Springs under turntable

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:)

Mijo
I have looked at the Schroeder CB arm before.
However...$5k....
A wee bit more than I was thinking of spending.