Tonearm mount to the plinth vs arm board vs rotating arm board vs isolated tower


Hello,

I am rebuilding a Garrard 301 and looking for a plinth. I am planning to buy 3-4 tonearms to try. I would like to know which is the best way moving forward.

Is there a difference between mounting a tonearm directly on a solid plinth vs arm board (same vs different materials) vs rotating arm board vs isolated tower. 

Thanks
Nanda
kanchi647
That Toho stuff is fabulous.....👍
I don't believe they are still active....?
Thuchan has one of their TONEARM PODS...immensely heavy 💪
I think it is made from cast-iron 🤔
But I've never seen their turntable bases before....
That company realised that weight/mass was a critical element in the separation of turntable base and arm pods 🧐
That was also the fundamental principle espoused in my COPERNICAN THREAD nearly 10 years ago.....
And the reason I designed my arm-pods as CAST BRONZE.
HERE are the finished armpods.
What I DIDN'T appreciate at the time....was that the same principle of weight/mass applies to the TURNTABLE PLINTH 🥴
I began with a MINIMALIST PLINTH made of stainless steel as described in my NUDE TURNTABLE Thread.
After learning my lessons.....I decided to design a turntable 'cradle' out of cast Bronze or cast Iron but the prices I received were very high.
But a SOLID GRANITE CRADLE, whilst not as heavy as cast metal.....was GOOD ENOUGH and relatively affordable 🤗

I agree with @lewm about the 'beauty' of the Torqueo products....but the MASS is just not there 😢

Chak, To your knowledge, is Toho still in the business of selling those accessories? The Torqueo stuff is beautiful (like a seashell, apparently) but not as substantial as Toho’s.

@lewm
No, not anymore, they are gone.
Toho also made their strange looking tonearm with bamboo arm wand (it’s on the same picture with cast-iron bases).
What weight did your granite base come in at?
The base weighs 18 lbs (8.1 Kg)......
The base weighs 18 lbs (8.1 Kg)......
But a SOLID GRANITE CRADLE, whilst not as heavy as cast
metal.....was GOOD ENOUGH and relatively affordable
Really - mines 68kg, and utilises SPZ which dissipates any energy between 4 and 100hz internally at a molecular level, but is completely rigid.

Granite rings like a bell due to its crystalline structure. I would not use it in a turntable.