Turrntable With or Without Suspension?

I second the B&O suggestion. Many years ago I had the same problem but, instead of foot falls, it was trucks on the road outside that were causing the problems. The Technics couldn't handle it so I went to a B&O radial tracker. (I think it was a Beogram 5000?) I don't know how they did it but you could slap that thing around all day long and it wouldn't skip or send footsteps through the speakers. Mid-Fi but, a used one should be well within your price range. First you might want to check on availability of cartridges as the low mass tone arm could only accept special B&O units.

We had a suspended thorens 166. Tried a DIY high-mass stand. And just like some of the other responses any time someone tip-toed around the living room or even shut the front door the stylus would skip. It was pretty bad until we got the wall shelf. But even with the wall mount you could stll hear outside rumble (traffic, passing trains, airplanes) through the table. You have to be careful where you put the table.

If you have a crawl space under the house, you might be able to prop-up or otherwise support the floor just below the turntable stand to help damp the footfalls somewhat. Rather than let that area be super springy.

Ngeorge:

My table's a Russco Cuemaster broadcast turntable. Popular in 70s and 80s especially on west coast, which is where it was built (Fresno/Clovis, California, just a drive down I-5 from where I was born and raised). The design matches other broadcast tables like Gray Research, etc. Built like a tank.

Being a large idler wheel table with a powerful motor, it wants to be mounted in a massive stand, hence the monolithic plinth I built. More info on my table project here:
http://www.stat.ucla.edu/~erickson/projects/cuemaster/

It does not cast "ink black" backgrounds, but its virtues more than make up for that, in my book at least.

Jrthestar:

I got to thinking more about your situation as I was walking to my car last night.

If the table really needs to be in that cabinet, just make the cabinet more sturdy.

(1) Make sure no wobble on the feet. If wobble, fix with shims.
(2) Make sure no wobble in the construction. If so, some wood glue or some strategically placed screws can strengthen the construction.
(3) No wobble on the shelf. This can be fixed simply by adding weight to the shelf, in the form of bricks or whatnot, that will more solidly connect the shelf to the cabinet.
(4) Fix the top of the cabinet to the wall on both ends.
(5) For the turntable, consider making a "4-Vibrapod sandwich" underneath it. Some people pooh-pooh Vibrapods, I have found them to be good for the cost. Just take a while to weigh exactly what they will be supporting, and order the correct rating. http://www.vibrapod.com/

Good luck and enjoy.

Go with a B&O - there's a nice TX-2 with MMC3 cartridge on Audiogon right now for approx. $400. They are impervious to outside vibrations and sound pretty darn good when mated with one of their top of the line cartridges. I currently have a BG5500 with MMC1, MMC2, and MMC3 cartridges - the MMC1 and MMC2 sound fantastic and the MMC3 ain't too shabby, either...

-rw-