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Technics SP-10 Tonearm Pod instead of Plinth/Base

Trawling through the Audiogon forums for information on a suitable Plinth for a Technics SP-10, I came across a post by Raul.
Instead of putting the SP-10 in a plinth, he just put the TT on three feet and then had constructed a separate base that only housed the tonearm. (I haven't seen a pic of this BTW)
Following on from Raul's 'Thinking outside the square' approach, I thought I might be able to buy, or have made, a stand-alone 'pod' or rectangular tonearm plinth that could sit along side the SP-10. Has anyone seen something like this that I could buy 'off-the-shelf'?
The advantage of this is that the tonearm is decoupled from the TT and therefore distanced from any vibrations generated by the TT.
A down side is getting the right geometry for the tonearm in relation to the distance from the spindle; and then keeping the pod in the right spot.
If this is all too hard, I might still go with a plinth. I notice an E-Bay seller in Taiwan is offering a Teak plinth cut for the SP-10. Anyone bought one of those?
All comments welcomed!
dsa
dsa OP
63 posts
 
Someone has suggested perspex with a layer of another material, like aluminum or wood. Not sure about perspex- reviews of turntables plinthed with the material don't read well.
weisselk
48 posts
 
I make slate plinths, under the OMA name, so obviously I am not unbiased. And I HAVE listened to an SP10 with no plinth. Which is why it strikes me as rather absurd to go that route. Same with people who like a skeletal or box plinth with decks like the Garrards. I started making slate plinths first for my own SP10, and at that time you virtually could not mention that you used that deck, as it was so out of fashion.

In any event, I found the difference between using slate, and the wooden plinths I had made, or one of the Obsidian stock plinths which I also own, was so impressive that I began making slate plinths for other decks as well.

Running an SP10 without a proper plinth, and with a separate armboard, is a very bad idea.
lewm
12,849 posts
 
Fehhhh on perspex. Bad idea, IMO. I know that Clearaudio uses perspex for everything, but they are making belt drive tables. That's a different kettle of fish.
dsa OP
63 posts
 
Hi Weisselk,
Well, your comments are borne from experience that I do not have- they are very welcomed- thanks. Did you ever try cement or a conglomerate for a plinth? It's heavy. It's cheap. But, would it be any good?
Lewm- I had good laugh at the "Fehhh" in your comment. I had to say it out aloud to get it. Fantastic, I had always wondered how that was written!
I suspected as much regarding the use of perspex. I think you are also being kind in regard to it's use with belt drive- still a bad idea methinks. It does, however, LOOK good....
Does anyone have a link for the dimensions of the SP-10 showing the unit graphically and the same for a suitable plinth?
Another challenge is the use of an arm with limited or non-existent VTA. I imagine that I would have to use a small block mounted on the plinth to bring the arm to the correct height.
Another person suggested that "a 12" tonearm is best because of the SP-10's large platter". Does anyone know what this means?
lewm
12,849 posts
 
Dsa,
You can get an exact 1:1 template for the SP10 chassis cut-out from Soundfountain. It even shows exactly where to put the screw holes. It costs only a few bucks.

What that person may have meant re the 12-inch tonearm is that the square shape of the SP10 chassis makes mounting of many 9-inch arms awkward at best, if not impossible in some cases, because you cannot attain the needed pivot to spindle distance without some real gymnastics. Mounting a 12-incher would be much easier, OR you can consider removing the motor from the chassis. For one example, I really could not properly mount my Triplanar next to my SP10, can't get it close enough because of the way that the Triplanar pivot point is offset to the outside with respect to its mount and because of the square shape of the SP10. Admittedly, this is an extreme case.
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