Turrntable With or Without Suspension?

Ngeorge:

My table's a Russco Cuemaster broadcast turntable. Popular in 70s and 80s especially on west coast, which is where it was built (Fresno/Clovis, California, just a drive down I-5 from where I was born and raised). The design matches other broadcast tables like Gray Research, etc. Built like a tank.

Being a large idler wheel table with a powerful motor, it wants to be mounted in a massive stand, hence the monolithic plinth I built. More info on my table project here:
http://www.stat.ucla.edu/~erickson/projects/cuemaster/

It does not cast "ink black" backgrounds, but its virtues more than make up for that, in my book at least.

Jrthestar:

I got to thinking more about your situation as I was walking to my car last night.

If the table really needs to be in that cabinet, just make the cabinet more sturdy.

(1) Make sure no wobble on the feet. If wobble, fix with shims.
(2) Make sure no wobble in the construction. If so, some wood glue or some strategically placed screws can strengthen the construction.
(3) No wobble on the shelf. This can be fixed simply by adding weight to the shelf, in the form of bricks or whatnot, that will more solidly connect the shelf to the cabinet.
(4) Fix the top of the cabinet to the wall on both ends.
(5) For the turntable, consider making a "4-Vibrapod sandwich" underneath it. Some people pooh-pooh Vibrapods, I have found them to be good for the cost. Just take a while to weigh exactly what they will be supporting, and order the correct rating. http://www.vibrapod.com/

Good luck and enjoy.

Go with a B&O - there's a nice TX-2 with MMC3 cartridge on Audiogon right now for approx. $400. They are impervious to outside vibrations and sound pretty darn good when mated with one of their top of the line cartridges. I currently have a BG5500 with MMC1, MMC2, and MMC3 cartridges - the MMC1 and MMC2 sound fantastic and the MMC3 ain't too shabby, either...

-rw-

I had a Thorens that jumped every time someone walked nearby or closed a door downstairs. I solved the problem with some 4" thick foam rubber that had been part of a camping mattress pad. I cut a 16" square of the foam and put a 16" square 1/4" thick ceramic tile on top of the foam and then the Thorens on to of that. It was relatively dense foam. This did the trick and footfalls and door closures were not a problem any more.

Ultimately I got an unsuspended Rega TT got rid of the foam and ceramic tile. The Rega sits on a table top in the same location without any problem from footfalls or door closures.

Paul Green

I've had 3 tt's: a Technics (don't remember the model), a Rotel RP-900 and a VPI Hw19 MK III. The VPI is suspended and bounces like a trampoline. Fortunately my kids are grown, but I still have problems if I forget or a friend comes by and I forget to warn him. The Technics also had problems with footfall, if possible even worse than the VPI. The one that I had the least problem with, even when the kids were bouncing around, was the Rotel. The RP-900 is a Rega Planar 2 with springs in place of the feet. I'm not saying it didn't bounce, just that it bounced the least of the three.