2. analog
  3. 191961-174921

A Turntable History Question

In late 1981, or January of 1982, I took a couple of my ward sisters out to the theatre (it was a Brian Rix farce at the Apollo). Returning to Harrow, I dropped off one of them and was invited in, where I saw her husband's turntable. It was suspended at each corner by many rubber bands, and years later I assumed it was an SME that I had seen. Now I know that SME were not making turntables at that time, I wonder what it was?

dogberry
lewm
13,131 posts
 

Suspended from where?  If you could see the rubber bands, I immediately had the image that it was on a shelf suspended from the ceiling by rubber bands. Because one cannot usually see the suspension of a suspended turntable out in the open.  Either what I just wrote, or the TT had a home-made suspension.

dogberry OP
677 posts
 

Suspended from corner towers à la SME.

lewm
13,131 posts
 

And you could see actual rubber bands on full display?  That sounds home-made to me. Such a suspension is like a spring suspension and needs to be damped in some way, else a disturbance would linger on. Then a second disturbance could lead to oscillation. Remember videos of that bridge in Tacoma?

dogberry OP
677 posts
 

As far as I remember (and if my memory is to be trusted) it looked very smart and he was extremely proud of it. I didn't stay long enough to listen to it though.

yoyoyaya's avatar
yoyoyaya
770 posts
 

I can't recall anything that was on sale in the UK at that time that used rubber band suspension.The Hi Fi Choice turntables booklet edited by Martin Colloms covered pretty much everything that was around including exotica like the Trio 7d and, working from memory I can't recall any rubber band suspended TT.

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