Garrard 301 - Project

A Friend who is a through and through ID TT user has their Audio System Racks on a suspended floor. There has been various methods investigated / tried out to improve the TT from the Floor Up.

The Audio System Rack is mounted on a Sandbox Plinth, which I know has been claimed to have been substantial in improving things and is very little expense to put in place, even if made look aesthetically pleasing.

A simple method such as this is worthwhile investigating.

The alternative Rack being referred to being 3 x the Width, could have Pedestal Sand Boxes produced to be able to take the support legs of the Rack only?

My own investigations and trials for mounting the Audio System Rack. Has Three Tiers of different isolation materials used before the Steel Plate Base Plinths are mounted on these. The racks are seated on the Steel Plates with a separating footer. Additionally, the Racks are rigidly braced. The TT is seated on a Sub-Plinth Assembly with Solid Tech Feet of Silence as the Footer in direct contact with the TT.

1, The Sub-Plinth Assembly under the Rack does create a discernible difference to the Rack being in direct contact with the floor. Speaker users are knowing about the benefits if using various methods to interface with the floor on any floor type.

2, Rigidly Bracing a Rack is in my experience very discernible as the betterment to the Rack left free standing. My Racks are braced together (my method not so aesthetically pleasing), as well as being rigidly coupled to the wall structure. Assessing this is easy as both are easy to release and A/B compare, both coupling methods in my set up have been very beneficial.

3, Producing support structures under the TT can be undertaken at a variety of costs and even more permutations for Plinth Materials and Footers used as separators and then the TT’s Mounting Feet. Working with the various options of permutations is where the real magic occurs. To really get the benefits it is best when done as the last exercise of the three treatments.

There is not a ubiquitous methodology for this one, I have loaned out many materials to be used on other systems, as the Mount for the Source, the differing environments and methods used to support the Rack, as well as the Rack Type creates very different outcomes of how a material is assessed for its impact on the end sound. Perseverance wins through.

If any of the other suggestions offered by other contributors for the TT are followed up on. The benefits that are yet to be discovered will be even further benefiting when experienced on a Mounting System that is addressed from the Floor Upwards.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/turntable-isolation-journey

@lalitk 

Just for clarification, do the issues disappear entirely if you turn subwoofer(s) off?

@mdalton 

I honestly don’t recall, I must have gone through half a dozen configuration. I can’t check again until everything is put back together, hopefully by tomorrow. 

Sorry for being vague…the main issue is chassis vibrations. As I increase volume, the vibrations in plinth increases causing stylus to jump up or skip grooves. 

This helps tremendously. So without a doubt your problem is not the motor, not the plinth, and a PSU is not the immediate answer. 

The mere fact that a dealer set it up means little in my book. The Reed 3P is at once both easy and tricky to set up. AS in particular can easily be set way too high. Back the magnetic AS quite a way (reducing it) and increase your VTF to the max within your cartridge specs. See if that helps a little. Make sure your deck is level and rock solid in terms of how it sits on your rack (not subject to rocking). 

Your problem though is one of isolation. One way or another your Garrard is set up in an excited/lively zone of your room. It could be in a room node, it could be over a particular springy portion of your floor or both. Bracing your floor joists from underneath ought to be considered. A massive, rigid, equipment stand positioned away from any room node and positioned over a solid portion of your suspended floor is extremely likely to eliminate your problem. Imho, IsoAcoustic pucks are not the proper form of isolation under your plinth. You want to drain energy, not absorb it. Once your rack/stand is ideally situated, mount Stillpoints or similar to the underside of your plinth. 

In the the real world where a bunch of equipment is already positioned-I looked at your virtual system-most of us don't have the energy (pun) to reconfigure the room just to accommodate a turntable. So I realize my implementing my recommendations are easier said than done. 

There is one advantage of repositioning equipment, even if only Temporary.

Such an investigation should cost very little monies and now the TT is set up, the only treatment for the TT following relocation, should be to re-level the Platter. 

There is lots that can be learned about looking out for the needs of the styli, when used for the role in the groove to produce mechanical energy to be converted to a a very low voltage electrical current.

The Styli will receive ambient energies, of which certain types are able to adulterate the energy generated by the groove modulation.

As the methodologies for reducing transferred energies to the Styli improves, the end result is the perception of the end sound increasing in presenting as tidied up sound improves.

Platter Mats also fall in to the considerations for control measures.