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Tripods as turntable or component base?

Perhaps one of you who is into photography or owns a camera store can try this experiment. Since the tripod is the most stable base (ask any photographer or physicist), has anyone experimented with using them as component bases? All the best turntables and many other components now have 3 legs instead of 4 for that reason. One school of thought says heavy tables for turntables are better (less amplitude of motion for given energy input); others say not (energy storage, pickup of airborne sound energy). The people who used to market Linn specifically recommend flimsy tables (!) but they were fruitcakes. How about taking three tripods, setting up one under each foot? A cheap experiment if you have the tripods... Your colleague in science, hifigeezer
hifigeezer
lewm
12,619 posts
 
Reason for a tripod or 3 feet under a piece of gear: (1) Easiest to level; (2) The weight of the supported object will be evenly distributed among the 3 pods, once the object is level and if the tripod is properly implemented, (3) Fewest paths for vibrational energy to travel from the shelf or stand into the component. These are not trivial advantages, but extreme stability is not among them, as others have noted.
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
The people who used to market Linn specifically recommend flimsy tables

what do you expect?
something serious?
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jgiacalo
446 posts
 
If you use a photo tripod as a component base you have effectively changed it to a monopod base resting on a tripod base. Seems to defeat the idea of a tri-point component base and replaces it with an inherently less stable monopod platform.
tketcham
291 posts
 
Hi, Hi,

Seems that some of the posters missed your idea about using a tripod for each of the turntable base feet/points for a total of nine legs. I think it may have merit - "worth a try" - if you could find very solid and stable tripods with easily adjustable height. A surveying tripod with spiked feet might work well. They're used to support equipment that costs thousands of dollars and take very fine measurements. And you could probably find attachment adapters that would screw right into the turntable base. It might look rather goofy but on the other hand it could be an unusual conversation "piece".

Tom
pryso
1,913 posts
 
Tripod stability as an urban legend?

I've always wondered whenever I read the suggestion that a three leg support is more stable than four. Do these proponents think it is impossible for a tricycle to tip over? True that a tripod with three legs spreading out from a central point of contact may be more stable than three perpendicular legs under the perimeter of the object they support but that is not the usual audio application. Anyway, I think stability also relates to the mass on top, the height, and how the mass is distributed.

Anyway, I'm glad to see that others have reasons to doubt the absolute superiority of three supports VS four.
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