Another option is a Vibraplane, which is what I use. The Minus K is effective, but more difficult to level
My thoughts on TT isolation methods.
I have done extensive research on isolation platforms and with help from the Audiogon community plus many hours of listening. Its not scientific and I did not measure results but here it goes. I have tried MDF board, Granite with both and alone and cork and or neoprene rubber and truck bed material as sandwich material. Granite and marble are beautiful and mass loading. It would probably be OK for a suspension loaded TT but not as good a choice for a mass loaded TT like mine. I finally invested in a 4 inch maple slab and 4 cork rubber sandwich supports that is common in industrial machine dampening. Its better and doesn't give the sound as much detail. With detail. =harshness. Its the best I have found. With less edginess and no harshness but more neutral detail. You can use 2 MDF boards which come close. Ok, if you want the absolute best for an expensive TT get an electron microscope isolation device which costs in the thousands. You could get one for a much cheaper TT but at that point you should just invest more in a TT for more bang for the buck. I think thats what Michael Fremers 100k plus Caliburn TT comes with. Look at one of his videos. The other very low cost option is a sand box. I heard a TT in one before and it sounded great but that was a 30k Clearaudio TT. I almost went with that. I thought about suspending it from the ceiling but mine is 80 lbs. I hope this helps!
- ...
- 52 posts total
i use an active system under one of my turntables (you can see pictures on my system page), the Taiko Tana system, which includes the Herzan TS-140. but it does require a turntable that has zero self noise to be effective. so it won’t work for many turntables. https://taikoaudio.com/taiko-2020/tana-150-140-active-anti-vibration-platforms/ another great choice is the Stacore platform; which does not have the balancing issues of the Minus K. it takes the Vibraplane idea and puts it on Steroids. https://stacore.pl/en/ i have 4 turntables; one of which is on the active system. i would choose the Stacore for the others if i could spend the money. here is a link to the North American importer. http://aaudioimports.com/ShowProduct.asp?hProduct=331 |
Actually, regarding hammers, IIRC the first ad to show a hammer blow on a turntable was for the original AR turntable. These were in printed ads, so there was no immediate confirmation of isolation. I think the dealers were encouraged to strike them while playing. I find a sand-box together with 4 handballs as in some VIP TNT TTs to be quite effective. The handballs, though, have to be changed about every 5 years. Anyone can suspend with hand (or squash) balls by simply drilling out dimples in wood as resting places for the balls. Remember Ginko? |
Since you're into DIY and value you might want to try my approach. You've already come pretty close and have a lot of what you need. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 You're right about granite and the tradeoffs with materials between detail and harshness. Its hard to tell by just my system pics but the rack is solid concrete with a sand bed cast into it. The granite is on the sand bed which damps a lot of the ringing and greatly reduces the glare and hardness while leaving all the detail. The next step is springs between the granite and the turntable. The springs do need to be tuned to the mass of your component/shelf system, but once they are the sound is amazing! Even more detail- a LOT more detail! - but without the glare and hardness. You get all the great mass loading benefits of granite without the glare and with even greater detail. There's a fairly recent thread started by (if I remember right) noromance about the Nobsound springs. These things are a total bargain and I would think would be right up your alley. |
Sorry, the MinusK is better than all of them. The reason is that it's horizontal resonance is just as low as it's vertical resonance. In other words you can hit your rack on the SIDE with a hammer and it will not bother the turntable. Yes, it is a bit more touchy to set up but once it is you can forget about it. You could always just buy a Dohmann turntable with the MinusK ready to go. The MinusK negative stiffness design is said to be better than any active device in terms of isolation. Millercarbon, if you want to do it right you need to start working on your hanging turntable platform as described above. If you get it right it will work better than anything you are doing now. Promise:) Mike L, The Stacore has little if any lateral compliance plus you need to keep it pumped up. The MinusK requires none of this. Both it's horizontal and vertical resonance are less than 2 Hz. They also make a low profile version now which elevates the turntable 2-3 inches only. The only real downside I can see is that the platform is ordered based on turntable weight. If you were to change turntables it might not work. |
- 52 posts total