Townshend Pods under TT Don’t Do
Could be my sample size, but I don't see many wall mounted TTs in the virtual system section. For me I find wall mounting just a little too permanent. About once a year I rearrange equipment just for the sake of it. A wall mounted TT would really limit my options. Where are all the deleterious footfalls coming from when you play music? Again, going back to the virtual systems, not too many of us look like they have a dance floor in the listening room. |
A wall mount is a good option for those who want to go that route, and have a table that's not too massive nor large in footprint. I like pushing the rack against the wall because it's so easy to do, and leverages the strength & stability of being pinched between both wall and floor - the table is no longer cantilevered out into space. Limited displacement means much less chance to excite resonances in the system. Very effective.
As @noromance mentions, typical residential home construction in the USA is awful. Some of the setups I've attempted were so bad that a person walking 2-3 rooms away could cause a skip. Besides basements (which usually have very low ceilings to contend with), converting a garage is your only other "stable floor" option in most homes here. It doesn't always require footsteps, either. Particularly suboptimal setups can excite resonances just from energy coming from the speakers when played back loud. |
@mulveling thanks for resurrecting this thread. You make several really good points. My main listening room is in a wood framed house above the garage. Someone using the garage door makes for loud noises, but doesn't induce any skipping. The basement setup is on a concrete slab, but I place the TT atop a 5 shelf Quadrispire stand due to space limitations and concerns about my largish dog's tail. I don't find the non-optimal setup issues to be of much concern. If your TT skips because of loud music, i can only think it's been placed in bass peak mode area and/or you're playing music really, really loud. |
I use the Townsend pods under my turntable and I’m very happy.
Several years ago, I bought a high mass turntable - a trans rotor fat Bob S - and I had a flimsy small Lovan rack sitting on a sprung wood floor to work with.
The combination was particularly susceptible to footfall, my son who stomps like Frankenstein, walking past, the turntable, could even cause it to skip. Plus there is an air conditioner on the wall outside that can cause some rumble and I wanted to isolate from that too.
So I wanted to build an isolation platform for the turntable .
I spent many months testing out all sorts of different isolation material combinations . I used vibration measuring apps on my iPhone and iPad to get objective confirmation.
Absolutely nothing came anywhere close to the isolating properties of the Townsend Springs . Not sorbothane, not constrained layer damping. Nothing else.
Ultimately, I did end up with the turntable on top of a 2 1/2 inch thick butcher block , and then another layer of MDF and steel, all held up by the Townsend pods.
Without the pods , stopping my foot near the rack and with my hand on the rack, I could easily feel the vibrations and measure them. With the Spring pods doing the same , there’s virtually nothing to feel getting to the turntable when stomping the floor, and it’s almost unmeasurable.
Sonically, I have no idea if this aids the sound , but in terms of stopping major vibrations getting to the turntable it works great.
Finally, as to the issue cited in the OP: I have no such problem with the springs being too wobbly or being excited. Certainly if I leaned on one side of the platform, it would tip because it’s held up by the springs. But other than that, wobbling goes on at all. There is zero issue interacting with the turntable either to put a record on or two adjust my cartridge or anything else. It’s a non-issue.. |
