Opinions: Neuance Shelf for Linn Sondek Lp12 TT

Ken at Neuance is GREAT to deal with ......... plus his product really works (at least under my SACD player).

Richard

I'm not posting much anymore regarding LP12 useage since the truth doesn't seem to matter much to Linn's detractors. I'm making an exception this time because I hate to see an honest question answered incorrectly. This is not an insult to any of the above posts as each has individual merit. My take on this is based on Linn LP12 ownership for nearly 30 years. The detractors are welcome to fire away. My shoulders may not be as muscular as they once were but they are still wide and can take it.

It's doubtful that the vibrations you are experiencing from your current wall mount shelf are reaching the stylus in the groove IF the table is adjusted correctly. The LP12 is a suspended table which by design decouples the record/cartridge combinations from vibrations down to around 8 cycles. If the suspension is out of adjustment, you are using a non-felt mat or any other tweak that couples the suspension/record like a clamp then you have altered the tables operating parameters to possible sonic degradation. I believe the Neuance shelf to be a reasonable upgrade.

Assuming your table is mounted on a shelf directly centered between your speakers and on a load bearing wall, low frequency vibrations of a sort that would reach the groove would need to come from heavy traffic of some type outside your home. Rear ported speakers or a subwoofer placed nearby are a real concern however, IMO. One way to check this out is to take the grill covers off your speakers, play a record and take note if there is any pumping of the woofers during play. If not, you're okay as is but I still support the use of the Neuance, but that's about the extent I'd go with. Please, trust your ears.

I know from experience that a high mass stand will work just fine with an LP12 on it so I'm not opposed to that method at all. In a practical sense though placing enough load from a rack onto a rickety floor to eliminate the bounce is a guessing game at best. Again, the biggest problems for the Linn are footfalls and rear ported speakers.

I've archived a number of setup and tweaking tips on the LP12 found online through the years. Email me direct if you would like me to forward them to you.

Thank you all so far for a further enlightenment to my conundrum. To add to my explanation of the current condition. My living room set up has Coincident Total Eclipse speakers three feet off the short wall of a 15'by 26' space. My Atma-Sphere mono blocks are located next to the speakers on stands with a six meter interconnect to my preamp, phono amp, and TT. The TT and shelf is located on a short, non load bearing (?) wall adjacent to the speakers. It is next to my listening chairs about six feet from the back wall. The home is of 1926 vintage with beautiful but unstable hardwood floors. The walls are originally plaster lathe and have had an additional layer of sheet rock bonded to them. All in all the room sounds nice. Maybe this info will help in understanding my room better as some of the most helpful responses were predicated on some assumptions due to my less than compete explanation. Thanks again and I look forward to any new ideas.

If your table isn't bothered by foot traffic now and the woofers exhibit no pumping then my advice stands. Beyond that, the short wall that the rack is on may need supports from below if possible. You are probably far enough away from the back corner with the turntable location to avoid bass build up problems.

That'a a great response from Lugnut. Cleared up a few points for me, like the lower limit of the vibration control of my LP12's suspension. Thanks Pat!

Just to add my 2 cents... a wall shelf is one of the best ways to mount a suspended TT, IF the wall is an outside, structural, load-bearing wall. Such a wall is coupled directly to the ground. My LP12 is mounted like this and you can slam the front door ( a few feet away behind an interior wall ) without the turntable noticing it.

RF Sayles, you've made it clear that your TT shelf is not mounted on such a wall. Your short wall may be coupled to the floor in that case, and if the floor is at all bouncy then low-frequency, seismic-type vibrations are reaching your TT's suspension and it cannot deal with these effectively. Really, nothing much can that I know of, although the roller bearings others mention might be something to try.

In my experience, if the floor is at all bouncy, a heavy floor-mounted support is not a viable alternative to a properly set up wall shelf. I once worked in a first-floor store which demo'ed TTs ( yes, long ago ) on a low brick wall. Real brick, and quite deep. The thing looked solid, but if you walked by with a heavy tread you could see ( and feel ) the whole wall oscillate very slowly up and down, at maybe 1 or 2 Hz. Lugnut's suggestion of a support pillar under your short wall ( down in the basement, if you're listening on the first floor ) makes excellent sense. Channel the load on the shelf down to the ground and you've got a sink for vibration.

Or you could just move the TT shelf to an outside wall, thus necessitating a rethink of everything else in the room as well... not an option, perhaps!

Finally, Linn's Trampolin suspension is said by some to be useful if your TT support transmits vibration, but others say it does not help the sound. I have removed mine, and I run my LP12 on a Target wall unit with the standard shelf and Audio Technica feet.