I picked up a set of springs for $35 on Amazon. I intended to use them under a preamp but one thing led to another and I tried them under the turntable. Now, this is no mean feat. It’s a Garrard 401 in a 60pound 50mm slate plinth. The spring device is interesting. It’s sold under the Nobsound brand and is made up of two 45mm wide solid billets of aluminum endcaps with recesses to fit up to seven small springs. It’s very well made. You can add or remove springs depending on the weight distribution. I had to do this with a level and it only took a few minutes. They look good. I did not fit them for floor isolation as I have concrete. I played a few tracks before fitting, and played the same tracks after fitting. Improvement in bass definition, speed, air, inner detail, more space around instruments, nicer timbre and color. Pleasant surprise for little money.
I am new to decoupling and springs in the past two weeks and have been very pleased with the results compared to spikes on a concrete floor. I have noticed similar sonic improvements as those you have listed. I considered the spring device you are using and opted for single springs under the corners of my amps and speakers. I will also be using them under my subs soon. For me, the single springs work great with the key being to determine the right combination of
diameter for stability, total load capacity per spring, rate of compression for the desired stiffness, and finally the compressed height that is appropriate for the equipment or speaker being supported. I had good luck finding what I needed from Century Spring Company, that has an interactive specification tool to help you find the appropriate springs. One other thing you can try if using single springs is to encase them in heat shrink overlapped at the top, which not only hides the springs but also provides a bit of protection against scratches for both the gear being supported and whatever you are supporting it on. If you believe air needs to escape from inside the spring, simply poke a hole in the heat shrink.
Goners know I am a big fan of suspended turntables. I will never own anything else. There are two big issues. First, the resonance frequency has to be below 3 Hz both vertical and horizontal. If you get to close to the tonearm’s resonance frequency fun things will happen. Next, a mass placed on top of a spring is unstable. Not only will it bounce vertically but it will wobble side to side and if the mass is large enough it will fall right over. This tends to be the case when you get the resonance frequency low where it should be. When you hang a mass from a spring the pull of gravity always returns the mass to vertical, a much more stable situation. So, the best way to do this is too hang a platform from three or four springs and place the turntable on the platform. Or, you could buy a MinusK platform or you could buy a SOTA, SME or Dohmann turntable. Isolation is critical for turntables and a properly sprung turntable is much quieter and impervious to almost anything. You should be able to hammer on or kick your equipment stand and not hear a thing. All of the above tables will do this and if you are clever you can get the same results. You can dampen the springs by inserting foam rubber into them.
Forgetting isolation from footfalls for the moment and concentrating on SQ and detail retrieval. WHAT is going on?! After a very short listen yesterday, I've given this an hour or so and played a few favs. Zappa, Watermelon and Green Rosetta. Cohen, LYM, CH and FBR. Fairport C. My Girl, Wooden Wand DS. ... ...
Our old mia pal Geoff Kait claims his springs provide isolation superior to that of the Townshend Seismic Pod. If you watch the video Max Townshend made (and posted on YouTube) in which he compares the Pod against the bare spring used within the Pod, you can judge the theory behind the Pod for yourself. The rubber sleeve within which the spring is placed, and the small hole in the top cap of the Pod which allows air to escape in a controlled manner, act to damp the resonant behavior of the spring.
Just a simple MDF platform with a spring in each corner that I built to test the concept. A very crude version of a Townshend spring platform but it gets the job done. Will make another better looking one in a few weeks and then maybe post some new system pics. Its amazing how much improvement there is to be had from such simple inexpensive tweaks.
My DIY Spring Thing worked so well under my Moabs I tried the same only with rubber bands under speaker cables. That worked so well I used the same rubber band suspension under power cords and interconnect. That worked so well the plan is to suspend everything in the whole darn system!
Whether rubber band or springs the thing seems to be to allow freedom of movement, ie not so weak a spring it compresses too much, but not so strong it doesn't move freely either. These with the ability to use different numbers of springs to adjust is pretty clever. Its probably slightly better to have one properly tuned spring but that is easier said than done! And this looks a lot better than a plain old spring.
These cost more than the ones I was buying on eBay but not much especially not factoring in how they look, the adjustability, the pads, etc. So what the heck you only live once I just ordered a set. Then I'll have several different ones to compare.
Chuck, I'll add a photo later. Under the table. It moves in all planes. No detectable torque movement. Tap test makes stylus skip. Slight movement when changing records. Settles fast.
Interesting timing. I just got three sets of different springs to try under mine. Do you have them directly under the turntable, or under the wood shelf the table is on? Does it bobble around under torque when the motor starts up, or when changing records? How long does it take to settle down? Does it move freely in all directions, or is it mostly up and down?
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