Building high-end 'tables cheap at Home Despot II

Hi Oregon,

Nice Nice Nice. You have a lucky friend indeed! What’s with the seam around the plinth about an inch down from the top? Is this top layer a separate – affixed after the rest was bolted together? Or are these cooling vents for the hot-blooded Lenco?

What wonderful reads on this thread for the past week. Great contributions, especially on the early formative experiences and wide-ranging, full-breadth examinations on the state of our physical art and science. Certainly seems that the momentum of old has taken hold.

With no wish to interrupt this great flow, I must proffer a more pedestrian, “mad scientist” question that’s been rumbling around my head like an idler with a flat spot at 78 rpm. Feel free to caution, put down or ridicule:

Will a 12” “Lazy Susan” (a crude turntable with several dozen balls and a 300 lb. load max), when sandwiched between two slabs of 7/8” marble have any sonic penalty under a Giant Lenco with acorn + isolation footings? We’re talking multi-arm ergonomics here.

Hey Mario, it could conceivably make it sound better a la the Symposium footers - if the bearings dont vibrate. How do you intend to dress the phono IC wires? If I understand your intent - to rotate the table to address the different arms?

Mike

Hi Mike,

Yes, that’s exactly what I’m thinking. Ideally, 18” to 22” diameter rounds – though this is a tougher cut than straight lines. “Lazy Susan” gets masonry screwed to one side then a light coat of mastic strategically brushed on the other “fixing” surface and plop the other marble round on top.

Having all these items on hand, I’ve already checked the rudiments out. Getting a level pedestal (base) is key, since we’re all accustomed to cheating (shimming or foot adjustments) to bring our tables level on off-level bases, stands or what-have-you - in their static positions. But the Lazy Susan mechanism doesn’t produce appreciable error to level in itself.

There’s about a ¼” gap between the marble in which two small rubber wedges can be inserted to secure “stops”. While a drifting, spinning Lenco might be a sight to behold, I’m not sure bringing any Coriolis effect, however slight, into play is a good thing.

Dressing phono cable for payout shouldn’t be too much of a hurdle. Traditional “corner” mounting demands a 90-degree swing for two arms and 180 for three. However, a plinth designed for this application (“thinking outside the box”, Jean once said) could well reduce this to 60/120 degrees depending on the arms and their swing arcs.

The crux question is what you elude to about rattling bearings ... with the huge sink of a Giant Plinth, footed with Acorns + isolators and that atop the first marble round, would vibration still be an issue? If so, what about infusing grease in the "Lazy Susan"?

Of course, one could also dispense with the Lazy Susan altogether and just plop this whole affair atop a VPI Scout and move to a new reality in crushing a belt drive.

Beautiful plinth Oregon, lucky friend to have you building an entire and Priceless Mighty Lenco for him!! If he doesn't appreciate it, send him over and I'll kick his ass ;-).

Hi Mario, boy that is some project you have on the go!! Grease is the word. Apply wads and wads of ugly, drippy, gooey grease until it runs out and plops on the floor in smelly unsightly piles. Then clean up the mess and leave it alone. This will reduce chatter considerably. Also, the more ball bearings there are, the greater the potential (and reality) of chatter, so I would also advise you to reduce the number to the barest minimum for safety, stability and functioning, if this is possible. I think that even with all this you will lose some focus and dynamics (micro and macro), but perhaps, given you have a lazy susan, you can make this up by making the plinth especially HUuuuuUuuGE!!

I just scored a Fidelity Research FRT-5 phono transformer with 3 inputs (2 MC and 1 MM which simply bypasses the transformer), which means that with it and my Sony TAE-5450 I can run 5 (!!!!!) tonearm/cartridge combos into my SP-8, 3 of those direct into the SP-8's excellent phono input!! Yippeeee!!!!! At the moment the best I can do is 4, which means I'd better start on a new plinth for the Garrard!! Maaaadnnneeessss....:-)!!