What is the ideal weight/mass for a turntable?

The comment from Chris of Teres is obviously intriguing.....I wonder if carbon-fibre is used in Teres' new composite material for their latest platters....

Also why not build a plinth from carbon-fibre....is this too difficult or expensive?

"Also why not build a plinth from carbon-fibre....is this too difficult or expensive?"

We have done some experimenting with carbon fiber and it sounds very good. The texture and detail that we hear with dense hardwoods, but lacking some of the warmth and delicacy. A very good material but in our opinion not quite as good sounding as hardwoods and quite a bit more expensive.

Thank you, Teres Audio, for the clarification.

How about a carbon-fibre frame filled with lead-shot and/or sand?

Would that reduce the cost of the plinth while giving the benefits of rigidity?

"An intelligent answer for once!

Granite rings like a bell: please explain, any data or proper observations on this?"

Hi,
This one is easy to answer. Granite is one of the worst possible materials for a turntable for the simple reason that sound travels through it several times faster than it does through water. It is made up of crystalline particles which are bound tightly, so there is no damping offered at all. It is pretty, however. Choosing such a material just because it is heavy, or looks good, which is the likely reason, is a big mistake, if the goal is better sound. One may as well use glass. Actually, using glass would be an improvement, although slight. It is a no-brainer, really.

Here is one reference. A search found it in less than one minute.
http://www.sv.vt.edu/classes/ESM4714/Student_Proj/class95/physics/speed.html

Regards,
mosin