A Copernican View of the Turntable System

Dear Halcro,
what I learned is that taking an active isolation vibration platform, Herzan or Accurion, the latter one is not really cheap, may establish an even less nervous and more relaxed sound stage. As I showed on my blog it is quite an investment but you will get back a lot. Great discussion and philosophy!

Since i am not an engineer, the complexities of plinth and motor sub-assemblies and suspensions are largely lost on me. But I do believe that the key of vinyl is looking upon the cantilever stylus-groove contact as being analogous to a tire of a car being under load and being steered in a rough rut in a road. Allowing that tire to follow and negotiate the rut with maximum contact with the rough area in the rut without careening side to side or bouncing out is the goal. Constant speed is next. Freedom from extraneous noise is next. Pretty simple stuff. 
We hobbyists sweat over turntable design and set-up because it is there to be sweated over. By that, I refer to the fact that loudspeakers are the opposite of phono cartridges in terms of being transducers but all of the compromises and settings have been pre-set for us by the manufacturer-other than placement-so we don't think about them much. For every audiophile that has given up on vinyl as obsolete, I point to their choice of loudspeaker and say, "perfect sound forever, huh?". That is before we even start with their choice of filtering algorithm and the compromises implicit in them. 

@fsonicsmith  +1

Folkfreak,

The Palladian is still performing exceptionally, I used to have issues with stylus muck build up but since getting an ultrasonic cleaner this is a problem I no longer have. I’m still waiting on a new arm board from EAR so I can drop the arm another .5mm which I think will be ideal but other than that no concerns. Where do you have yours riding relative to horizontal? At present I’m a hair tail up which is as low as my arm can go with the sub board I currently have to use

I have my Palladian running a smidgen LOWER than parallel (at the pivot) so I think you may well find a further improvement when you receive your new armboard....?
Good luck..

Dear Halcro,
what I learned is that taking an active isolation vibration platform, Herzan or Accurion, the latter one is not really cheap, may establish an even less nervous and more relaxed sound stage. As I showed on my blog it is quite an investment but you will get back a lot. Great discussion and philosophy!

Agreed Thuchan....
The effects on the upper frequencies are the most revealing I feel.
All the records I have where the high-frequencies become brittle or screechy as the volume increases are now listenable and (mostly) enjoyable.
I continue to enjoy your Blog Audiocirc .....
Wonderful equipment and comments.
Keep up the good work 👍