Building high-end 'tables cheap at Home Despot II

Hxt1, No need to apologize here for what you may have written on the LL forum. The tete a tete between the Welsh and Pennsylvania slate deck makers on the Vinyl Asylum was pretty hostile and revealed two fairly closed minds. I am sure you slate-ers can all just get along.

Yeah, bottom line is: "I want the moon, but can't afford it"! I have moved on, but can't believe that no one has yet commented on what a cool idea my 'modular plinth' is!!!!
I won't hold my breath!

"Hxt1, No need to apologize here for what you may have written on the LL forum. The tete a tete between the Welsh and Pennsylvania slate deck makers on the Vinyl Asylum was pretty hostile and revealed two fairly closed minds. I am sure you slate-ers can all just get along."

The problem between this pair of slate providers, as I see it, is that one of them accuses the other of selling inferior slate which I assure you is untrue. He even goes so far as to feature a photograph that he borrowed from a roofing seller's website to supposedly demonstrate the inferior nature of his competitor's product. The truth is that the photograph is unfounded for a variety of reasons. For one, its origin is unknown, and if it is indeed of a Pennsylvania slate roof, its age cannot be established. In any event, it is not evidence because it may be from a Tri-State area where acid rain took a particularly harsh toll, and the fact is that there are scores of roofs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York that have survived over one hundred years, not to mention neighborhood sidewalks which would be a more fair comparison. But then, we aren't building roofs or sidewalks, are we? No, we are making turntables which see only indoor use, so the entire point is moot. What we are left with is the sonic quality of various types of slate, and no one has ever demonstrated a difference one way or the other. One would probably be safe in presuming the heavier plinth to be more effective, and perhaps the one of softer stone. Why would the softer variety be better? Well, if you consider slate as a constrained layer material, which it is, then resonances would travel through those layers slower and more diffused than in the harder variety, but probably not enough to make a difference. In the end, it may come down to sheer mass and design. So why is either so expensive? That may be a simple economic reason. Water jet time is very expensive (that is how those plinths are cut), some samples of slate crack and are wasted, and some sellers pay extra for selected clear grained slate. It's a case where one should carefully scrutinize the product, and go with his best judgment, in my opinion.

Regards,
mosin

Home "made" or "professionally" molded to the desire shape, weight & form........makes very little difference IMO.
What counts is that you all have tried (in its own way) to improve on already great design - "Idler - the performance/economy CHAMP" , and that's what counts.

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My opinion only
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I too am againts overcharging fellow audiophiles/music lovers. But it should not be a mystery that some are in it for the money. And the last group that is a little tricky.......to figure out (at least for me). Real audiophiles with real talent and skills that figure out how to do both: support their hobby(s), passion and put the bread on their family table.
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Cool! Mrjstark! I was hoping to hear something like this from the onset... I for one have vowed not to spend over $1000 on any one component (to maintain harmony in the home) so that means a lot of used, and a lot of DIY gear.
Apples and Oranges are just that , Apples and oranges... though I admit, after a lifetime of eating apples, one probably would naturally pine for a taste of orange..... or something like that!
Anyways, I like the sound of the slate plate so far, even though it is soft, and green,,, good point RE: vibration damping Mosin!