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High mass vs Low Mass Turntables - Sound difference?

As I am recently back playing with analog gear after some 15 years away, I thought I would ask the long time experts here about the two major camps of record players -- high vs low mass-loaded-type tables...

For example, an equivalently priced VPI table (say a Classic, Aries or Prime) versus a Rega RP8/10 or equivalent Funk Firm table...  the design philosophies are so different ... one built like a tank, the other like a lightweight sports car...

Just wondering if the folks here have had direct experience with such or similar tables, and what have been your experiences and sense of strengths and weaknesses of these two different types of tables.



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Showing 6 responses by 13blm

13blm's avatar
13blm
63 posts
 
Heavy platter turntables virtually always produce lower w&f and drift. The tend to produce what I would call an "elegant" or graceful sound. They also tend to have a lower noise floor. You know it when you hear it. It is a myth that they sound slow and it has absolutely nothing to do with energy storage. The bearing is the usual culprit in "slow" sounding systems. Did any of you stop by at Axpona?
Regards,
Bruce
Anvil Turntables


13blm's avatar
13blm
63 posts
 
Compare this with anything mentioned in posts
Anvilturntables.com

13blm's avatar
13blm
63 posts
 
Yes, meat.  Highly underrated, lol.  I think at some point value becomes the determining factor for many. Spending 3-5k on chipboard, plastic and glass seems a stretch when compared to mass design approaches. 

13blm's avatar
13blm
63 posts
 
I'm hungry now!  High mass tables certainly do a better job of tenderizing.  Think I'll rip that porterhouse from under the table and fire up the grill 

13blm's avatar
13blm
63 posts
 
Totally agree. A golf ball floating in goo is hardly low friction. Many examples of lower friction tonearms. 
13blm's avatar
13blm
63 posts
 
I'm just saying there are plenty of arms with less friction, which of course is only one criterion. I think UCLA? came up with the Townsend design and he marketed it. 
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