Turntable and Rack vibration control


Hi,
I moved from a Nouvelle Platine Verdier to a Loricraft Garrard 301. The big change with this move was that the Verdier comes with a terrific implementation of pneumatic suspension feet which kept the TT almost floating and hence great isolation from vibration. The result was always a noise/grain free playback and super clean backgrounds. With the Garrard, the plinth is typical custom made stacked birch ply with standard steel cones as footers. When placed directly on the rack the background is noisy, the images muddle up and overall music is not well sorted.

I do not expect the Garrard to be as quiet as the Verdier but I know it should not be this noisy either. In fact the Verdier also sounded noisy when I placed it directly on cones bypassing the pneumatic suspension feet. 

I use a Hutter Racktime rack which is not like an overbuilt audiophile rack. It is more like an open frame rack with lightweight supports. It is a bit like a Rega TT, not very damped or controlled. The rack has pointy steel feet which rests on brass spike plates (mine is an wooden floor). I guess this implementation is not sophisticated enough to keep away vibrations and let the TT play quietly. 

I am looking at two levels of solutions:
1. Replace the existing steel feet and brass plate with a quality vibration control footer below the rack
2. Replace the stock steel cone below the TT plinth with a better footer/platform.

I have tried Sorbothane, Squash balls kind of tweaks, while they reduce noise they slow down the music too.
I have also tried Stillpoints and Finite Elemente footers under the rack. They make the sound thin and metallic IMO. Platforms like Minus-K are too expensive so I have not considered them yet.

I am looking suggestions here, probably footers and vibration control devices that are more musically oriented yet well engineered like Shun Mook, Harmonix, SSC or something like an HRS platform ?
pani

Showing 10 responses by dlcockrum

Hi Ralph,

Any tips on/sources for material and construction techniques of your TT platform that you will share? I use a similar Sound Anchors stand coupled to a concrete slab with cones.

Thanks,
Dave
Thanks for the helpful reply Ralph. Looks like I am once again back to drooling over the $$$ Symposium Ultra platform for my TNT.

Dave
I bit the bullet and ordered a Symposium Ultra platform for my TNT. Also ordered some springs to place under the Big Rock sand box that the Ultra will be placed on. 

Will report back.

Dave


Completely agree with that, Bruce. Do you feel that using a 300 rpm vs 600 rpm motor and/or an independent flywheel between motor and platter are effective as methods to reduce unwanted motor vibrations from reaching the stylus?

How about thread drive vs rubber belts? My experience is that replacing rubber belts with a single thread is a big improvement, so I am surprised/confused by the recent trend toward two or three rubber belts between motor and platter from one TT manufacturer's tweakers...

Dave
Received and installed 300 rpm/flywheel assembly today in place of my original 600 rpm motor. Yowza! Immediate improvement in PRAT and ebb-and-low of the music.

No need to repeat the usual superlatives, but I will say that the reduction in the noise floor, er, floored me. A layer of foundation noise that I had always blamed on my phono stage is gone. So easy to hear more deeply into the music now.

I also noticed improved coupling of the thread drive from the platter to the flywheel’s much larger spool vs directly from platter to motor spindle before. The flywheel and motor pulley continue to turn/wind down with the platter without slippage after shutting off the motor and the combo seems to even pull to speed more easily despite the added mass of the flywheel.

The added mass/density of the motor/flywheel combo makes the "tap test" futile. No transfer of pops, thunks or rumbles from finger taps/flicks to the motor/flywheel assembly on to the stylus. Even though the old motor is very solid and very heavy, it couldn’t touch the new one for damping/isolation.

A very good improvement. Now on to the Symposium Ultra platform installation...and, yes, Geoff, springs under the Big Rock. ;)

Dave
Both can sound great or poor. Coupling the spindle/platter directly to the motor presents its own set of challenges.

Dave
If folkfreak said the Herzan is the sh*t, then it likely is.

I’m moving along on getting the Symposium Ultra platform setup under my TNT. Ordered a custom size Super Plus platform from Peter today for under the motor/flywheel assembly. All that’s left is to get the aluminum cut for the piers. Thinking end of next week as a target.

Dave

More with the stupid extremes, inna? folkfreak can say such for illustration purposes because he is not limited to a $2k cartridge...

Dave