Let me clarify.
I am going to modify Lenco 75 turntable. Besides building new plinth that will accommodate 2 phono arms which will be physically detached from the plinth on its own separate isolation platform, I am also going to incorporate a designated stand. I could probably get already finished product from one of a leading turntable stand manufactures, but I'm seriously thinking about building my own stand that will perform comparatively well with commercial stands and look as a part of turntable design ( a simple drawing is in my system- page ).
What building techniques and materials are suitable for such a project?
What difficulties can I encounter during a building process?
Is it worth a trial?
In your experience what design and materials did the trick?
WHAT DO YOU THINK? |
My best experience has been with wall-mounted shelves, given that I typically have to deal with springy floors. I am currently using the Kuzma XL, which given its weight- approximately 177 lbs naked, does not easily mount to any wall I have in my listening room, nor is there a commercial wall shelf to my knowledge that will support it. (finite elemente allegedly made one, but as of about a year ago, that proved to be false).
I am now mounted on a very large, old chinese prayer table and use a large HRS platform beneath the table with some stragetically placed sorbothane 'chunks.' No footfall issues, dead as far as isolation goes. I had the big finite elemente floor stand designed for this table, with the special heavy duty top shelf, but could not overcome footfall problems and got rid of it.
Of course, if I had my druthers, it would be mounted to the wall somehow, but that is virtually impossible given my set-up. |
I've looked into but have not constructed something similar to the SRA craz rack. Using solid center cut air dryed timbers with dovetail joinery, I priced out the cost of inserting titanium rods into each 4 legs and two cross members. Then injecting those tubes with a viscoelastic material. This is quite possible with very little "real" building knowledge.
Then I am planning on routering the edges of the inner top shelf, inserting aluminium brackets into each corner and threading stillpoints onto the brackets as they already have a threading possibility biolt into their bottoms.
On top of the stillpoints, I plan on placing a 3" piece of soapstone. This combo ought to effectively reduce footfall vibrations. The last part of the process which I have not figured out is what footers to use for the base of the table. Any suggestions welcome.
I priced this procedure out at just over a thousand with the stillpoints being the most exprensive part at around $300. |
I tried a wall mount in an older house with good results, however,when I moved the walls were not great for drilling holes and I opted for the Clearaudio MontBlanc turntable stand. I use a Transrotor Apollon fully decked out, three motors and 80 mm platter with outstanding results. Vibrations or room acoustic feedback are the least of my problems with this setup. It has an acrylic shelf that sits atop a brushed stainless steel 3 pillar stand with cement or something heavy filled inside. Weighs almost 300 lbs I think. Add the 100 or so from the turntable and 400lbs of mass are on the floor.
The analogroom has one on display in San Jose. I have a pic of that stand in my sig picture gallery, Area 51.
V/r
Audioquest4life |
BIlly Bags Pro 35 Turntable stand with an SRA custom VR isolation for my galibier
http://i.rollingstone.com/assets/rs/124/7931/images/70222_lg.jpg
my last table was a Nottingham and it was on a target cage mounted on the wall (reinforced with ply) |
Suspended from the ceiling has worked for me, the turntable , that is.
Bob P. |
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Sound Footing makes a wall-mount shelf that will easily support 250 lbs. and is reasonably priced -- unlike the finite elemente wall shelf I had been considering -- and is built in the U.S.A. I've got one under my Jean Nantais-built 80 lb. Lenco. Easy installation -- even for a novice like me.
Jeff @ Sound Footing is great to work with and will answer any questions you have. Website: www.sound-footing.com
Jim Pendleton of Osage Audio (Audio Intelligent) makes a beautiful wall shelf, but I don't know what its loading capacity is. Might be worth an inquiry.
Good luck in your quest.
Randy |
Look for a used VPI rack and add a granite top to the base on spikes, point upward on the botom of the granite. |
Given how expensive some turtable racks are, and how effective a thick slab or maple or butcher block is at platforming and isolating, has anyone tried an all-out butcher's cutting table like the ones shown here? If you scroll down a bit you can find a 34" high table with 18"x24" end-grain top that is 10" thick! If you surf around this website you can find many very substantial tables with very thick end-grain hardwood tops in the $500-800 range, some with stainless steel structures, some with wood, some with drawers or lower shelves which could hold records or accessories. And you might also be able to pick one up in an estate sale or on Craigslist for a lot less. It would probably be very easy to set one of these up with Mapleshade threaded spikes for leveling and vibration control--provided you have a buddy or two to help you hoist it back into place. |
My first table in the mid '70s was an Ariston I suspended from the ceiling by four engine starter cords (no stretch) and turnbuckles to a double layer spruce ply shelf. Then for years I spun an LP12 on a stock Sound Org. wall stand with its light MDF shelf. As long as I caught the studs it worked beautifully with no mechanical or acoustical vibration. Now I have a 75 lb. Final Tool MkII resting on a RixRax Maple sandbox on a RixRax 2-level stand. Total mass under the 75 lb. table estimated at 200 lbs. It sits on a concrete floor and again, no vibration problems whatsoever. What I've learned is that it depends on the type of deck (suspended vs. high mass unsuspended) and type of flooring (sprung vs. unsprung). |
Thank You for your responses.
Really appreciated it. All posts are very interesting. I looked in your systems ( just out of curiosity ) and I have to say all systems look awesome.
In your opinion, what is more important: mass or combination of different materials and techniques. |
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Listening room is on the top floor with a springy floors.
I don't think my walls are a good candidate for a wall mount neither. Lenco in new plinth will weight about 65 pounds and isolation platform with two phono arm towers will be about 35 pounds.
I am thinking - steel lags, fill-able with sand or other media.
Top and shelves from a sandwich of 3/4inch birch ply, Baltic ply, solid wood and MDF
Can't figure out the best way to connect shelves and top to the support lags. I can have lags fabricated with 3 cross sections at different heights then mount cones with sharp tip facing up and setting shelves on top of them.
Just an idea. |
Springy floors are tough. Maybe you should look at getting the spring out of the floor. Some more support between the joists, perhaps? |
All wood frame houses have some spring action going. What I tried to say is that they are not made of concrete.
Floor in general, is in good shape. I put two layers of 3\4inch. plywood and finish it with hardwood floor.
I am looking for the best way to reduce interaction between floor and tt . |
.... is that any turntable benefits from a solid, unmoving stance that is unperturbed by the environment it is in physical contact with. Below is a link to a photo of my current dedicated turntable stand.
http://www.theanalogdept.com/images/spp6_pics/Thorens_Gallery/user510/user510td124/124slateplinth/DSC_2333.jpg
This rack is a massive and rigid floor standing affair. It stands on the springy floor of an upstairs flat. There is no problem with footfall in this instance for a couple of reasons. 1) layout of the floor joists versus traffic patterns. 2) Floor joists are springs and act like them. Any spring can be adjusted for oscillation frequency by altering the amount of load placed on it. Higher spring loading = lower oscillation frequency. So I've weighed down the rack with a heavy slate plinth beneath the Td124 seen in the photo. The result is a placid turntable stand that sounds very good.
I have also used wall racks with success. Keep in mind that even though we don't see them, the structures holding up our racks and stands, floor joists beneath plywood, or load bearing 2x4 studs behind sheetrock become a significant extension of our mountings and contribute their own sonic signature.
At this point in time, even though I'm on a springy upstairs floor, I'm in favor of the floor standing "mass loaded" dedicated turntable stand.
-Steve
http://www.theanalogdept.com |
Nice stand Steve. Very clean lines. Cool, solid joints.
I was just wondering, what kind of wood did you use for lags ? Looks like an walnut but I think you used a stain in order to match double ply. shelves. Also did you use a solid peace of wood or a sandwich two pieces for lags?
Looks like two to me.
What is a total weight of a stand?
Thanks for a link and cool pics.
Mariusz Stark. |
