Skeletal vs Plinth style turntables

Sorry Aigenga,

I should have been more explicit.
I was answering Chris' question about the Raven and its 'slight' retardation when viewed against the Timeline and then compared it to the Feikert figure for the same thing.
What most people don't realise (including apparently Michael Fremer) is that the Feikert App is primarily designed to measure and indicate Wow and Flutter. It does this against a benchmark tonal frequency recorded on a test disc of 3150Hz. The closer the measured frequency is reproduced to 3150Hz....the closer it indicates that the platter is spinning at precisely 33.33rpm.
For all the other figures in the Feikert App.....the Raw and Filtered Deviations....they are simply measured against the 'actual' platter speed regardless of how close to 33.33rpm it might be...?
For instance..if your platter were spinning at 31.06rpm but had little Wow and Flutter...the Feikert App figures would show -0.01%/+0.01% Max Deviation.
It simply doesn't care much what your platter is spinning at...😢
Would you be happy with this...❓👀
In the case of the Raven speed...the Feikert shows 3149.4Hz (0.6Hz below the correct speed of 3150Hz) against the VPI Direct speed of 3154.5Hz (4.5Hz above the correct speed of 3150Hz).
Here is Harry Weisfeld talking about the vintage DD turntables in relation to his VPI Direct and he makes a valid point about the weaknesses of the arms often bundled with the old classic decks.
Until you've heard a TT-101 with a really great tonearm (as you know)...and separate armpods are a great way to hear this.....you haven't really heard how great a table this really is...😎

And despite having 35 years of technological supremacy over the TT-101...together with the Thingap revolutionary motor which claims to possess zero cogging....Harry still can't match the performance figures of the big Victor...👀❓

Henry- in your last post you mentioned your Armpod Clan again.
The Op (PB) is interested in discussing plinths. Skeletal versus Full Plinths.
Stay the course man. Start Copernican 2.

I do however have some new anecdotal evidence for you however.
For the others be warned what follows is not pretty.
You see my almost 20 lb armpod was responsible for beheading my XV1 many years ago.
Yes....that is how I remember it now. And I am sticking to my story. It makes me feel better.
You see, Instead of removing the cartridge (proper) and doing required solder work on the wire lead at the turntable location.
An isolated and quiet area....
I decided out of convenience (laziness) to "bring" the whole pod enchilada with tonearm, cartridge and wiring attached, to my busy work area.
While moving the pod to adjust for a better sight angle, a slight tug was felt.
The nightmare was in play. The well endowed XV1 was toast.
The coldness that followed led to my first out of body experience.

So I bolted the bastard down to not tempt me again. Alas I can't be trusted.
Screw the obvious fact of flexibility in changing out things especially if you are tonearm bi(a)tch.
But I am a one tonearm, one cartridge kind of guy, you know ?
Screw as well the ability to continually refine your alignment for better sound with an armpod.
You see what the ANAL Armpod users don't want to confess to; is that "The Armpod" actually teases you if you don't try this, every week.... month.
And Henry has four of them. Hmmm....

You know, the ANALog pivot arm guys like to play this game where they keep trying new alignments, to try to move the two points on the record that their pivot arm arm can track best at.
Well with the armpod, no movement of cartridge in its shell is necessary to accomplish this.
You just need to become very good at Lewm's Armpod Drag "Dance".

Sorry to digress PB. Alas still waiting for you to do your magic with this cold weather ....
I see NY was at -15 celsius this morning. You know, once it hits -10 celsius it really doesn't matter how much lower it goes.

To get back on track maybe a question out of curiosity.

PB or anyone else.
Does anyone out there still make a full plinth turntable; one with no removable and/or pivoting armboards ?
A full plinth that requires one to drill a hole or tap holes for their tonearm into the beautiful plinth itself.
Imagine the stress level in installing the tonearm ?
Unless its a Dynavector DV505 which has enough weight - by design - to just sit on top of the plinth if you like.
Hey ..maybe this makes it the first armp..... oh oh..there I go again.

Silence killed the comic....

and apparently this thread :^(

The good news is Sunny weather, with above 0 celsius temps are in the forecast which should mean an end to the cabin fever rants.

Happy listening.

Ct, For what it's worth, I built two plinths of the type you describe. Both from slate slabs, and I was motivated not only by the principle that there should be a rigid association between tonearm pivot and bearing/platter but also by the simplicity of the design. Simplicity is a virtue when you work with slate, because it is so tricky to cut slate without having a disaster. On the other hand, my favorite Einstein quote is to the effect that the solution to a (physics) problem should be as simple as possible, but NOT simpler. As a result of my perhaps too simple plinth design, I am limited to tonearms that bolt to the top surface of the plinth and which do not require a pass-through for a vertical shaft. Thus I have a collection of such tonearms: Reed 2A, Triplanar, Dynavector DV505 (two of the latter, in fact), RS Labs RS-A1 (the funkiest but actually sounds great). Both my Denon DP80 and my Lenco L75 reside in such plinths. For my SP10 Mk3, I did revised the basic idea so as to accommodate removeable tonearm mount boards, made of slate or aluminum. Yet the Reed 2A is king of the Mk3. And the Mk3 plinth uses constrained layer damping; the bottom half is solid cherrywood.

For the TT101, I took the base QL10 plinth and extensively re-vamped it with heavy alu supports below deck to stiffen it and with an alu arm board to replace the supplied particle board one. I further stiffened the tonearm mount by bolting the alu "board" through to a heavier piece of alu below deck such that the wood of the QL10 is squeezed by the alu arm board from above and the stiffening alu support below. We shall soon see whether the TT101 will continue to function reliably when I re-install it in nude form into this plinth.

Hi Lewm
Just to give all parties an update. I have gone with a bit of a balanced mix of compromises so to speak in my grand plans. But just so as to whet a bit of your appetites I have ordered 6 pieces of aluminium thus far - they are to be chamferred then anodized.
In addition to this I have sourced panzerholz as well. I have also ordered some pieces of Corian.
I will add that I now have access to CNC machining facilities, and have been banging out dimensions on my graph paper (can't figure out Autocad)
It must be said that sourcing parts can be a real pain in the neck - especially in small numbers.
I am still umming and ahhing about the use of some Lexan in its construction.
I can't say much more save to say that it is not all about mass or damping. I am not going skeletal either, because I cannot abide dust getting into anything.