Maple platforms

A Skylan damping pad might be useful for your Audiomat. (www.skylanstands.com )It is basically an MDF sandwhich with a damping material in between. Have you asked Audiomat, or Mutine, (their distributor in Canada, not sure about the U.S.)what they recommend? I envy you your Opera, I've heard great things about it.

02-22-06 This discussion on the advantages of maple shelves has given me a reason to rethink building a stand for my turntable using 3inch square aluminum tubing, heli-arcing the joints, powdercoating it and then filling the tubing with a urethane/ lead mixture to redude resonances. Maple would be easier to work with, and wouldn't require any additional damping materials. Anyone have any comments one way or the other?

I went to a local cabinet shop and had two 3/4" boards with opposite cross-grain patterns laminated together to prevent warping. They planed the 15.5 x 20.5 board to go on my Lovan Classic stand and I did the final sanding and finishing. Used Tung oil to seal the stain not varnish. I found that my VPI Scout sounded naturally warmer than previously having steel spikes sitting on cold marble. Total cost...approx $75.00.

3" solid maple butcher blocks cut to 18" X 20" are amazingly good under a table, I use one, its routed with rounded corners with a clear coat of some type.. using my table directly on it with the stock Spikes sticking into the block proves to be the best I have heard, and the block is sitting on a mdf shelf, but not directly it is seperated via rubber feet... I can fire my massive sub's 2 feet from the rack and you cannot even get the stylus to mistrack, jump, skip whatever at outrageous levels, very very solid and yes sounds far warmer and at the same time solid detail with clean image. So for how much you can get these things cut at a local butcher shop(I paid 100.00 totally routed and finished) they are I believe the best value and effectiveness... I would never use any stone under a turntable or digital, horrible results. Also, I use a 1.5" thick solid maple cut the same deal as the 3", and works very well under my tubes and Digital as well. all for around 200.00 total cost 3 shelfs, and everyone thinks they are bought from a hiend manufacture, all I need to do is tack on a little gold emblem or something and could go into business selling these for 4 times the price. Now I want to maybe work on bolting the turntable shelf to the wall directly any suggestions?

john boos 2.25" thick maple cutting boards are readily found, cheap and (in my system) a very effective platform for the table. I cutout a section of mine so that the table and motor are on separate boards, which improved the sound further.