well be up for building one ??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1L7h_cYmz4&t=24s

DIY Terrazzo plinth would not be that hard - just make a mould which for the Verdier plinth would be a plain box with some cylinders/studs bolted in for the holes. Pour in the cement and stone, when set break open and polish the surfaces.

@dover , the following directly from Basis’ website. I was also wondering about that, but then I saw photos of the arm pot and motor pod being placed in different positions, and the plinth doesn’t have a single screw holes! 
 

>When A.J. was building his personal reference turntable, one of the design goals was to create a forever platform versatile enough to accommodate multiple tonearms of different lengths. This flexibility was accomplished through the use of a massive, solid alloy base on which tonearms can be placed anywhere on their respective spindle-to-pivot arcs.

Today, audiophiles have the opportunity to benefit from this supremely capable design. Purchasing a Transcendence with a large base enables one to use a tonearm of any length and offers the possibility of placing it at a desired location rather than a fixed mount, provided that the location is the correct distance away from the platter spindle. Additionally, upgrades are stress-free, since components can be swapped without the need for disassembly.<

>The custom motor is mounted in a massive, extremely rigid housing machined from a billet of stainless steel. The supremely inert, high-mass motor housing in conjunction with compliant elastomeric feet result in a low resonant frequency of the entire motor system. This low frequency system effectively damps any higher frequency motor vibrations.<

@dover , also thank you for the suggestion on Azzolina ! They didn’t list the Verdier plinth on the website anymore, but I may just send them an enquiry!