On an Ariston tt, I have used 2-inch maple from Mapleshade with their rubber/cork/rubber footers to good effect on wood racks. On amplifiers I believe maple from Mapleshade(air dried) sounds better than butcher block maple. I have 4-inch maple from Mapleshade(which is supposed to sound better than 2-inch), but I haven't tried it on my turntable. Someone suggested trying maple blocks(I think he said Mapleshade has some, although I haven't seen it in their catalog) as a cheap way to try maple(maybe with isonodes under the maple?). As for other materials, I have used myrtle blocks with isonodes with good results on an early Nuforce amp.