Here is the engineering principle that must be observed when designing a plinth for a turntable:
The plinth must be as rigid and as acoustically dead (damped) as possible. The mounting of the platter bearing in the plinth will be thus coupled as rigidly as possible to the mounting of the tonearm. If it is not, any vibration at all can be interpreted by the pickup (arm and cartridge) as a coloration.
IOW, if the arm and surface of the platter are able to vibrate at all, if they are always in the same plane of vibration, the pickup will not be able to pickup noise or coloration on that account. So a separate arm tower is a violation of this principle and induces coloration; the same is true of a separate arm board. If the arm board employs damping and the plinth does not you'll get a coloration. It all simply has to be as rigid as possible and damped.
The plinth must be as rigid and as acoustically dead (damped) as possible. The mounting of the platter bearing in the plinth will be thus coupled as rigidly as possible to the mounting of the tonearm. If it is not, any vibration at all can be interpreted by the pickup (arm and cartridge) as a coloration.
IOW, if the arm and surface of the platter are able to vibrate at all, if they are always in the same plane of vibration, the pickup will not be able to pickup noise or coloration on that account. So a separate arm tower is a violation of this principle and induces coloration; the same is true of a separate arm board. If the arm board employs damping and the plinth does not you'll get a coloration. It all simply has to be as rigid as possible and damped.