Springs under turntable

@mitch2 Agreed. As the compression needs of the Nobs are too much for my phono preamps, I used leftover Nobs springs directly to good effect.

Great stuff from noromance and others; precisely the kind of thing this forum is supposed to be about, in substance and in style. Thanks.

My sole experience with springs has been the removal of the spring suspension in my previously owned VPI HW19 MK4 (TNT6, currently). My reasoning for that experiment was the following:

Most of our turntables rest on some sort of “isolation“ platform or device(s) which in turn rests on a rack/cabinet or wall shelf. Due to issues we all know about, mostly issues of resonance/energy transfer, whatever the table sits on becomes, in effect, part of the turntable. In the case of the HW19, four large(ish) springs, one in each corner of the “box”, suspend the metal top plate to which are secured the bearing/platter and tone arm. To my way of thinking, fundamentally, the box (plinth) acts no differently and serves the same purpose as do most of the isolation platforms or devices that we typically place under our turntables.

In this situation the removal of the four springs and their substitution with four rigid upward pointing Tiptoes (and later, the even better BDR cones) yielded very significant improvements in clarity, refinement, bass extension and subjective sense of speed. By comparison, the stock spring suspension always resulted in a more diffuse sound which was very midrange centric with curtailed bass extension and a somewhat bloated lower mid/ upper bass range. Most obvious was a band of unnatural brightness in the upper midrange that completely disappeared when the springs were removed. As noromance experienced at first with the Nobsound devices: “reduced bass and somewhat thinner sound”. The differences were not subtle and the springs were abandoned.

I bring all this up not to dispute any of the findings of improvement by those using these devices nor to make any general claims about the use of springs or not; quite the contrary. Mine was just one experience with a very different type of spring device. However, when I think of how many HW19’s are out there and how often it is recommended that the springs be removed, it seems to me that trying these devices in place of the stock springs is a no brainer given their cost. If memory serves, the dimensions of these things are just about perfect for this application. I will be ordering some for use under my electronics.

Thanks, noromance!

@noromance ,

www.partsconnexion.com

Every now and then Chris has some SolidTech stuff on sale. Worth a look if you're interested.

@noromance

I used leftover Nobs springs directly to good effect.

Those Nobsound springs are quite small, aren’t they? If you play with the search tool on the Century Spring site, you can find larger diameter springs that may suit your needs, which should improve stability. The springs I used under my subs are 1.75 inches in diameter and the springs under my main speakers are 1.625 inches in diameter. I am looking at their S-3031 springs for my general electronics, which range from about 20 to 30 pounds each in total weight. OD of those springs is almost 1.3 inches so they should be quite stable. The free length is 1.0 inches and compression rate is 20#/inch so compressed at 5 pounds they would be 3/4 inch long in service. They are good for a maximum of 12 pounds each. This seems to offer a good, wide range size for my electronics, which are also somewhat mass loaded so total weight per spring will probably range from about 6 to 8 pounds. Unit price of the stainless steel S-3031 is $5.63 each so in the audiophile world that is a relatively benign $22-$28 per component. In comparison, Herbie’s Tenderfeet are $14 each.  If you order, make sure you get closed/ground ends.

@frogman 

+1. You may remember me talking about my many experiments with my VPI mkIV.

I ended up using Symposium Rollerblock Jr's in place of the springs. It was a revelation!