2. analog
  3. 132236-2227

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
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
2,022 posts
 
I was in a similar spot for a while, running a 50 lbs table (Clearaudio Innovation Wood) on a Lovan Sovereign (three tiers of 7" shelves). These stacked modules are not particularly rigid, and the relatively small 3-point footprint doesn’t help on floors like mine. I filled all the tubes with lead shot, but that didn’t help at all with rigidity; it only damped the nasty metallic ringing.

The Sovereign was a poor solution for this very nice, mass-loaded table.There were definitely feedback issues, and it was very sensitive to footfalls, etc. The VTI-style stands are even flimsier. I added a Maple butcher block, which helped a bit. But honestly, I was just fighting the nature of things, and my old SOTA Star III was a more natural fit in this scenario (the spring suspension absorbed a lot of these issues).

You want something that has a rigid frame, not modules. 4-points and a larger footprint is also better. When I upgraded to the Innovation Master I knew the old Lovan would render this upgrade pointless, so I went crazy and got a Critical Mass Systems rack -- MUCH better, obviously (you can see the massive difference between these racks in my virtual system pics). But there will much better solutions than the Lovan for much less money too. As mentioned previously, some of the active isolation platform makers like Herzan will supposedly make a very nice (and rigid) custom stand for a reasonable price.

The Lovan/VTI stands are OK for digital sources and SS components.
prof OP
3,482 posts
 
jab, mulveling,

Thanks for the additional input.  I really appreciate it.

Having priced a custom rack, I'm still stuck for now with the Lovan until I can afford a new rack.

I'm going to have a maple butcher block made, I figure about 2 to 2 1/2".
The Townsend pods below that.

I'm still actually deciding whether to bother filling the stand with anything.    I don't really have to worry about some of the main vibration issues because my turntable is in a room well away from the listening room.  And I tend to listen when the house is quiet and no one is walking around.  So I'm not sure how much more the is to actually isolate the turntable "from."

One thing I've wondered:  Right now the Transrotor turntable is sitting on an MDF shelf.   The Transrotor has 3 shallow aluminum cone "feet" that it rests upon, which you can adjust to level the turntable.  I notice that, at least on the shiny Lovan MDF shelf, the turntable is fairly slidy - there is no grip happening between the point of the feet and the shelf.  So I'm wondering if there are any little rubber pads, or shallow cones or something that would be good to set those feet tips in - maybe to provide further isolation as well as gripping the shelf top better?




audioquest4life
774 posts
 
OP; Welcome to the Transrotor club. Your Fat Bob S will give you years of listening pleasure. I have a Transrotor Apollon with 3 motors and the triangle design with spiked feet going into cones with rubber feet, I think somewhat similar to yours. I too looked for wood but since the system was heavy, over 100 pounds, and large, I opted for a dedicated stand from Clearaudio, the MontBlanc. It’s really a solid beast with a plexiglas as the base, and concrete filled CNC polished stainless steel foundation. It’s more of a modern design, rather than the homey warm classic feel of wood. I have a zebra wood platform for my preamp power supply😀

My floor is basement, bamboo floor, and no vibration issues. Even with multiple subs blasting. I am a firm believer in rigid isolation with minimal bouncy isolation things for the turntable. I also highly considered the Finite Element stands due to their nice wood craftsmanship. Good luck.

Audioquest4life
prof OP
3,482 posts
 
Audioquest4life,

Sorry, I missed your comment.

Thanks for the welcome! Wow, the Apollon! And I thought my Transrotor table was a beast! Must be real fun.

I just received my Townshend Seismic Pods which I plan to use under the wood platform I’m having built. I had downloaded a seismic vibration measurement app, placing my iphone on my Lovan rack and then on my taller home theater rack. I must say I found it a bit alarming how much vibration was transmitted up the Lovan rack when I walked or lightly stomped near the stand - it was decidedly less on the bigger stand beside it (but that’s full of my AV gear and not suitable for my 2 channel stuff).

With that in mind, I’m looking for some more isolation. There are so many different opinions on this, ultimately I think I’m throwing together stuff that gives me my own piece of mind, without spending a million bucks. At this point I’m planning on securing the top Lovan rack shelf to it’s frame making it less tippy. Possibly filling the stand. I’m going to sit a Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform on top of the Lovan stand - it has lots of good testimonies for really fixing the type of sound transmission I spoke of. Then that will be the first base on which the Townsend pods will sit, holding the new 2 or 3 inch thick wood base for the Turntable.

I even picked up some of these isofeet:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Isofeet-by-SoundDampedSteel-Set-of-4-in-black-ROUND-80mm-diameter-/201230...

I figured I might put them under the feet of my turntable (might help make it less slippery on the wood block, as well as help isolate), or alternatively maybe I’ll put them between the floor and the points of my Lovan stand.
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
2,022 posts
 
My instinct says that stacking suspensions and/or squishy layers can have severe unintended consequences, especially the more stuff you layer in there. Keep it limited to 1 suspension or squishy layer, and it should be a good one. I had the "Gramma" version of those Auralex for speakers, and it’s not something I’d put a high-end 50 lbs table on...too squishy, and has a very cheap feeling (and sounding) MDF/felt top board.

Securing the Lovan modules (somehow) is a good idea; man that always made me nervous as heck when I had to curve around a back corner to do cable connections. And I know the slide-y glossy shelves issue all too well. Had a girlfriend once take a tumble, glance the rack (1 had 3 modules stacked with the CA Innovation on a maple block on the top), and nearly slide the TT off. No harm done in the end, though.

But your beautiful table really deserves a rigid-framed, 4-point rack! I’d look at something like the Adona AV45G in your shoes (not the modules, the full frame). ASAP. Not too crazy priced at $1K for a 3-tier (really quite sane actually). No affiliation, and I’ve not had one myself, but I’ve seen the Adonas in use on very high-end TT setups, including a pair of ears I’ve trusted for a long time. That should help immensely, and you can still experiment with high-tech/suspension feet under the table to address the foot-falls and feedback. I should’ve done that when I got the first Innovation, or stuck with a SOTA (man that spring suspension forgives a lot).

And I just remembered that Symposium makes a platform with a small suspension in the feet, for turntables, that users seem to love. But you’ll still want a solid stand under it.
More to discover