Looking for turntable isolation advice


Greetings from Oregon,

Was hoping to get some suggestions on turntable isolation for my particular situation.  My setup starts off with two strikes against it - suspended wood floors in my apartment and the turntable between in the speakers.  Neither is ideal, but that's the room I have.  As it's an apartment, structural changes are out of the question.  I have a VPI Prime on the stock feet, which are a nice step up from the feet on the Traveler that I had before, but I'm not sure about their ultimate performance.  

For my stand, I am using two heavy duty (about 70lbs. each) Sound Anchor speaker stands facing each other with a 4" maple platform on top of them (with blue tack between the stand and platform).  The stands are spiked into Herbie's gliders.  I find that all of my stands sound better on the gliders or generally decoupled from the floor.  The speaker stands are only about 10 inches wide but the platform is 24"x19", so it's probably not the most stable set up.  I'm getting good sound, but I know that the table is still subject to some vibrations.  I'd like to get advice on anything that I might do to better the performance of the table.  

I've considered some the following:

1). Aftermarket footers for the table, possibly Stillpoint Ultra SS.   

2). Better spikes on the stand - Gaia, Stillpoints, Track Audio, etc.

3).  Paving stone under the stand

4). All of the above

5). A wall shelf.  This would be a big task as the table weighs close to 60 pounds.  The only commercial turntable wall shelves I've seen hold 40-80 lbs. max weight, and I'd like something that is rated much higher to be safe.  I guess I could try a DIY project.  Would love to get the maple platform on brackets on the wall, but that would bring the weight over 100 lbs.  

So, any thoughts would be welcome.  It's turntable only rig, so I'm trying to wring every last ounce of performance out of it.  

Thanks so much for any insight that you might have.

Cheers,Scott
smrex13

Showing 1 response by williewonka

@smrex13 - over the years I’ve tried a few things including butcher block and Maple and found they were not as good as MDF.

Here are a couple of things you could try with MDF

1. Get 4-5 sheets of MDF cut to size and insert the rubberized drawer liner between each "layer" of MDF (see link below).
- This approach is very similar to earthquake footings used in building construction in the far east.
- Each layer of MDF/Drawer Liner absorbed vertical and lateral vibrations and transfers less vibration to the next level up as it approaches the top layer
- for aesthetics, the top layer can be granite on a layer of drawer liner
- the TT can sit on spikes, directly on the granite

I do not have a serious vibration issue so I use a single layer MDF directly onto the stand, with pieces of sorbothane between the stand and the MDF - then a layer of drawer liner then a granite shelf on top - see
http://image99.net/blog/files/3b1e019ed6bce1eec35dad4636fd815c-25.html

I did experiment with a top layer of MDF, but the granite is nicer to look at and can take the spiked feet

The drawer liner between the MDF and the granite prevents the whole assembly from vibrating like a drum - a common issue with granite slabs

You would have to "tune" the assembly to your TT
- too many layers can deaden the soumd
- too few will transfer vibrations to the TT
- you should not need more that 5

2. Glue 4 or 5 pieces of MDF together into a single slab
- use three spiked feet to support it
- use a layer of drawer liner and a granite tile for the TT to sit on

The transfer of vibrations through a picve of MDF this thick will be minimal the layer of drawer liner + granite will on top prevent the rest from getting to the TT

When my rack was sitting on hardwood floor I used hockey pucks with felt feet under each leg lf the rack. The rubber used in pucks is about as inert as MDF, so they transfer very little vibration

I’m a DIYer, so in place of spike I make Ball Bearing feet...
http://image99.net/blog/files/0915f27ce41639dc6e4bf13bff2cbcbb-24.html

The advantage of these feet is that they absorb both vertical and lateral vibrations with ease and do not transfer them to the component

I now epoxy the ball bearing to the washer to prevent them from rolling away

You might think MDFis not that attractive, but with a little time and effort it can be made to look quite professional. e.g. see my TT
http://image99.net/blog/files/04fdba8476cfd21bdd7a5fdf38c8cdf5-28.html

Hope that helps