TW Raven Acustic AC Owners

Mount the TT on a shelf firmly cantilevered from the wall.
Sound is transmitted it 2 basic ways:
AIR-BOURNE
STRUCTURE-BOURNE
90% of audiophiles mount their TTs on racks sitting on the floor.
This is a disaster for both types of transmission.
Even a concrete floor (which is not generally bouncing around like a timber-framed one) is a great transmitter of sound, so that any rack sitting on the floor is receiving BOTH types of transmission.
This is why Continuum Audio Labs create a rack for their Caliburn that costs $25,000. That's how much technology is required to overcome this basic problem of physics.
When you cantilever off a wall, you are disconnected from the floor (USA stud frame tradition can often short-circuit this advantage).
The materials to fix to the wall, project from the wall and form the shelf for support, generally act to physically 'de-couple' the shelf from the wall.
Thus all or most STRUCTURE-BORNE and AIR-BORNE sound transmission within the floors and walls are eliminated.
The only transmission to now worry about, is the AIR-BORNE transmission directly into the supporting shelf (and here is where Jon's granite shelf is NOT a good idea.
Granite rings like a bell and transmits sound deliciously throughout many audible frequencies without much absorption or dampening. Timber is a better insulator and dampener.
However it may be academic because all one has to do is DE-COUPLE the turntable from the supporting shelf to eliminate the transmission of this air-bourne absorbed sound.
Stillpoint cones with ceramic balls is a good way and there are many others.
Then the only sound transmission to worry about is the AIRBOURNE sound which the TT base and platter are able to absorb THEMSELVES.
This is where the turntable designer earns his crust with the elimination, absorption and dissipation of this air-bourne feedback setting his TT apart from the rest.
Of course the ability of the tonearm and cartridge to absorb and dissipate this same air-bourne transmission (feedback) is equally important but the frequencies are much higher and smaller.
So the moral is......do everything possible to wall-mount your turntable.

I,m another happy guy which will be taking delivery of my Raven One at the end of the month.

My current dedicated turntable stand is made of Canadian hard rock maple.
True butcher block, three shelf 2 inch thick vertical grain, 20 inches by 20 inches by 40 inches high.
Three legs,tripod style , 3 1/2 inch by 3 1/2 inch legs.

It was put together by mortise and tenant joints, no screws or glue.The feet are the superb large Finite Element.

This worked very well over the years though I may look into other stand options or add to with what I have now with Silent Running Audio ect or some home brew sand box ect.
I am expecting some fire works at times with my new system.

A wall mount is not an option for me, this would of been my first choice.

For those here that can use this method, cutting out the finished wall material, dry wall or what ever.
You can beef up and damp the studs and bottom plate.
It would also be a good idea to make sure what is added to the studs is plumb / level.

Then cover the cut out with some nice cabinet ply finished/stained or painted to match your decor.
Then your set to lag bolt your turntable shelf.

Dear Elinor,

Congratulations on your new turntable. It's an excellent choice and everybody seems to be more than happy with it.

I would suggest to look into Minus-K, SRA and HRS. I know that High Water Sound has used SRA and Minus-K at audio shows with great results. SRA has some sort of collaboration with TW-Acoustic, so I would feel confident that their products will perform well together. HRS platforms are ordered for a specific weight-range, which can be changed should you need to use the platform for another equipment. Minus-K offers state-of-the-art vibration control at an affordable price. Based on what I've read from their website, it seems to be one of the most efficient ways to approach vibration control.

Extra planning is needed if going with the all mount shelf alternative. Most cantilevering shelf-mounted structures under such heavy load will likely suffer from material fatigue over time. That means that all connections and all materials should be checked once in a while for wear and/or structural failure.

In a room built with with studs and sheet-rock, one has to take into a count that airborne energy becomes structural energy when playing at mid to high DBs. It's a well known fact in the US construction field that a sheet-rock wall needs sound insulation in order to prevent sound from traveling from one room into the other. The sound insulation between sheets won't prevent the wall from vibrating, but will prevent the sound from that vibration to go into an adjacent room. This type of construction is quite sensitive to changes in sound pressure, which will turn into vibrations. Therefore, in this particular case a wall-mounted shelf may do more harm than good.

Every type of wall structure will provide a different performance. If you have a concrete or masonry wall, then it's quite possible that a well conceived and executed wall shelf isolates well from mechanical vibrations in the room. But again, planning and execution are key for this to work successfully.

I've been using an HRS platform for about two years now and it works extremely well in my room. The other choice I seriously consider because it has superior technology, is the Minus-K BM-8 platform.

Regards,

iSanchez

I am intriqued by the Minus-K platforms. They seem to offer some technological and practical advantages over the other platforms mentioned (wall-mounting is unfortunately out for me). However, after checking out its website site, it looks like the only Minus-K platform wide and deep enough for the 3-motor Raven is the BM-1, which is 9" tall and costs over $4000!

Alectiong,

This is a link to a Raven AC3 on a Minus-K platform and it looks like an BM-8 or 6, but it is larger. You may want to ask Minus-K which model this is. The image is at the bottom of the page.

http://www.audiofederation.com/hifiing/2006/RMAF2006/report/1500/part2/index.htm

Regards,

iSanchez