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Designing VPI HRX turntable stand long

I just brought a VPI TNT HRX turntable home, and it won’t fit on anything I have. I thought I would get a 4” maple butcherblock platform (as recommended by Harry Weisfeld, designer, said one post) locally and be able to set up right away on top of one of my stands. Unfortunately, I found I could only order one of these through local lumber yards. Since I was going to have to wait anyway, I looked online for butcherblock and found Timbernation.com (Chris). Scrolling through the products, I saw a sandbox he had made for a customer’s amp, which reminded me of the Big Rock sandbox affair I have used with good results in the past. Hmm, put legs on it and I have a turntable stand at a reasonable cost. I emailed Chris last night and he got back to me today (Sunday). His website indicates that he can build whatever I want, so I am looking for some input into the design.

The physical information:
-the table has a footprint of 25x29
-the chassis (all metal prototype, not the acrylic/metal sandwich current production model) weights 70 lbs.
-the motor/flywheel assembly weighs 34 lbs. and fits inside the footprint
-the vinyl platter weights 17 pounds without perimeter ring and is 13.5” in diameter with the ring
-the metal platter (the original platter) weighs 27 lbs and is 11.5” in diameter
-the outboard SDS is 19x9x4 and is relatively light

Issues:

1. materials: what wood would sound best (maple, cherry, walnut, etc.), how should it be assembled (butcher-block or laid out flat; Chris’ website says there is no such thing as a single block of wood of requisite size), and how thick should it be? I don’t imagine the manner in which the wood is finished will make a difference.

2. sand: how deep should the sand be underneath the wood slab and should the sand go up the sides between the slab and the box it sits in? If not, what should go between the slab and the box?

3. dimensions:
a. the slab has to be at least 25x29, of course, but at least a 1” border around the footprint would make sense, making the slab 27x31;
b. I was thinking the slab should be level with the sandbox, so if the slab is 4” thick and I use 1” of sand, the box would have to be 5” deep;
c. How much space between the slab and the box, one inch, ½ inch?
d. How tall should the stand be? I’m used to a turntable at eyelevel on a wall platform, but that is not going to happen. Ergonomically, 25” seems good for standing upright over the table and changing records, but making it higher would make it even better. However, I don’t want to compromise stability for a couple of extra inches.
e. How thick should the sides and bottom of the box be, the legs and any shelves? (Chris would probably know.)

4. shelves:
a. first, whether to have them at all. Will they affect stability (maybe improving it by cross bracing)? Will they affect sound (by adding vibration carrying elements)?
b. How many?
c. Where placed?
d. It would be nice to have all my turntable paraphernalia in one place, so storage use if shelves are employed: SDS, 2d platter, dustcover (maybe hang from side of stand on pegs?), peripheral ring, center clamps (2 – original screw on and later weight only), setup equipment, stylus force gauge, demagnetizer, stylus cleaners, brushes, etc., the playing LP cover/inner sleeve/outer jacket, LPs in current rotation.

5. miscellaneous:
a. leveling the table with adjustable feet?
b. ???

I would appreciate any input before I finalize the design with Chris.
suttlaw
rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
Your VPI would probably work well on a stand and platform similar to the stand and platform Lloyd Walker manufactures on special order for his Proscenium Turntables. (Not from a cost perspective, but from a design perspective!)

There are two parts: a 3.5" thick rock maple butcher block shelf (the "Prologue Shelf", as Harry recommends for his VPI table) sitting on top of a high mass rack (the "Prologue Rack"). The rack is massively built using 1.5" butcher block shelves built with brass rods and nuts, brass cylinders filled with lead shot and mounted on 2" Valid Point feet. Here's a link to a picture and a description (scroll all the way to the bottom of page):
http://www.walkeraudio.com/proscenium_turntable.htm

It works well here, and has been received Jonathan Valin's praise and "Editor's Choice" award in TAS. So, it may be something to consider as a design to emulate for a high mass turntable.


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salectric
747 posts
 
Rushton, The Prologue does look great! A couple questions come to mind: Is the 3.5" thick Prologue Shelf attached in any way, or is it just resting on the top shelf of the rack? And if just resting, is it resting directly on the shelf or are there spacers of some sort?

Suttlaw, I bought a 3" thick maple butcherblock shelf (18 x 24) from Timbernation and I was very pleased with the quality of his work and the fast service. However, for my tastes, the maple BB platform does not sound good. I have tried it under my Galibier turntable, my tube power amps and my tube line stages, and in all uses I observed the same characteristics: very smooth midrange and treble, BUT it is dead and lifeless and it lacks bass power and dynamics. Now I know that flies in the face of lots of reports to the contrary, and you can take my comments with a grain of salt. The only reason I am reporting my findings is to warn you to try the thick BB first in a limited way, such as a single shelf, before committing to a major stand or rack using multiple BB components. You may find it is just great or you may find, as I have, that the shelf doesn't have a home in your system. And yes I tried the usual types of shelf accessories: Mapleshade Isoblocks and brass cones, sorbothane spacers, brass spacers, maple cubes, etc. This is truly a case where YMMV.

Good luck!

Dave
psychicanimal
1,738 posts
 
My dining table is Maple, my TT shelf is Caribbean Moca...
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Maybe you can get some ideas by taking a look at the pictures of the stand I just built based on one that Chris Brady used for his system. I used sandboxes and maple slab shelves but the thickest I went was 1". I don't think they need to be all that massive if they're sitting on sand. But if you decide not to use sand then that 4" slab of wood would be a good choice. I was asking the same question about the amount of sand before I built my stand and the consensus seemed to be that just an inch or two is probably enough. You will be surprised how much mass that is and how much dampening that will provide. I found that was very easy to level the shelves when floated on the sand just by tapping on the corner I wanted to lower. A great idea that I got from Brady's website was to use foam weather stripping around the edges to provide a finished look. What I discovered when putting things together was that this also sealed the edges so no sand could get out. I mean, I actually had to hold the weather stripping back to let the trapped air escape.

Even if you could get it you don't want a solid slab of wood. It would probably warp and check. That's why butcher block works so well, it is much more stable because the grain pattern of each piece glued together helps keep things dimensionally stable. (However, I have seen butcher block warp.) You can probably trust Chris and Timbernation to build it right. I think maple is excellant for shelves but again, I don't think it will affect the sound of the table so you can decide based on what you think looks the best.

Be careful with drawers, door, etc. You don't want to introduce any buzzes from vibrations. Nothing would depress you more than to get your new setup only to have it buzz on every 500Hz note.

IMO, I don't think you need to go crazy to get great sound from that turntable. I have never heard an HRX but I have to believe that it's suspension is well designed and implemented so it should not matter a great deal what table it is sitting on as long as it is sturdy.
jphii
485 posts
 
Rushton,

How did you get that picture in the post?
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