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Tonearm mount on the plinth or on Pillar ?

Folks,
I am looking to buy a custom built turntable from Torqueo Audio (http://www.torqueo-audio.it/). They have two models, one with a wide base plinth where the tonearm would be mounted on the plinth (as usual) and the second is a compact plinth where they provide a seperate tonearm pillar to mount the tonearm. According to them the separate tonearm pillar version sounds more transparent and quieter because of the isolation of the tonearm from the TT. My concern is whether seperating the tonearm from the plinth would result in a lesser coherence in sound ? Isnt sharing the same platform results in a more well-timed, coherent presentation ? Any opinions ?
pani

Showing 3 responses by thekong

thekong
203 posts
 

Hi Halco,


While I tend to agree with Ralph /  atmasphere, I think it would be interesting if you could do some tests.


To my way of thinking, the test can be rather simple, just lower the cartridge on a stationary platter / LP, then play music through the CD system, and measure the output of the cartridge.


If Ralph is right, then there should be more signal / noise with the stand alone arm pod. With this test, you can even see how high the volume needs to be before the stand alone arm pod is affected, if at all. Actually, if we only need to know the level of output of the cartridge, would a simple voltmeter be sufficient ?


Anyone see anything wrong with this simple test ?

thekong
203 posts
 
Hi Fleib,

In his last post, 1st paragraph, Ralph clearly stated that the vibration is likely to be airborne.

Also, if I have read it correctly, Ralph's arm pod was on an antivibration platform together with the lathe, so I would assume most of the structure borne vibration had been filtered.

Ralph, please correct me if my understanding is wrong.
thekong
203 posts
 
It is unimportant whether the vibration is occurring at a resonant frequency or not- its vibration either way- just more of it if its at a resonant frequency

Again, I tend to agree with Ralph on this one and find it hard to believe that airborne vibration, even not at the resonance frequency, has no effect on the turntable system playback.

I would propose yet another simple test, similar to the one I proposed before:

 

  1.  Lower the cartridge on a stationary platter / LP, ideally the turntable system should be on an anti-vibration platform to filter out the structural borne vibrations,

  2. Play music through the CD system,

  3. Connect the cartridge to the phono / preamp as usual,

  4. Listen to the phono system with a headphone, preferably in another room.

 

I am pretty sure you could hear the music through the headphone (although it would sound funny as it has gone through the RIAA stage).

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