2. misc-audio
  3. 149380-2199

Dumped the rack

So I have a steel spiked Sound Organization table about 2 feet tall. On it rests a 3" maple butcher block. On that rests my slate Garrard 401 with slate feet and aluminum cones.
I had a piece of granite made and installed it on the maple beneath the turntable. Man, that sounded bad. Silvery colored and dull. I reversed the layer order and put the granite below the maple. That sounded a lot better. But not as good as when there was no granite. So I took it back out. Okay back to how it was. But something was missing. The granite did bring a feeling of stability to the image. What to do? I took the whole rack thing out of the equation and put the 401 on the concrete floor along with the preamp. This sounded best notwithstanding the wooden tone lost by removal of the maple. But the best thing, and I’m aware of the effect from reading but never tried it, was that imaging has improved by quite a margin. Like removing a veil of something. Like when someone moves their head out of your face at a concert. Now, I have to bend down to play records. 
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dpac996's avatar
dpac996
714 posts
 
I see this is mainly a thread about reducing bad vibes in TT setups, but does same thing apply to all components? I have a pretty heavy amp, that has rubber feet bolted to the amp chassis; The amp is about 105 pounds and is currently on an amp stand that has 4 corner spikes to the concrete floor in my basement. I was thinking about using a great piece of maple butcher block and screwing 4 NHL hockey pucks to bottom to lift the block off the carpet a bit, then use that as my base for the amp. Is the sandwich of concrete/padding/carpet/hockeypuck/wood/rubber feet/amp chassis making a constrained layer damping? Is this a stupid idea (that is, are spikes better)?

Thanks! 
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slaw's avatar
slaw
22,365 posts
 
@dpac996

IMO, yes springs can benefit most any component. It certainly has enough potential benefit and low cost to try it. I always like trying for myself. If it doesn’t work out, at the very least, I’ve learned some things along this journey.
jkuc
181 posts
 

This is why Townshend audio applies rubber. Actually it’s the air inside the rubber with a vent that damps the spring.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZxi1oZfvDA

geoff, I didn’t know you are using a hammer on your super springs when music is playing :).
I like this one also:
Plus the springs under load are constrained from ringing, like using your fingers to stop a tuning fork from ringing.
It's a good one. 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
jkuc

This is why Townshend audio applies rubber. Actually it’s the air inside the rubber with a vent that damps the spring.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZxi1oZfvDA

geoff, I didn’t know you are using a hammer on your super springs when music is playing :).
I like this one also:
Plus the springs under load are constrained from ringing, like using your fingers to stop a tuning fork from ringing.
It’s a good one.

>>>>>The rubber “bellows” in Townshend’s design overdamps the system. The rubber restricts the vertical and rotational motion, which doesn’t help isolation, it hurts it. The motion was much better (less resistance) in the beginning of his demonstration with springs only. Isolation is defined as ease of motion in a particular direction. The motion is obviously easier and less constrained with springs only. One advantage to the rubber bellows is it provides some additional lateral support for the iso system so that speakers with a high center of gravity won’t flop over. Having the framework to spread the springs out in a wide pattern is also to increase lateral support. I can do the same thing only better with four springs and a maple board. 🤗
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