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VPI Classic 1 isolation upgrade

Hi! I would like to upgrade the isolation of my VPI Classic. I have the following right now:The TT is resting on the top of my custom made rack. The top plate is a 2" MDF what is on "Herbies fat dots" dividing between the lower part of the rack for the phono. There is about 5" sand on that plate.On the sand, I sandwiched an inflated tube between a tile and an 1" MDF. The sandwiched layers are not touching the side of the rack, just the sand, and I used a straw to cancel the vacuum.

I was thinking about the following:
1. Symposium VPI legs + Rollerblock jr s under directly
2. Terrastone VPI legs + Terrastone rollerbearing under
3. Symposium VPI legs + Symposium Segue ISO
4. Change the upper MDF plate to marble, leave the mdf or the tile on the sand + any of the firts two options
Which one would you choose? I dont really see the need of the Segue , I think I could rather improve the lateral isolation with roller bearing.



128x128korakotta
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,816 posts
 

Damn korakotta, you know your isolation! I have Rollerblock Jr's (and the Canadian-made Ingress Engineering knock-offs, which are cheaper and slightly better), and have had the Bright Star Big Rock (sand box), Townshend Audio Seismic Platform (inner tube isolation), marble slab, Torlyte shelf (big in the UK in the 80's), Navcom, Sorbothane, EAR IsoDamp, and just about anything else you can name. I recently acquired a set of the Townshend Audio Seismic Pods, the best of them all. A set of them under a good shelf (non-resonant, stiff) is the best "affordable" isolation I have found.

If you are deadly serious, and are flush with cash, the best isolation is that provided by either the passive platforms offered by Minus K, or the active ones by Herzan, Newport, and a few others. The Minus K's are priced at around $2500, the Herzans more, I believe. For a look at the Herzan, check out folkfreaks system in the AudiogoN Virtual Systems.

korakotta's avatar
korakotta OP
50 posts
 
Thank you! I used the last few months to find out which way to go...Money is an issue, so I would do it around for the same sum as any of my 4 choiches.

What is for sure. I am going to change the tile and the 1" MDF to marble. Does it make sense?
What would you use if not a bicycle inner tube in between the marble slabs for x axis isolation?4 Townshend Audio Seismic Pods? Something a bit cheaper? Or is the inner tube just as good as any other in a setting like this? There is sand under. 

For the y axis isolation, under the  VPI Classic feet, which roller bearing isolation would you use?
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,816 posts
 

The Townshend Pods are about a hundred bucks each from England ($150 in the U.S.), and you need nothing else besides a nice stiff, non-resonant shelf between them and your table. You definitely want to get rid of the MDF---it’s nowhere near stiff enough (it’s ground up sawdust and glue, after all!). I found marble to be too "ringy", slate might be better. Two pieces of 3/4" Baltic Birch ply with a later of constrained layer damping between them makes a great shelf. Or, if you have the dough, the Symposium shelves, which have constrained layer damping themselves, are great. You probably know Symposium has a special model shelf for turntables, which adds their own springs for vertical isolation. I don’t know if they are as effective as the springs in Townshend’s Pods, but I’m sure they’re good.

If you want to stay with the inner tube, it plus roller bearings provides good isolation for the money. The inner tube for vertical, roller bearings for lateral/horizontal.

Ingress Engineering in Canada is making a few different models of roller bearings, the cheapest being about the same quality and effectiveness as the Symposium Jr's but at a much lower price, the most expensive being better than the Series 2+ (the diameter of the "bowl" is much larger, for one thing), for less money. Great products!
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