Springs under turntable

Hey Rick
Thank you for the kind words.
Three TT is definitely overkill but you only live once...lol

The clear acrylic platter on the Rega is an aftermarket one by Deep Groove, metal sub platter and Zaphire bearing. The original Rega plinth was sandwiched between two  slabs of MDF and then Walnut veneer over the top. Different motor and an IEC receptacle in back to take any PC, tonearm rewired with Cardas and terminated with a din plug underneath.
Yep its been hot rodded. and now it is set up as a mono TT with 2M Mono cart.

The 401 is in a substantial plinth with curly maple top ala the best guitars, lol. I modded the platter to add extra weight with stick on car wheel weights underneath it, added 2lb total. Micro Seiki MA505LS arm in immaculate fully functioning form.

The Avid is a very nice belt drive deck with outboard speed controller but stock with Rega RB303 arm and I honestly think it deserves a better one.

Favourite?

Very close call between the 401 and the Avid which is more likely choice of carts than anything else.

The 401 being idler drive always gives me the impression of more drive and dynamics and feel of life to the music, certain less charitable members here just say thats the rumble from the drive.
Whatever, they may be right but I do not care.

The Avid does indeed have very detailed highs and mids but seems to lose that certain something in "soul" of the music. It is possible a better arm would change the pecking order, oh well its only money!

Thank you for the kind words.

I wasn't even being kind really, just calling it as I saw it. I thought just from the photos you'd put in some decent effort, now after reading just about the mods on just the turntables, there's an unseen iceberg of mods. And perhaps lead weights :-)

Almost don't want to know about vinyl, it's expensive to get into from where I am. But I am so curious, probably can't help myself, I'm going to have to make an opportunity to hear it.

Can you or have you ever swapped the arm off the 401 to the Avid?
My hifi knowledge is limited to a few things I've actually worked on, it was a fun way to make a living. I'm making better money now, and can buy better toys.

Thanks uber, this is an area where I know virtually nothing.

Rick
Not wishing to hijack this spring thread but I am a rank amateur on vinyl compared to some of our more long term esteemed members here.
I have picked up a lot of information from those guys on these hallowed pages!
One word of warning, it is a very deep dark rabbit hole.....lol.

But quite simply the MA505LS( long series) is an 11" arm whereas the RB303 is a 9" arm so would need a different armboard to even think of trying that on the Avid.
But I probably never would as the 401 and MA505LS are both nice vintage pieces and belong together.

Now back to springs, mine are out for delivery today!

Mijo, No argument here on the necessity for stabilizing an EM, but you previously intimated that this was necessary because of optical requirements.  Anyway, this is off topic, and I just wanted to be clear.  I used to have an EM, and a person to run it, as part of my lab. She wouldn't let anyone get even close to "her" machine.

Then I did not present it correctly, my fault. If I had an EM I would not let anybody near it either:)

Uberwaltz, you REALLY need a Schroder CB on your Avid. Your other turntables will become conversation pieces. It would be very expensive to make a better record playing device. With the different weight cartridge mounting plates you can put just about any cartridge on it. It is the most perfectly designed pivoted tonearm in existence. "Rank Amateur"? Surely you jest. 

rixthetrick, Whether or not vinyl sounds better than digital depends almost entirely on the way the music was mastered. An album mastered for digital is very hard to beat. But there are masters that sound better in their vinyl versions. I can only guess but I would say off hand it is about 50/50. Vinyl requires more effort, space and mechanical aptitude. If you like old sports cars you will love Vinyl. If you only drive Audi's stick with digital. 
If you have wood floors this is a very important thread. There are many audiophiles who have to walk around on tip toe while playing a record. Because of anti skate if the stylus loses contact with the groove the arm will skip backwards. In some houses this can happen with every step.
A turntable that is suspended correctly will not skip at all. Examples of properly suspended tables would be the Sota, SME, Basis, Dohmann and I believe the Avid Acutus. Sorry if I missed any. The Sota's certainly represent the best value. I can hit a Sota with a hammer and you will not hear it through the system. 
You can not believe the amount of noise and vibration that travels through a house. The term used was house rumble. The washing machine, various transformers, fans, plumbing, the truck traveling down your street.
A turntable is a very sensitive vibration measuring device. With a suspension tuned to 2 Hz the only vibration that will get through to the cartridge is you picking up the turntable and dropping it on the floor. 
This is only one aspect of turntable performance. As uberwaltz related, this is one very deep rabbit hole. Try starting a thread on Direct vs Belt drive and see what happens:)