Turntable - On the Wall or to the Floor?

Thanks Bdgregory. Yes, this has always been my understanding as well, but there is a large community of audiophiles and manufacturers who support the use of wood, such as maple, for its natural dampening properties. This then translates to a better sound signature. If you use thick layers of wood then you also take care of vibration.

One analogy is about how a tall maple tree can stay erect during a severe wind storm? It is because the tree absorbs a lot of the energy and dampens it.

Another popular material being used is slate. In my mind the best solution would be to put the TT on the wall for vibration, and then use a slab of something under the table for dampening.

I'm not an engineer and I only care about the sound...and, I don't want my tonearm bouncing off the surface.

Thanks everyone! Sounds like the wall.

There is another solution that I have used when faced with a flimsy floor which transmits footfalls to the turntable - hang the turntable from the ceiling with 4 guy wires attached through turnbuckles attached to a large shelf. The turnbuckles are used to level the table.
I placed the shelf-turntable assembly close to a wall where horizontal sway could be controlled through two small springs located horizontally between the edge of the shelf and the wall. Works great. My turntable is an Oracle Alex III. The effect is quite stunning, also, since one cannot see the guy wires, so the turntable appears to be 'suspended' (excuse the pun) in air.

Salut, Bob P.

You know that's funny that you mention this method. Years back, I remember reading an article...I think it was Stereophile...he talked about such a method, saying that the best possible isolation would be suspending the table in space. Did you read that back then?

Anyway, this won't work for me because the look here is old farm house. I'd probably get divorced and have to move out...wait...then I'd have a new space and...hah...hah!

But, in another room. The wall is best but if you keep it in the same room as the speakers, you still get airborne vibrations unless you acoustically shield the tt. Footfalls are a small problem compared to the airborne vibrations.