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Damping the analogue "setup"

Friends,
I am fighting this issue for the last 1 year or so with my TT setup. I am a beginner in analogue playback but I use some decent equipments to play music. My setup is:
Nouvelle Platine Verdier
Naim ARO Tonearm
Lyra Skala cartridge
RCM Sensor Prelude phonostage

All the equipments are placed on wooden rack (made of Ebony) with spikes. The problem is, the overall sound can vary vastly from lean-strident to round-warm very quickly based on what kind of spike base I use underneath the rack. A typical metal (aluminium, steel, brass) spike base makes the sound lean and fast to an extent where it really bites. Whereas using a softer metal (cast iron) or rubbery/woody substance below the rack makes for a slow and boring sound.

It is not just the turntable that reacts so severely but also the phonostage. Placing the phonostage on a softer or a more damped isolation footer immediately reduces the grit in the sound. I do not hear such drastic reactions from my preamp or power amp. My guess is, the complete analog front end needs some level of damping. How do you go about it ? How do you choose the platform that will support the turntable setup firmly so that the sound doesnt lose its energy but still damp it adequately ?

For the moment (thankfully) my ARO is an un-damped unipivot designed to work without any damping fluid.
pani
pani OP
1,219 posts
 
Is your concrete floor on the ground or is there a room under it?
If it's not on the ground.....it is suspended.
Having a timber floor on top of the concrete can introduce many of the problems of suspended floors as well.

Oh!, I didnt know that. I live on 24th floor, so it surely falls under the category of suspended floor by that definition then. But then my little daughter dances all day in the same room where my LP is playing but there are no audible distortions or skipping of stylus, so I assumed it is not such a serious issue.
isochronism
2,893 posts
 
Hi Pani, I do read your posts, also those over at AA. I may miss your conclusions of some of your post questions. Have you found a replacement for your Tannoys yet? (I do 300B & 45 amplification)
halcro's avatar
halcro
2,664 posts
 
I assumed it is not such a serious issue.
It is a most serious issue......
We have found that suspended concrete floors have intense inbuilt stresses because of the spans......and these stresses cause lower ever-present Structure-Borne sound than those present in suspended timber floors.
Modern high-rise apartment buildings are particularly susceptible because of the prevalent use of prestressed concrete floor slabs which allow for thinner thicknesses and less steel reinforcement.....but also permit greater movements, bounce and structure-borne sound between 2 Hz-10 Hz.
These frequencies are almost impossible to eliminate from floor-mounted stands and that is why your turntable and phonostage are sounding differently with each and every change in support material.
andyprice44
133 posts
 
take a look at some of the products from herbie's audio. They have a wide variety of damping products that may suit your needs. I am using some terrastone footers and a terrastone plinth for my table that was made by edensound. They also make a good selection of footers and isolation products. Dan is great to work with. I highly recommend his terrastone products.
pani OP
1,219 posts
 
Hi Pani, I do read your posts, also those over at AA. I may miss your conclusions of some of your post questions. Have you found a replacement for your Tannoys yet? (I do 300B & 45 amplification)

Hi, I went around looking for alternatives for a short period. Turned out that Tannoy Alnico magnet versions would work well with my amp, so will Altec 604 and Audio Note ANJ speakers. However I have realised that it will not be easy for me to leave the Tannoy presentation. Also, it is difficult to get an Altec 604 because it will need to be custom made and mostly will have to be bought without an audition. Audio note is an alternative that I have saved for the last. In the mean time I have stopped worrying too much about this and just started listening to music and made sure I dont pump it up too loud for the amp to be stressed. I also realized that moving from a traditional SS amp to an SET made the music very direct which is exciting the room nodes to a much higher degree hence it needs some treatment before I could go any louder.

It is a most serious issue......
We have found that suspended concrete floors have intense inbuilt stresses because of the spans......and these stresses cause lower ever-present Structure-Borne sound than those present in suspended timber floors.
Modern high-rise apartment buildings are particularly susceptible because of the prevalent use of prestressed concrete floor slabs which allow for thinner thicknesses and less steel reinforcement.....but also permit greater movements, bounce and structure-borne sound between 2 Hz-10 Hz.
These frequencies are almost impossible to eliminate from floor-mounted stands and that is why your turntable and phonostage are sounding differently with each and every change in support material.

Thanks for that gyan Halcro. It makes my life easier to think that it is an issue that is too far embedded in the structure for me to be able to solve it, so I need to kind of ignore it and move on. May be I can just try some decent isolation platforms and see if it makes for a more enjoyble listen and settle down. I was considering a Vibraplane but a friend of mine who has heard a Verdier on Vibraplane said it leans out the sound a touch too much so it is not really a good match (according to him).

take a look at some of the products from herbie's audio. They have a wide variety of damping products that may suit your needs. I am using some terrastone footers and a terrastone plinth for my table that was made by edensound. They also make a good selection of footers and isolation products. Dan is great to work with. I highly recommend his terrastone products.

Thanks for the pointer, I will check out Herbie's products.
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