A Copernican View of the Turntable System

Atmasphere,

I just recalled your referring to the fact that: "elastomerics... are more efficient if they are loaded properly!" This might answer why the removal of the Symposium platform had such a major impact. However, I did increase the weight of the armtower to over 6kg and this brought no major improvements - save stabilizing the imaging.

Whatever the reasoning (and I acknowledge that the loading was inadequate in this instance, particularly as the platform works wonderfully under the behemoth mass of the Acoustic Signature Mambo) the set up is really and truly wonderful. I remain amazed by this relatively cheap option and the gains it brings.

Nevertheless, I will still try a platter of the SAEC type at some distant point just because I have learned to never close my self off from possible alternatives and the gains that these might bring. The curent set up simply seems the best of the alternatives that I have tried and/or listened to so far.

Obviously and highly recommended.

Dgob,
Does that mean your TT is on pneumatic footers and your armpod is on spikes?

That's cool, Dgob. So many new things to try. I hadn't even thought of a wall mount shelf, but sounds like it's worth a try. Cool arm pod. How'd you make it 6kg?

T_bone: from his system pics it does look like he has the sp-10 on AT 616's and tonearm pod on spikes.

T_bone,

Yes, that's the way it's set up now. Really impressed.

Good on you! I think getting a great result from experimentation is wonderful. I'm very happy for you that it worked. I'm going to venture out on a limb and say that you would not keep the same sound if you spiked the table and floated the armpod on the footers. I expect there is resonance in the TT you are dampening/sinking (the reason why people in plinth-world make bigger/heavier/better plinths for the SP-10Mk2), and the improvement on the armpod came from a) switching from blutack to spikes, and b) taking out the symposium (two isolation methods next to each other is usually worse than just one in my experience) - both of which should have improved things.

I expect that if you do not hear any issues with the fact that the table/platter is now theoretically resonating at a low frequency in relation to the tonearm pivot point, that the experiment has been successful. Once in position, the table itself has a great deal of inertia (in 3-dimensional space), which should help keep most of the resonance transfer in the domain of heat generation rather than low frequency movement. Remaining theoretical issues might remain just that - theoretical.

I have a couple of motors like that and some great footers made by Sony way back in the day. I could try that relatively easily if I could make an armpod. I'll have to think of a way to get one done...