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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.
noromance
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
13,125 posts09-16-2020 6:23pmTo get back to the actual subject of this thread......

I experimented a little more with the pods under my 401 as it was still a little off balance to my eyes.

Now have 3 springs in left rear and 2 springs in the other 3 corners.
Had to go back to 4 pods as where the rear center needed to be was right where the motor cutout is.

Bass is still nice and tight and very detailed all round.
rixthetrick's avatar
rixthetrick
1,060 posts
 
Congratulations uberwaltz, seems you're making promising advances mate. Keep us posted.

Indranil, have you tried the rubber bands thing we discussed?
If it works, then yeah I would seriously consider the uprated springs. I was also thinking, have you tried a little mass of something dense to level the whole suspended mass by moving it on the outer rim of the shelf?


mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Uberwaltz, if you put the resonance frequency anywhere within the range of 20 to 150 Hz you are likely to make a change in the way you perceive bass. If everything else is set up correctly and of reasonable quality it is hard to believe that would make an improvement in overall balance or "tightness." If the resonance frequency of the suspension is down where a whole bunch of turntable designers think it belongs it should not change the tonal quality of the music but rather improve signal to noise ratio and and response to physical insults. The main purpose of a suspension is to limit interaction with the environment. 
rixthetrick's avatar
rixthetrick
1,060 posts
 
mijostyn, seems like he's got it :-)
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Lewm, You put a record on the turntable with any record weight type device you use then press the turntable down evenly to stretch or compress the springs equally then let go and count. 3 hz is very slow and should be fairly easy to count. If the turntable bounces so fast you can't count it then you need to use springs with a lower rate or add mass to the turntable.
When I hit my Sota with a hammer I am not hitting the suspended part of the turntable. That is inside the plinth. If I abruptly jerk the outside of the turntable (moving it say 1/4") the suspended section will start bouncing at 3 Hz. The tonearm will not skip. If I jerk it hard enough to bottom out the suspension in any direction then the tonearm will skip in a major way.
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