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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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stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,487 posts
 
I have Vandersteen 5A's....I read somewhere at one time that if I decouple the speakers from their spikes on to tile-on-concrete flooring using (maybe Herbies somethings), I would get better sound.   Nope....took all the music away...replaced the speakers on the floor. That's just me...
noromance's avatar
noromance OP
9,963 posts
 
@millercarbon Good. I think you should lose the granite. I tried granite under table, under maple and table, above maple, and every time it sounded bad. Removing it was a relief.
noromance's avatar
noromance OP
9,963 posts
 
Uberwaltz, I also noticed reduced bass and somewhat thinner sound. The weird thing was that the sound improved the next day with the tonal balance evened out. If you try the springs under your table, give it a few days to judge.
rixthetrick's avatar
rixthetrick
1,060 posts
 
millercarbon, please recall what I said about substrate, the more unyielding the substrate, the higher percentage of the energy will deform the springs.

Did you ever bolster the floor, specifically directly under the places where you have springs isolating your speakers?

One suggestion is to use the granite laminated to MDF, I haven't tried it, however I suspect laminating MDF (or some pretty hard wood?)  to it top and bottom, will change it's tone from ringing significantly. Use the granite under the TT, atop a shelf on your rack with appropriate springs to isolate? Sharing the kenetic energy between multiple absorbers, are you sure you want to do that?
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
@noromance
I did keep the old springs I had under the 401 for weeks just to see if any change but it really never did, the return to solidity for want of a better word once they were removed was palpable.
Some members have rightly said I do not give changes enough of a chance, so this one got a more than adequate trial at the time.
Now I do agree with Mahgister that they were likely not compressed enough.
With the Nobsound I will be able to adjust that compression rate and should give a better idea of what might work.
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