TW Raven Acustic AC Owners


I will soon be receiving a TW Raven Acustic AC TT with one motor. It is being supplied with Stillpoint Feet. I currently use an Adona Rack with a 3/4" thick TT shelf made specifically for a TT. Please advise what kind of shelf you are using with your TW Raven. I know that SRA has a relationship with TW Raven. I am also aware of the price for this shelf and the HRS Shelf as well. Are they worth the money or are owners of this table finding less expensive ways to get the best out of this table?
128x128elinor
I know that one member here uses a Minus-K support, used for things like lab equipment I believe, (microscopes, etc), for his Raven AC.

When mine shows up it will be going onto the top of my Arcici Suspense rack. I have toyed with the idea of getting the top cover replaced with a custom cut 3/4" piece of slate as that is supposed to be a recommended support from TW-Acustic. Hopefully with the air bladders, that is sufficient because I don't really have other options, (wall mount in my living room where this will be going isn't an option).

Thanks
I currently have my AC Raven sitting on a custom platform constructed by K-Works. That sits on modified short table.
Nothing too fancy but I probably need to look at possible other options.
The table is short however, (18" high?) which I was told is good. The lower the better. The Table/TT sit beside the solid equipment/record cabinet.
Hope that helps.

Rick (RWD)
I have a Clearaudio MontBlanc dedicated turntable stand and it never ceases to amaze me, I can play music loud until their is bass in your chest and the Transrotor Apollon / Clearaudio rack combination are something I never have to worry about. I do not get any acoustical or resonance feedback into the source. My basement is entirely concrete, with double concrete double insulation exterior walls and a concrete ceiling with about a thickness of about 15" inches. yes, the basement is my bomb shelter, haha. I think with the mass of the AC, I would add more mass via a heavy rack for a combined weight of whatever the rack and AC weigh. The Apollon and the Clearaudio rack together are almost 400lbs of mass. I am just too skeptical of adding such heavy weight to the wall, it is a viable option for some, but to me, I rather use a rack first then wall mount last. It seems way too scary for me to see your work of art sitting so high off the floor and then held in place by a rack with anchored points on the wall. See my rack option in my virtual gallery.
Ciao,
Audioquest4life
Elinor,

Please look up my system page to see what i did. I made my own stand via springs etc purchased from Machina Dynamica. In my system I had feedback which caused some lack of resolution due to the bass. All these problems were removed with the deployment of the stand. Not all rooms will have the same needs but in my system the bass is down to 20 Hz w. subwoofer & fullrange speakers. It was clearly audible. I also agree wall mounting (if you can do it) probably is the best solution short of a very expensive rack or a DIY job.
HI Elinor

Nice table you have chosen. Your rack is probably more than adequate, from the pics I have seen of them for sale. If it is the low type of Adona racks it would probably be better, lower center of gravity, less chance of it swaying, and vibrations being trapped in a bigger taller rack.
For a shelf Thomas of TW uses and recommends a type of slate found in Europe. Prior to getting the Minus-K I just used the rack I built made ot of birch ply almost three inces thick. I found isolation to be very good as the TW handles if farily well. You could try maple butcher block type boards of at least two inches thick. Make sure it is good white hard maple not the cheap soft stuff some guys pass off as butcher blocks. Birch ply is cheap and something you can do yourself. Glue stack and cut to size. Home Depot sells it in 48"x24" sheets.

I have seen custom built wall mounts that can support serious weights, and have heard stories of guys making some to support over three hundred pounds(Vibraplanes supporting an SME 30). But unless you have access to run long bolts through a wall with support plates on the other side, forget about that. I would not trust just some good lag screw to support such a crazy structure. If you do a wall mount keep in mind your location of that table is fixed to that spot in your room, and if later it becomes a bad spot that you have some more work to do.

If you can try either the HRS or SRA, which BTW has a working relationship with TW and High Water Sound, is probably more informed on the TW than any other isolation manufacture. Neither are cheap if you can try before you buy look into it. The HRS stuff is more generic, and SRA is purely custom. I will say SRA improved the sound of my SME 30 when I used it under that, and the guy that bought my old setup will say the same thing enthusiastically.

If you have a concrete floors you will not have to worry as much about vibrations as someone on a upper floor, like me. But I found mine to work very well without any vibration cancelling assistance.

Paul
Paul