I am not saying that you should or shouldn't use a 3" thick Maple slab atop your stand,but one thing I will say is evertime you add Maple to anything you add "Warmth"..If you already have a Maple shelf atop your Rix Rax stand adding more Maple "may" push you further in the direction you may or maynot want to go..Just something to think about.. |
Thorman, does it also mean that the turntable that sits on maple will sound slower? And the thicker the platform the slower and warmer it will sound? |
Inna: That has been my peception with Maple..In my system it tends to bogg things down and mute the sound..but thats me..Your mileage may vary..I have found that using too much of anything will go in the wrong direction..Keep in mind these are just my feelings.. |
Having soft wood floors, I needed something that would resolve my resonance problem. I used a 3" thick maple platform that I purchased at a specialty store called TJ Maxx in the kitchen section. I then painted it flat black and attached high-end speaker points from Parts Express. I used three of the points with the point end aimed up and the base sits on a 1/4" thick antistatic 3M rubber platform that I picked up at American Science and Surplus. I found the sound to be much improved, especially when humans walk near the turntable and having a weighty 3 inch thick slab of dense wood isolates unwanted resonance. |
You can get a cherry platform not maple from Timbernation. I wonder if it might be better in this respect. I definitely don't want my Nottingham to sound too warm and slow. But it appears that just about everyone uses maple. And in my case I am going to put the platform with the table on it right on the hardwood floor not on the rack because that's where I have minimum vibration. So generally people suggest the thickest platform with cones or Mapleshade footers.
Thorman, you heard those things not imagined. What table do you have, with suspension or not? And I guess you keep it on the rack not floor. |
Fine tuning your system with different species of wood?
Here is a very short list of wood platform choices and what to expect by using them.
Spruce - cleans up the overall sound
Satinwood - dulls things down a bit
White Pine - adds a fair amount of brightness
Black Walnut - slightly darkens the presentation
Ebony - significantly darkens the presentation
Water Gum - adds a tube like liquidity
Butternut - is great for adding a touch of richness
Zebrawood - blends in so well you will barely notice it all
Seriously, Maple is an excellent choice. And, Cinellipro's suggestion looks pretty good. |
Sorry, but "isolate" may not be the right word. A maple platform doesn't isolate anything. Put a maple platform on a vibrating chair. Then put a cup on top of it. Does it vibrate in the exact same way? That is because solid connection to a vibrating source conducts, not isolates, vibrations. With a rubber platform, the cup will vibrate less. Try it, simple experiment. |
Inna : My experience was with Maple is with an all tubes System so that may have some bearing on my experiences..Many users love the Maple blocks so,I may be in the small percentage of people that have had less the great experiences with Maple..As I mentioned its only what I hear.. |
Thorman: You're not in the "small percentage of people that have had less than great experiences with Maple." Many, many people have tried maple and been disappointed. The rest of us just get tired of responding to the same questions over and over. Maple is really just one of many tuning tweaks that can be used to shift the tonal balance of a system in a different direction. The shift will be a positive move for some systems and some listeners, and a big step backwards for others. The same thing applies with cones, footers of all types, and mounting platforms made of other materials. |
I don't want to shift the tonal balance anywhere, I just want the table to sound as close as possible to its best.
And I have to put it on something. Also, I cannot experiment with all types of platforms and footers. And the cost has to be reasonable.
Another thought, though it might be irrelevant, I've never heard anyone use maple or walnut or oak to build musical instruments. But spruce, rosewood, cherry and ebony are used. Does it tell us something when it comes to tuning and vibration control? Possibly. |
Inna: Do you currently have your turntable on the floor?
If so, what species of hardwood is the flooring made from?
And , is it solid wood flooring or laminated?
Since you want to keep the tonal balance as is, get a platform made from the same species of wood as the flooring. This should minimize the potential coloration issue to some degree. |
Thanks Thorman, Salectric, Rakuenow, Ska_man, and Cinellipro.
I will likely go forward, and give the Maple Platform a go.
They seem to move well on the used market, so I think it's worth a shot. My 2 shelf Rix Rax is actually on the low side, so it will raise it up a at least 4" w/ the cork product as well. I did try a granite/MDF composite shelf before, and did not like it much at the time. I felt it added a hardness to the sound, so that's the reason I am sticking to wood. |
Yeah, it is on the floor sitting on the Nottingham supplied MDF platform with steel cones under it. The flooring appears to be solid wood and laquered, it's slippery you know. But maybe it's laminated, it's a modest appartment. What species of hardwood? I have no idea. But it's not oak or rosewood or ebony, that's for sure. Something cheap, I guess.
I generally agree with your approach. |
