DIY turntable plinth material

IMO, the better VPI platters seem to work very well with MDF. In particular, the Aries and Classics are great performers. That might be an easy and inexpensive place to start. It might also be a good idea to figure out a good set of feet or suspension. That will make a huge difference in performance.

Have you considered the armboard material and how to mount the armboard to the plinth (if that's your plan)?

From personal experience using a TNT1 platter / spindle / bearing and motor, a 1" acrylic plinth and 1/2" armboard bolted to the back right corner made for a good performer, but did leave room for improvement.

One issue that I ran into was that the original TNT bearing extended well-below the plinth top surface. Took a re-think of the feet.

I made a slate plinth , used a Lenco motor and idler system, stacked the VPI Superplatter over the Lenco platter and the result is one of the most slamming turntables I heard, very close to my EMT 927 in terms of dynamics .
http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=803.0
The VPI TNT is far behind !
Good luck with your project !

Planning to use my Finite Elemente Compact for feet, they offer tremendous performance. I also have some BDR jumbo puck and cones I can use as well.

I'm not familiar with the bearing and spindle assy for the platter you're using. Make sure that there is adequate clearance between the top of the plinth and the bottom of the installed bearing to clear the shelf surface. Also suggest that the plinth should be at least 2 inches think. Laminating 3/4" MDF is rumored to work OK.

Try contactiung a kitchen counter fabricatioin place and see if they have any Corian sink cutouts. Corian is very dense and resonant free (any heavy), and it comes in many styles and colors.

Check out my systems page for a DIY using VPI platter, bearing and motor and a Corian plinth (Apogees in the House)

Enjoy,
Bob

I've been curious about Corian. Is it easily worked like wood or MDF? Looking for a possible alternative to the acrylic plinth I'm using now. How does it sound compared to the VPI plinths?

try a slab of Delrin. Very machineable and non resonant. expensive though in 2" thickness.

We have slate, corian, Delrin, and wood. PBN wood plinth looks too raw, but slate or corian will probably look un-proportional since plinth will look much thinner than VPI super platter which is nearly 2" thick.

I read an article comparing plinth material based on mechanical properties like stiffness, damping factor, and resonance freq. Acrylic seems to be the most ideal material, but reality is acrylic plinth is too dead sounding and many manufactures have moved away from acrylic plinth. I know I ant some wood in the plinth, but if corian or delrin is better, I don't mind giving either a try.

I agree that Delrin is a wonderful material for turntable use. I have no audio experience with Corian, except that I do know it works easily.

MDF, on the other hand, is a material that is like lead in that a little goes a long way. Be careful with it because too much will result in a dead, non-musical result. I believe that it is best used in combination with a more lively material.

Semi

Shoot me an email and I can send you some pictures of others we have made

pbnaudio@me.com

Thanks

Peter

Corian is not resonance-free. Using the standard 1/2" thickness, it was necessary to add a layer of heavy damping to the underside to stop the ringing (which is higher in frequency than one might expect). A layer of Dynamat was the cure.

Go for Panzerholz or Permali.