What can I improve in my turntable setup?


Hello - I'm new to this group.

I think things should sound better, so the first thing I will do is see if I'm missing something obvious in the Turntable set-up.
I just moved into this new house.

The listening room:
It is a carpeted, finished basement equivilant to a large living room with a hallway that leasd to other rooms.
Basis 1400 Turntable... (no suspension)
Rega 900 Arm.....
Benz LO-4 Cartridge......
Nitty Gritty Cleaning machine
Decca Brush
Zerostat
LP#9 stylus cleaner.
Tracking at just under 2 gm.
Alligned with "Wally Tractor"

The turntable is floor mounted. It sits on about 100 pounds of cement. 3 adjustable bolts on the bottom of the cement block level the platform.
a 1/4 in. thick plexiglass dust cover covers the turntable and sits on weather stripping on the cement table.

I read that wall mounting a turntable has some advantages.
In my case - I think floor mounting is better because the concrete basement floor is pretty sturdy and will vibrate less than the walls (even though I bonded the wall studs to the concrete basement walls with expanding foam)

Any suggestions?

Steve
rotary914

Showing 1 response by flyingred

Rotary 914, you need to tell us some more so that we can help you.

Are you happy with how your system sounds using another source - e.g. cd or tuner?

Have you experimented with speaker positions? Moving them a few feet further towards or away from your listening position can make a huge difference in sound. Also, I've found that having dissimilar materials on opposite surfaces helps i.e. a bare wall behind the speakers with a bookcase full of books on the opposite side of the room.

What happens to the sound when you clap your hands in differnt places in the room? If there's a pronounced echo then you would need to dampen it down with more soft, absorbent materials.

If your turntable sounded good in your previous room then it's unlikely that you will get that sound back in the new one just by tweaking the set up of the arm and cart.

Is the new room size significantly larger or smaller than before?

From what you have said, I don't think your problem is acoustic isolation but you could check by putting the cart on a record with the platter stationary, turn the amp up to a loud listening level and then gently tap the floor and the concrete block to hear what happens.