2. analog
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What the *#$@ happened??

I'll keep this short, just hoping someone can let me know what's going on. I changed out the platform my TT was on to a much denser wood, and I'm not really happy with the results. The good, I can hear more detail in the music, subtle nuances are more prevalent, better instrument separation, especially in complex arrangements. The bad, the whole stage moved back and got flatter, it lost depth. And the 3 dimensional characteristics of the singers voice also lost luster, became flatter as it were. It almost seems like I'm listening to a stereo now instead of a live performance. I thought the heavier wood would improve the sound, not degrade it. 
Anyone know why this happened?
shawnlh

Showing 4 responses by inna

inna
7,839 posts
 
Could you tell us which woods you are taling about? Also, what table is that?
Generally speaking, it is not simple with woods. Maple is the most popular, I never heard anyone use ebony or ironwood, as an example.
You probably got a lot of vibration energy reflected back into your analog rig, among other possible factors.
inna
7,839 posts
 
I am surprised too. I have 3" maple block under my Nottingham Spacedeck and everything is fine.
inna
7,839 posts
 
You could ask Clearaudio for the advice. As for tuning as opposed to just absorbing, I will be the first one to support this approach. After all I have Michael Green free resonance speakers. You can easily overwhelm them with very loud music, but within their operating range they sound very natural.
Still I am puzzled by the collapse of the soundstage depth that you experience.
Also, turntable is not a cd player, you cannot really extrapolate.
inna
7,839 posts
 
Yeah, let's not get into the woods too far.
Cocobolo, which is rosewood species, and Brazilian rosewood could theoretically work in some applications. There is much more to woods than density. No-one makes guitars or violins from ebony or ironwood, though I heard than some do from African blackwood.
If I wanted to try something different under my table, I would try some rosewood species first and spruce second, for now maple will do.
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