Turntable Placement Between Speakers with Short Interconnect?

From my experience I know that even line level interconnects sound vastly inferior if too long…. 
 

That’s why IF my center placed turntable has an issue with that location and needed to be moved off to one side and further away, I will be using an XLR interconnect that will be needed to connect the phono stage to my amp’s balanced inputs.

Understood, thanks.  I think a few I looked at appear to support balanced connections.  One of them is the Linn Uphorik.  I will ideally be testing a few to see which sounds best to me in my system.

Thanks, and yes I think I will start with the TT connected beside my amp to see if I have any issue first.

I did a subjective vibration test using bass heavy tracks with the volume cranked (which I don’t do during normal listening), and testing for vibration and bass resonance at various locations.  I did find that the outer sides of the speakers the bass and any vibration was far less noticeable than from in the middle between the speakers.  My guess is that in the middle you have an additive effect to the low frequencies from both speakers, instead of just one on the outer sides of each speaker.  So, I don’t think it is all psychological… 

onhwy61 that is music to my ears and hopefully yes I am overanalyzing things, which actually come to think of it is a large part of this hobby which seldom yields results.  Usually just a matter of trying things out, which is why I think I will just start with a Pro-ject Debut simply so I can be confident in the setup before I take the big plunge…

Thanks for the advice all.  Will look into the MinusK platform…

Totally get the appeal of looking at empty space between the speakers.  But I also like looking at my Diablo 300 in that spot too!  The turntable will add to that however.  

Regarding separates, for the equivalent price of my Diablo, I demoed many separate components at home and couldn’t find anything that would come close to the Diablo’s sound, and in fact I couldn’t even find any pre/power amps I could be happy with.  I’m sure that issue could be solved with more money however!

Thanks again All…. Would this be a possible solution:

I take out the easily removable phono card from my Diablo, and instead purchase an external module to go next to my turntable 3 ft to the right of my right speaker. Then the 8 ft interconnect would be a line level interconnect. That said, I should note that the turntable’s position would be approaching the front right corner of my room, if that is a bad thing…. Unfortunately the layout of my room only allows for these two positions.

That said, lewm notes this may not be any better than in the middle and yes I’d prefer not to have to spend thousands on 8ft interconnects…. Unless there is no other choice.

One other thought I had was to first purchase a low end $1k Pro-ject turntable to experiment with the position between my speakers. If I’m lucky, maybe it simply isn’t an issue…. I can always sell the cheaper TT after.

of note, I have all other gear I’d need including some good AQ short interconnects and a Hurricane source for the TT which will go into my AQ 1800 conditioner.

Currently running a 2m pair of Clarus Crimson biwire cables to my speakers which are rather great for the money.

Maybe I should just do a test with an inexpensive TT first? I don’t want to spring for a very fancy VPI TT if it will sound like crap….

Another note, yes my stand for my Diablo’s is a heavy wood stand that is very low and very wide. It’s less than 1.5 ft tall not including the gear itself. I’ve always thought my imaging performance was good, but maybe it would be better without the stand there. Either way the gear is well below the mid drivers.

My room is also huge, as my house is open concept. Ceiling is vaulted and high as well, 12 ft at the peak. Room is about 900 sq feet, but the area my system is in has a tall island that acts as a partial wall on the left side. In other words the large room is broken up a it.

Okay, I’ve found a way to make the left side of my left speaker work for my turntable location (3 ft from speaker), and this is NOT a corner. Here’s my plan based on all of your feedback, to facilitate placement on the left side of my speakers:

• I will pick up a separate phono module
• I will pick up a 14 ft balanced interconnect to go to my Gryphon’s balanced inputs

From what everyone has said, it seems to me this setup WOULD be more ideal, albeit at an added cost. So my questions now, are:

• Phono module: What phono module to pair with a VPI Prime 21+?
• Phono power cord: Is yet another fancy power cord for the phono module warranted (I have AQ Hurricane source cables on my other source equipment including for the future VPI TT)?
• 14 ft Balanced interconnect: I’ve not had any experience with XLR cables before. How much does quality matter and do I need to go through the lengthy and intensive cable testing process I went through for my speaker cables, which was very worthwhile? Or does it matter less with XLR cables?

Thanks again All.

PS:  Consider budget blown given the above.  It's okay, just means I'll need to wait a bit. 

Thanks again for the valuable advice….   Yes, my room could certainly benefit from a bit of address treatment on the wall to the right of the listening position.  But the problems with echoes/resonance don’t result in any detectable bass resonance.  This is likely because of the fact that the room is open concept and therefore there are no corners of the room that are very near my speakers.  Also, I have soft and very tall blinds covering a wall of windows behind my listening position.

I hate to bring it up because I’m sure this is a no-no, but I do have a flat-screen tv mounted to the wall between my speakers….  I angle it upwards to avoid reflecting sound directly towards the listening position, and am considering getting a light blanket to toss over it while listening to music.

Also good to know about the balanced interconnects; I would never have guessed that manufacturers include the connections for show only.

Finally, I agree it is not likely that I will have an issue with my TT between my speakers at moderate volumes especially.  I just wanted to make sure I have a contingency plan in the event that the center placement didn’t work, otherwise the TT would be a waste.  Thanks to everyone’s advice, I do have a contingency plan, although it will cost more if I need to go that route.

Thanks again for the valuable advice…. Yes, my room could certainly benefit from a bit of added treatment on the wall to the right of the listening position. But the problems with echoes/resonance don’t result in any detectable bass resonance. This is likely because of the fact that the room is open concept and therefore there are no corners of the room that are very near my speakers. Also, I have soft and very tall blinds covering a wall of windows behind my listening position.

I hate to bring it up because I’m sure this is a no-no, but I do have a flat-screen tv mounted to the wall between my speakers…. I angle it upwards to avoid reflecting sound directly towards the listening position, and am considering getting a light blanket to toss over it while listening to music.

Also good to know about the balanced interconnects; I would never have guessed that manufacturers include the connections for show only.

Finally, I agree it is not likely that I will have an issue with my TT between my speakers at moderate volumes especially. I just wanted to make sure I have a contingency plan in the event that the center placement didn’t work, otherwise the TT would be a waste. Thanks to everyone’s advice, I do have a contingency plan, although it will cost more if I need to go that route.