Support table or shelf for turntable

Wall shelves (interior brick wall first floor) never worked for my Linn LP12 and Rega decks. The sound always felt grounded.
I live on a main road and I suspect that the wall itself was transmitting a fair degree of vibration itself.

On the other hand a small light rigid wooden table made my cheap $50 flimsy plastic turntable (glued stylus) sound ridiculously close to the above mentioned decks! The sound was big with a good sense of ease about it. With young kids in the house I just gave up on vinyl entirely largely because of these issues.

I think the main point to bear in mind is that we want to decouple, not isolate via spikes etc. In fact some of the extreme high end decks feature advanced tech which totally decouples them via magnets or air suspension.

Hmm, does anyone have friends in NASA who could help up us solve these issues once and for all? Google? Apple? I heard that Steve Jobs was a vinyl man...

As someone mentioned earlier there's some great information on the Townshend Audio site. Well worth a watch and thanks to all concerned

https://youtu.be/OZxi1oZfvDA

Yes its an intriguing subject, the isolation/ control of vibration, and how it applies to audio. The good vibration is the movement of the speaker cone, and the bad is everything else. Or is it?

Like the ongoing debates over cables, analogue/digital etc,  there is no consensus regarding loudspeaker isolation. Some believe in spikes, some go for isolating feet, or inner tubes, or sorbothane, and some don't believe its necessary at all.

My guess is that it all depends upon how big the problem is and how far did the manufacturer address the problem.

Some turntables such as the highly engineered (and highly priced) Continuum Caliburn featured a floating design decoupled from the main stand.

As far as loudspeakers go, Harbeth have their brilliant 'thin wall' design and unlike many others do not believe in remorselessly strengthening cabinet walls and tightening their drive units in order to suppress resonance. They would rather direct resonance to dissipate into the low frequencies where it is rendered inaudible. Thus preserving the all important midrange. I imagine Harbeths and the Caliburn would not require much more in the way of isolation.

Can we really say that of everything else? Given that sorbothane is well damped and can isolate down to 10HZ, and is relatively inexpensive, I think its worth a go in an attempt to maximise performance. Especially if your system sounds a bit thick or muddy.

Managing resonances is probably 90% of turntable design (speed issues the other 10). I couldn't get my Linn LP12 to stay in perfect tune so I abandoned vinyl as a result. I did learn quite a bit about setting it up but in the end gave up on the wall option, and it was my only option at the time.

In hindsight it probably did sound very good, but occasionally it could sound great.

To this day I believe that a well designed suspension is the way to go for sonic freedom. Thanks, Ed Villchur! Unfortunately I was able to find a Pink Triangle or Alphason Sonata etc

I remain sceptical about non suspended decks but I haven't heard the latest Regas. Its just that life moves on, and I don't have the time or energy to constantly have to adjust my setup. Besides, my wife thinks I'm strange enough already! How I envy those of you who have audio loving partners!

I believe that isolation from the environment is important in audio, (as it is in engineering / photography / quantum physics etc). 

With turntables you can also get all kinds of internal resonances generated by the deck itself.  We/the manufacturer can try to damp down resonant peaks generated mostly by the bearing, motor and the stylus / vinyl interface. This is why springs (damped/undamped) are often preferred to sorbothane in decks where isolation seems critical in high performance. Springs can isolate further (< 10 HZ ) than sorbothane. As can air bladder systems.

With loudspeakers we can often get massive internal pressures in the box itself (big smile from the open baffle fans). These pressures do nothing to help the cone do its job. No matter how much we tighten everything down, or increase the panel thickness we seem to merely add to the problem by shuffling the resonances around. Usually into the critical midband where these resonances can be most annoying. This noise often gets worse and worse at high volumes where its is almost as loud as the music. 

Its encouraging to see more and more manufacturers starting to tackle these issues, and not just the high end stuff. Even a no nonsense company like ATC acknowledged these issues by changing the shape of their cabinets.

I guess the pursuit of audio satisfaction can be stressful (time and money). It often leads to disappointment and desperation.

The great thing about forums is that we know we are not suffering alone. We can even begin to laugh together.

I'd be the first to admit that I spent decades ignoring good advice, and I'm probably still doing it.

At least I can take consolation in knowing that I can enjoy all my 3 systems. From the full on Tannoy Berkeley's, Rega RS1s, JVC tube/wood cone speaker mini system and last but certainly not least, my Sony CMT-CQ1 micro. 

Not everyone's cup of tea but my best attempt to extract max tonal density from HiFi. That's the key I think, knowing what pushes all the buttons in your head.

Its a labour of love, and love is a strange thing.