wall rack and different shelf materials under TT

I got good results from the Mapleshade 2-inch maple board with their rubber/cork/rubber feet under my Ariston RD110. Although my Mana Reference table(under my LP12)was better, I think the Mapleshade(rather than the TT sitting on a cheap rack) is a good benchmark, although I've read here that it can make things sound too dull. I also believe Mapleshade's maple sounds better than my maple cutting boards(under amps). The maple cutting boards are probably kiln-dried, but definitely not of one piece(i.e.glued together). I haven't tried my Sistrum equipment stands on any turntable, but they increased and lowered the bass, and maybe increased depth, under my speakers. My 4-inch Mapleshade maple stand was better than my 3 or 3 1/2 inch maple board on amps and speakers(memory here). I think the $100 for the Mapleshade maple with their footers is money well-spent. BTW, I have many brass footers, and like Mapleshade's triple points on top of a 2-inch Mapleshade maple board, with their rubber/cork/rubber footers(or the cheaper alternative to them), on top of a decent, but cheap, Cambre' timber rack. This is very unstable, but gave a noticeable improvement under my Lingo I power supply for the Linn TT.

I think I found the right combo for my setup. 15x15x1/4" porcelain tile with small and thin ebony wood pucks between the feet and the porcelain. The pucks have a small hole in the center to fit the tips of the turntable feet. Sounds great!

Porcelain back, table leveled and tacking weight double-checked but this time tried some thin weaved leather coasters between the shelf and table. Nice and lively keeping the bass slam but reduced the brightness a little. Looking forward to trying the solid ebony disks next. Cheap tuning is fun, especially when I customized my cabinet rack with a pass through for the DIY wall turntable rack I made. :)

So, after some more listening this weekend, I think I am going to go back to the porcelain shelf. One thing I notice is that with the volume all the way down the tonearm seems to be doing more (more / louder pickup) with the porcelain shelf. Why is this / what is actually happening here?

I also plan a hybrid eval with some ebony wood disks between the turntable factory isolation cones / feet and the porcelain shelf.

Anyone need a 3/4x16x16 walnut board? If not, I'll use it for a nice cheese board.

My concern with Butcher Block which I use under a couple of different components has a lot of glue or boding agent in them. Therefore it is difficult to compare these manyfactured boards like my amps stand which have 3 and 1/2 inched of bonded Maple as the primary shelving material. All I can say is that they seem to work really well. Better than the fake slate the stands came with but thats all I can say. I also like the look of thick wooden boards natural or bonded.FWIW!

The Linn is a special case;I have a Star Sound Sistrum rack that is very heavy but the Linn sounds better sitting on a very old Russ Andrews Torlite stand which sits on top of another stand. Rube Goldberg but it works well. Linn advises that a lightweight stand works best and my experience supports this. The VPI, on the other hand , does very well on the Star Sound as does the Basis 2001. I was a Star Sound dealer but the rack is no longer made so this is not a commercial for it.

My rack has a 4" thick maple top shelf that used to really effected my old Wilson Benesch Full Circle's low end response and brought out the highs. It was a lot cleaner than on the floor but lacked a little emotion and softness, which I like.

My new Well Tempered Labs Amadeus with its squash ball feet doesnt really seem to care what its on all that much, as long as its level of course, ha.

An alternate: Totally Bamboo "Big Kahuna" 18 x 24" cutting board, 2 1/4" thick.

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/totally-bamboo/big-kahuna-bamboo-chopping-block-cutting-board-p15445?gc

An ebay "big kahuna cutting board" search will turn one up, free shipping.

There are other vendors, no association.

Weighs about 20lbs. Mine is an older offering without the provided feet. Bedded in a sand box, sand is double-bagged in six zip-lock bags. With a Pio "Exclusive" PL-70L-11 a tightening of bass response is noticed.

Peace,

I don't know if all turntables respond to the shelf materials, but my Linn was extremely sensitive to it. I used it on a wallshelf and I found that a 1/2" Corian shelf sounded better than both the Neuance platform or the standard wood. Even my Linn dealer was surprised at how different it sounded with different shelf materials. It's nice to be able to tune the table to your tastes.

Never mind I found them thanks.

hardwood-lumber-co

The price above was for both boards. Great communication, quick and well packed shipping, nice prices and custom orders allowed.

Wish I was home listening to some vinyl instead of working...

I couldn't find the Hardwood Lumber Company on Ebay can you spell it out exactly so I can see what they have. I like good lumber and finished boards. Thanks

Not sure why this double-posted.

What are others using under their TTs? What are the pros and cons of the two materials I've listed or does it just come down to listening?