Gingko Cloud 9 Scoutmaster


I've bought a second hand Gingko Cloud 9 for my scoutmaster. I assumed since it's a vibration isolation platform, it would isolate the turntable from footfalls, etc. It does not. It actually makes things worse. Can't even put the needle on the record without the turntable wobbling all over the place. Am i doing something wrong, or is this thing totally useless?
arnold_layne
It's hard to give any meaningful advice without seeing your room and what your Scoutmaster is sitting on.

FWIW, my Scout sits on an old Sound Organization stand (light steel frame, 18" high and simple wood shelf" and there are no footfall problems at all.

The Ginko probably filters out higher frequency vibrations effectively but not the very lowest, which is where your problem seems to be.

You're just going to have to experiment; try moving the TT to another shelf/stand, etc.
had one a loooooong time ago and didn't work under my TT, thought it blurrred images and the bass got sloppy, sold it.
I used the Gingko platform on my VPI Super Scoutmaster and had a problem with rocking and vibration of the tonearm. This Gingko model used 2 platforms, one under the table, and a separate one under the motor. The culprit was the tennis balls under the platforms which allows them to move. I sold the Gingko and replaced it with a Symposium Ultra Shelf under the table and motor. This eliminated the rocking problem and noticeably improved the sound.
If you have footfall problems, I have never seen anything other than a wallshelf that will eliminate the issues. If you can possibly fit one into your setup it will make your life and music a lot better.
Yes Arnold...it does make VPI tables much worse. If you are interested in improving the sound if you have VPI minifeet, dump those as well and screw in Bearpaws from Vermontaudio.com. I have posted this many times on these pages...it works more than you can believe.
I tried Gingko products with my analog and digital sources, both with poor results.

Isolating a turntable with a big floating sandbox / platform (DIY or otherwise) works very nicely.

http://www.teresaudio.com/haven/stands/stands.html