Linn Bedrok LP12 Plinth Upgrade

@lewm  While you might expect that a dead silence be portrayed by any decent table when placing the stylus into the lead in groove, you might be surprised how rare that experience is. I have heard numerous high end tables that cannot do this 'trick' even though they are set up correctly. All of my prior tables and even my LP12 with Cirkus, could not manage this. There was always a slight noise from the speakers, not complete silence. 

@mylogic  While I agree with you that the Dire Straits breaking milk bottle is a test, it is a very low lying test. IMO, you would have to have a pretty veiled set up to miss that part of the track. A better test would be whether your system can portray depth, intimacy and scale...which very very few can. Scale in particular is very hard to portray, usually requiring a large space and large speakers with excellent dynamic contrast. In my many years as a hobbyist, I can count on one hand systems that can portray scale, depth and intimacy...all three. Most folks think their systems can portray these things, in reality most portray ( at best) one of the three.

I have bought my LP12 with cirkus and lingo 12 years ago. Now it features Karousel akurake Radikal 2 keel Ekos se Mutech Hayabusa and Duo Sutherland phono stage. I had to move the deck out of the wall mount and decided to try the Audiosilente mushrooms. I don’t feel particular improvements nor decrease in performance. My ears may be aging more than I thought. I love the LP12 and I can adjust the suspensions easily and without the need for skilled feddlers. I actually prefer to look after it myself. I have no particular DIY skills. It’s up to the user way of enjoying this hobby. If you are the eternally unsure person about your deck performance just go for a technics direct drive. 

@daveyf

Dire Straits Private Investigations ‘’breaking milk bottle’’ and ‘‘intimacy’’ test with a pussy….yes there is a ‘musical’ one in there. Knopfler implies with his guitar that a cat knocks over said milk bottle.

It is quite a good test because lots of people have that LP.

It can be useful for example if you can hear it on head phones but not on your main speakers. You would know better speakers are required (or the opposite of course)

Also a great trackability test for a cartridge.

Hearing the breaking glass is not the only consideration either….it is how clear and distinctive it is in the mix. Is it only just audible or is it right there in the alleyway. Also there is a lot going on in that recording and most people just miss it. I mention this as just one test for setting up speakers to achieve all the 3 goals you described.

@mylogic  The interesting thing that occurs to me is that in this hobby, many times folk are not aware of the failings, or shortcomings, of their systems. Only upon an exposure to what they are missing can they discover what is either a) missing from their systems portrayal or b) a solution to the issue. 

Unfortunately, since it is just as easy to go backwards in system development as it is to go forwards, the opportunity for doing more damage is there. 

For example, I have heard on many occasions, folk whose rooms are not able to develop accurate bass, or more intimacy in quiet recordings...utilize fixes that are detrimental and result in even less pleasant sound. Sometimes these very same folk realize the error and rectify it, most times they do not...and the system begins to go down a slippery slope. Easy to do. 

@mylogic

My early series 401 (with the flush mount strobe light) was mounted in the huge ‘SME Plinth System’. The plinth base and depth was so big to accomodate the widest and deepest decks. The cover was of similar height to the plinth and designed to take the tallest 9 and 12’’ arms

I am wondering if the SME plinth I was given with my Garrard 301 is an example of the huge SME Plinth System?  At first glance, it has stepped sides, a floating deck and is essentially hollow with just a flimsy hardboard base.

The Garrard 301 does include six springs positioning its motor in space, and each spring is damped by a rubber tube around its middle.  Garrard also intended that the 301 should be mounted on a deck which is spring mounted to a plinth.  Garrard supplied the springs but not the deck, nor the plinth.  My SME plinth has long corner-mounted threaded rods which sit in the springs and can be adjusted by twisting four attached knobs above the deck.

The deck is damped at each corner by soft foam blocks, so lowering the deck increases the damping.  Nevertheless, the springing is nowhere near as soft or as "long travel" as an LP12