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!
blueranger
I guess I stepped on your toes townsend-audio. I just visited your site. Your seismic platform may be a reasonable solution for a turntable. It does place the load on top of the springs (compression) rather than hanging the load from the springs (extension) which is more stable. But, I noticed you springs have a large diameter which might help to stabilize them. I am certain that it is much less expensive than a MinusK platform
making it a reasonable choice for the budget minded. Questions! How much does one cost and how are you damping the springs?
Antigrunge2, again that might address footfall problems but it will not isolate the turntable from environmental rumble. I would prefer a good isolation platform over the wall shelf.
Fuzztone, another happy Sota owner! Where do ball bearings come into this?
Nothing seems to bother my 1200G...it weighs about 50lbs by itself. It sits on a solid oak rack that also has hundreds of pounds of LPs in the lower section. 

Before that it was on a cheap glass and aluminum IKEA rack. Never had an issue with it on that either. 

But for me, other acoustical issues need to be resolved before I get to how a TT platform 'sounds'. 


If the Ikea rack satisfied you, then you are clearly not obsessed enough.
I am currently waiting for the construction of my Silent Running Audio (SRA) VR platform for my Woodsong Garrard 301. The TT sits atop a decent Polycrystal rack. Recommended as vital to his system by Ralph Karsten. Now suffering from footfalls. Hoping for good results. Anyone using a similar platform? What are the effects?