Goners know I am a big fan of suspended turntables. I will never own anything else. There are two big issues. First, the resonance frequency has to be below 3 Hz both vertical and horizontal. If you get to close to the tonearm’s resonance frequency fun things will happen. Next, a mass placed on top of a spring is unstable. Not only will it bounce vertically but it will wobble side to side and if the mass is large enough it will fall right over. This tends to be the case when you get the resonance frequency low where it should be. When you hang a mass from a spring the pull of gravity always returns the mass to vertical, a much more stable situation. So, the best way to do this is too hang a platform from three or four springs and place the turntable on the platform. Or, you could buy a MinusK platform or you could buy a SOTA, SME or Dohmann turntable. Isolation is critical for turntables and a properly sprung turntable is much quieter and impervious to almost anything. You should be able to hammer on or kick your equipment stand and not hear a thing. All of the above tables will do this and if you are clever you can get the same results. You can dampen the springs by inserting foam rubber into them.
Springs under turntable
I picked up a set of springs for $35 on Amazon. I intended to use them under a preamp but one thing led to another and I tried them under the turntable. Now, this is no mean feat. It’s a Garrard 401 in a 60pound 50mm slate plinth. The spring device is interesting. It’s sold under the Nobsound brand and is made up of two 45mm wide solid billets of aluminum endcaps with recesses to fit up to seven small springs. It’s very well made. You can add or remove springs depending on the weight distribution. I had to do this with a level and it only took a few minutes. They look good. I did not fit them for floor isolation as I have concrete. I played a few tracks before fitting, and played the same tracks after fitting. Improvement in bass definition, speed, air, inner detail, more space around instruments, nicer timbre and color. Pleasant surprise for little money.
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I am new to decoupling and springs in the past two weeks and have been very pleased with the results compared to spikes on a concrete floor. I have noticed similar sonic improvements as those you have listed. I considered the spring device you are using and opted for single springs under the corners of my amps and speakers. I will also be using them under my subs soon. For me, the single springs work great with the key being to determine the right combination of diameter for stability, total load capacity per spring, rate of compression for the desired stiffness, and finally the compressed height that is appropriate for the equipment or speaker being supported. I had good luck finding what I needed from Century Spring Company, that has an interactive specification tool to help you find the appropriate springs. One other thing you can try if using single springs is to encase them in heat shrink overlapped at the top, which not only hides the springs but also provides a bit of protection against scratches for both the gear being supported and whatever you are supporting it on. If you believe air needs to escape from inside the spring, simply poke a hole in the heat shrink. |
Thanks for the replies. I did some more critical listening. Some notes below.
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I've always been a cones and rigidity man. Me too! Everything on BDR. Everything! https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 Even so I always was aware of the drawbacks, just never thought this could possibly be the solution. Did not help AT ALL that the least credible biggest joker in all of audio was pushing springs. Oh well. Under the bridge. Put springs under the subs last night. Not all the subs just the 3 closest to the turntable. Replaced BDR Cones with springs. At first was like, well this is underwhelming. Bass was maybe a bit better, but also maybe a bit less. Probably because eliminating bass being transmitted through the floor leaves only bass in the air. So it feels different. Which makes sense. But then, wait a minute, what the.... midrange presence, top end extension, holy crap the springs under the subs just massively cleaned up everything else and the detail is so much more natural and amazing! Al Stewart isn't just singing he is RIGHT THERE in freaking person! My cones and rigidity thinking had me convinced that my 750 lb rack of solid concrete, granite and sand was impervious to acoustic and even mechanical energy. Evidently not! Not even close! The subs are putting out the same acoustic energy. More. I turned em up! The only logical explanation is mechanical vibrations from the subs had been transmitted through the floor to the rack and right through its 750lbs all the way to the turntable. Crazy! Why this works has to be what Max Townshend says in his video. Look at a record, the light pattern tells you there's sub-micron scale squiggles. These unbelievably small details are where the sense of 3D placement and room size acoustics are. They're easily blurred over by even the slightest vibration. That's what I'm hearing. That's what noromance is hearing:
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