Best TT plinth material, cost no object

Hey LewM

You mentioned that putting three different tables in a plinth and they all sounded more alike. This makes me wonder if the plinth material is dominating the sonic character and not the tables themselves.

I recently heard the same 301 in the following 4 different plinths, Slate, Maple, Delignite and a three layer ebony and zebrawood sandwich. All 4 sounded quite different and declaring one of them "best" was really a matter of taste and system matching. Each one did show a different character and my ultimate preference probably had more to do with how the plinth complimented the system it was going into. These were rather quick non-scientific swaps but the overall character of each material was readily heard. In a few months we hope to repeat the swaps in a more controlled environment with the goal of putting a sound on the various materials.

dave

I realize that the experiments are not comparable but it seems to me that you used three distinctly different sounding tables into a common plinth and they all took on a similar characteristic. I guess the proper thing to do would be to try a different material for all three decks and see what happens.

If I had to choose based on the system as it was, I would have gone with the ebony / Zebrawood, but if the tests were done in my system I suspect the preference would have been something else.

dave

Hey Lewm

thanks for the explanation. what you hear is what matters. the reason I struck up the conversation was to get a better feel for the background of your experiences. I am 100% in the "what sounds best" is "best" camp, yet I still feel I need to adhere to some type of logical structure for collecting data based on experience.

dave

Hey Lewm,

There is a very nice cutaway of the Kenwood table at: http://www.thevintageknob.org/KENWOOD/L07D/L07D.html

dave