Tonearm mount on the plinth or on Pillar ?

True, a suspended-subchassis table will always have a plinth common to the platter bearing and arm pillar (at least as far as I know!), while a non-suspended doesn't have to, the later fact the impetus for this discussion. When I was said I would not consider a table without a common plinth, that included non-suspended tables, which I agree with the others is, in regards to the importance of the mechanical integrity between platter bearing and arm, no different than a suspended-subchassis design. How that plinth is isolated from what is below it (by springs---commonly---in suspended tables, and whatever method in non-suspended) is a related but separate issue. But the "correctness" and superiority of a common plinth turntable design does presume the plinth provides an inherently rigid mechanical connection between platter bearing and arm pillar simply by virtue of it being common, too large a presumption as well as an over-simplification, I realize in hindsight. The rigidity of the plinth in different tables varies, and is a major contributor to the sound of every table. Their designers have invested a lot of time, effort, and money into either maximizing the rigidity of the plinth, or at least strengthening the mechanical connection between platter bearing and arm pillar.

My table was designed with this matter a very high priority, it's non-suspended plinth made of steel in the shape of a shallow upside-down baking pan, and filled with plaster of Paris, to make it much stiffer and more non-resonant than the common MDF, acrylic, or aluminum (or combination of two or all three materials) plinth. Recognize it? But the designer of this table took his intention and dedication to making the mechanical nature of his deck as stiff as possible to another level by addressing the other area of mechanical integrity in turntable/arm/pickup design, the front end of the arm. Free to vibrate (how much and at what frequencies dependent on the stiffness and resonant characteristics of the headshell, arm tube, all the way back to the arm's bearings and counterweight, and down into the main pillar), it will and does! When the end of the arm, and therefore the cartridge, the measuring device of the LP groove, is free to vibrate and resonate (especially cartridges employing low-compliance stylus'), it is surely adding to or subtracting from the output of the cartridge. That is a major source of lost or added information in the playing of an LP, and only one table in the world addresses the issue. Now do you recognize the table?! ;-)

No strawman argument from me Ralph, at least not intentionally. I’m with ya, man! But in the different executions of a solid plinth offered by a multitude of turntable makers, all attempting to advance, or at least equal, the State Of The Art, there are varying degrees of success at achieving mechanical rigidity. I was merely acknowledging that reality.

The table I was referring to, by the way, is the Townshend Rock, the only table that locks the front end of the very long and flexible (in relation to the size of the LP groove) pickup arm onto the plinth, much as the back end is on all good tables. And that means every arm, no matter the design and quality. Makes other table designs look downright sloppy!