New aftermarket plinth for Technics SP 10 MK2/MK3/R from Acoustand

I have to disagree with Atmasphere about marrying dissimilar materials in turntable plinths.  If the dissimilar materials are squeezed together, this is called Constrained Layer Damping.  The fact that the two materials will have different resonant frequencies is the strength of the whole idea. Each constrains the other from resonating, and each resonates at a different frequency.  Therefore any resonance of the overall structure is broadened in frequency and flattened in amplitude. 

@lewm I've no problem with this! @dover got what I was talking about:

a better description of what Ralph is repudiating is the term "bimetallic dampening" which is slightly different from constrained layer. This is where two unconstrained materials with similar but slightly different resonant characteristics are combined to dampen.

And it would not hurt to have a constrained damping layer. The point though is that the coupling between the platter surface and the base of the arm be as rigid and acoustically dead as possible.  

@rauliruegas In a worse case scenario I have seen where a mismatch was bad enough to cause the stylus to jump right out of the record groove.  This was not a torture track either.  In all cases of mismatch the sound proves well below expectation and as I said it is extremely difficult to correct.  Most of my experiences have been with cartridges that are way above the capability of the turntable.  It is never a happy circumstance.

@billstevenson 

In a worse case scenario I have seen where a mismatch was bad enough to cause the stylus to jump right out of the record groove.  

What I find sad, as an ardent analogue devotee with thousands of records, that folk don't seem to cotton on to the fact that poor tracking damages record grooves, once damaged they cannot be repaired.

Most of my experiences have been with cartridges that are way above the capability of the turntable. 

Sadly again this forum is full of folk who put expensive cartridges on cheap turntables/arms that are most likely to result in damaged records due to mistracking heard or unheard. Despite my aversion to the Linn TT, they were right when  they pushed - top arm with average cartridge will always perform better than a mediocre arm with top cartridge.

To me a 2k cartridge on a 2k turntable and arm is out of whack - 3.5k on TT/arm and 500 on cartridge will outperform the former, and likely significantly improve the wear and tear on records.

@dover Well yes you are right although it is not just about the relative price of turntable to cartridge.  It is really an incompatibility based on the effective mass of an arm vs. the compliance of the cartridge.