Tonearm mount on the plinth or on Pillar ?


Folks,
I am looking to buy a custom built turntable from Torqueo Audio (http://www.torqueo-audio.it/). They have two models, one with a wide base plinth where the tonearm would be mounted on the plinth (as usual) and the second is a compact plinth where they provide a seperate tonearm pillar to mount the tonearm. According to them the separate tonearm pillar version sounds more transparent and quieter because of the isolation of the tonearm from the TT. My concern is whether seperating the tonearm from the plinth would result in a lesser coherence in sound ? Isnt sharing the same platform results in a more well-timed, coherent presentation ? Any opinions ?
pani
Yes the capitalized "NO" was deliberate.

Halcro
Can you please explain how we can hear and clearly understand someone talking on the other side of a closed window?
Horrid music, which sounds like a broken washing machine, coming thru the walls of my sons bedroom?

Cheers 

Now here is a serious new turntable...
http://www.analogplanet.com/content/dietrich-brakemeirs-apolyt-turntable-aims-be-worlds-finest-and-m...
Dietrich knows a thing or two about turntables, arms and cartridges.
And gosh....what are those?
They look like tonearm pods and did he say in the interview that the tops of the pods are totally isolated from the plinth and structure?
I saw that video. The tonearm pods are themselves on the same plinth as the turntable if I am not wrong.

So then, is this setup some type of Optical illusion ? 


http://www.whatsbestforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=19961&d=1429540940 

That Verdier setup is incorrect. I have owned the Verdier too and have tried various setup configurations. In the setup cited in the link above the motor housing and the turntable are placed on different platfoms, one is on a vibraplane while other is on a regular raised platform. This may give the sound some added transparency due to the seperation but they dont sing like one. The coherency is affected, I have tried it first hand. Probably the person who set it up would never agree to this because he first of all doesnt believe this can happen (hence he set it up like that) and secondly he did not hear this problem after setting it up like that. With all those expensive tonearms, cartridges, isolation platforms, one has invested very well and it is expected that he knows very well what is doing but simple things are some times elusive
Lewm
Verdier photo: It looks to me like Dietrich simply replaced the OEM flimsy tonearm mount (an inverted L-shaped affair that never looked to be very stable, to me) with a nice solid pillar and then attached it directly to the granite "plinth". Nothing really radical but certainly better than stock.

Optical illusion Lewm.

(an inverted L-shaped affair that never looked to be very stable, to me)

An Aluminum block rigidly mounted to its plinth .....unstable ? ok......

Look again. the turntable has been rotated counter clockwise. 90 degrees. The stock pillar is still there holding up the other tonearm. The external pod is not touching the same plinth that the platter is attached to.

Nothing really radical but certainly better than stock.

Well ok if you think so. But "Earth" for both of them, Tonearm Pillar and Plinth that holds the Platter, is now the Vibraplane.

I think you just jumped over to the other side and became one of them Copernicans with your comment ?



Excellent comments Pani :^)

Pani
I have owned the Verdier too and have tried various setup configurations.

This may give the sound some added transparency due to the seperation but they dont sing like one. The coherency is affected, I have tried it first hand.

Did I read on here in the past that you owned a Nouvelle Verdier ?

IMO/IME it’s very easy to fall into the trap of listening to "sounds" (Audiophile), rather than the flow of the music created by the musicians (Music Lover). I have been in these phases. fwiw - they (phases), imo can be very therapeutic especially during difficult times. But it becomes about the gear, and not the music anymore.

Now that linked table is a naked design; meaning all parts easily accessible. To the "ever wanting change" vinyl audiophile - it is crack. I resisted change with it, and spent time on setup with dialogue from its maker-designer. May he rest in piece.

Pani - I think your personal experience answers the question in your original post quite well ?

Cheers

It’s a little bit difficult to isolate (no pun intended) the vibration caused by airborne Acousitc Waves from the vibration caused by mechanical vibration including seismic type vibration without making some rather elaborate arrangements. But if you could I’m confident you would find that low frequency seismic vibration of the type produced by Earth crust motion, traffic, subways, etc. is by far the worst offender as regards exciting the resonance of tonearm, platter and cartridge, all of which have resonant frequencies around 10-12 Hz or thereabout, well below the lowest frequencies almost all high end audio systems are capable of producing. So, the solution for Verdier and other high mass designs is high performance (very low resonant frequency) seismic isolation. The airborne stuff, by comparison, is relatively inconsequential IMHO.

geoff kait
Machina Dynamica