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Help! Tweaking My Lovan Rack for new Big A**ed Transrotor Turntable!

Folks, some input would be mighty appreciated.

I’ve been using a hand-me-down (though very nice!) Micro Seiki dd-40 turntable for a number of years and finally got the upgrade itch (it helps the upgrade itch when your cartridge is going on 30 years old, and sounding like it!).

I went down the rabbit hole and picked up a Transrotor Fat Bob S turntable, with an Acoustic Solid 12" arm and a Benz Micro Ebony cartridge. All with only about 30 hours of use at a great price. Yay!

Though I have considered getting rid of my old Lovan Classic rack for a new custom jobby, I’m pretty much spent out and I think I’ll have to make do for now, working with the Lovan.

The Fat Bob turntable is 55 lbs of solid aluminum and built like Thor’s hammer.

I figure this will finally get me to fill my Lovan stands for a bit more rigidity - probably with rice. The stand is the old 3 legged triangular shaped bass, which means the thin MDF shelves can feel like they sit sort of precariously on top. But the stand itself feels quite solid.

I want to incorporate a wood platform base, as many do, because I really love the look of a nice wood slab.

At first I thought maybe I’d have 3 spikes drilled in to the bottom corners of the wood base to directly couple it to the rest of the Lovan frame, vs resting it on the top mdf shelf. But I’m not sure that’s really necessary. And I’d like to incorporate some isolation as well, I think. So I’m thinking of just laying it on the top shelf, with something in between.

My first thought is to place a Symposium Segue shelf between the top of the Lovan shelf and the wood base.

Other than that...I’m flummoxed as to all the other choices...roller blocks? Symposium Fat Padz? Vibrapods? Herbie’s Tendersoft footers? Voo-Doo Isopods?  What should I put between the wood platform base and my Lovan shelf?

Any comments of suggestions on the direction I’m going?

Thanks!

(BTW, I’m an resolutely NOT a DIY/Handy-man type, so I’m not trying to go to heroic efforts, wishing this to be as painless as possible).
prof
prof OP
3,504 posts
 
BTW, FWIW...

My audio racks are located in another room down the hall, well away from the listening room, so isolating them from speaker sound isn't a big issue.  Nor is isolating from footsteps - nobody is usually walking around when I'm listening and the turntable is in it's own room.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,111 posts
 
Though 3" planks of Maple are hot right now, I myself would have some shelves made out of 19mm-3/4" 13-ply Baltic Birch plywood. You could even use two layers, with constrained-layer damping between the two. For the hollow columns of the Lovan, sand will be a more effective vibration absorber than will rice. For isolation, an alternative choice to the Symposium shelf is a set of Townshend Seismic Pods, or Seismic Platform. If you have the $ (over $2000), a serious vibration isolator is the Minus K line of products.
salectric
758 posts
 
Long term I recommend a dedicated Sound Anchors turntable stand.  I have used one for my Galibier table (over 100 lbs) for a number of years and absolutely love it.  It puts the table at the ideal height without any wobbling whatsoever, and it brings out the best sound for my table.  I use a wood platform on the top which consists of two solid maple boards bolted together.  Cost of the SA stand runs a bit over $1000.  That may be more than you want to spend right now, but if so I recommend you not spend less money for stopgap measures like fancy shelves or footers, and instead save your money until you can buy a proper stand.  Just my opinion.
prof OP
3,504 posts
 
Thanks for the input, folks.

I've read that loading sand is more finicky than rice into the Lovan, especially insofar as the Lovan pipes don't have a really tight seal and something as fine as sand spills out unless you go to further lengths to seal them up.

The Townshend Seismic Pods actually look just the ticket!  They look like they'd provide the type of isolation I'm wanting (for now) and they are adjustable which would help with leveling the platform.  Only problem is I can't find dimensions for the things ANYWHERE.  Including on the manufacturer's site.  How can a manufacturer not include such obviously relevant information as the dimensions of a product that people are going to try and fit under various types of shelves and equipment????
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