Dumped the rack


So I have a steel spiked Sound Organization table about 2 feet tall. On it rests a 3" maple butcher block. On that rests my slate Garrard 401 with slate feet and aluminum cones.
I had a piece of granite made and installed it on the maple beneath the turntable. Man, that sounded bad. Silvery colored and dull. I reversed the layer order and put the granite below the maple. That sounded a lot better. But not as good as when there was no granite. So I took it back out. Okay back to how it was. But something was missing. The granite did bring a feeling of stability to the image. What to do? I took the whole rack thing out of the equation and put the 401 on the concrete floor along with the preamp. This sounded best notwithstanding the wooden tone lost by removal of the maple. But the best thing, and I’m aware of the effect from reading but never tried it, was that imaging has improved by quite a margin. Like removing a veil of something. Like when someone moves their head out of your face at a concert. Now, I have to bend down to play records. 
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Showing 11 responses by noromance

Thanks. I should emphasize that the removal of the rack has improved the imaging. For this reason, it's not good to have stuff between your speakers.@sgordon1 Funny, my SO came from MY long-abandoned LP12!
Tom, I'm inclined to agree with what you say about the rotation grounding. I do need to get the thing off the floor if only to blow fluff off the stylus. I think I'll put four 8x8x16 cinder blocks on end under the maple and see how that sounds.
@slaw Looking forward to the mat. Currently running no mat on aluminum platter. 
@thosb Racks are certainly a challenge. I'm not sure I want the table downwind of the speakers.  
Dammit. It sounds so good on the basement floor. Soundstage is further back and more 3D. Wider too. A greater sense of ease and weight. Bass bloom is tidier. The only thing I'm missing is a finer precision of focus I had on the maple on the stand... but I can't  be certain...
@millercarbon Thanks. That's useful info. Any pics? 
@audioguy85 I've contemplated wall mounting but the table is heavy at around 60 pounds so I may have to get something welded up.
@geoffkait Useful too. 

Thanks Geoff and slaw. I admit I've been avoiding the whole spring aspect of support as I do not have suspended floors etc. as the rig in on at least 3" concrete. So kindly tell me how to assemble a support using springs given I have a 60pound slate table. Thanks.
On the subject of leaning and level-ness, the rear right side of my plinth is a lot heavier than the front left side...
The small problem is that the slate plinth is 2" thick and the Garrard is about 6" high so I have to raise the slate up on 1.5" x 3" slate feet. The plinth rests on three 3/4" aluminum cones which in turn sit on the slate feet. Would the Super Stiff Springs work under the 3" maple?
Update. I couldn’t handle the floor. So I stood four concrete 16×8×4" blocks on their short end. Drilled 4 holes on the 3" maple butcher block. Screwed in 4 brass domehead bolts. Rested maple on blocks -boltheads down. Adjusted bolts so it was level. Installed slate 401 on top of this. Solid and stable.
Added photo to Virtual Systems profile. BTW, it’s an order of magnitude better than having the turntable on the floor. I believe the maple must be bringing something good to the, um, table.
I'm going to pass on springs for the moment. Replaced metal rack with 4 concrete blocks. I've never been happy with the metal stand. I had it lying around and it was better than the old oak table. The concrete is a qualitative improvement in sound quality. Huge soundstage, increase in inner detail. improved stability of images, tighter and more tuneful bass.