VPI redesigning experiment

I have also had exceptional results with maple,however in my case under the turntable. I placed a 3" thick 40 pound maple butcherblock under my Linn LP12 and the results were astounding. I expected that there would be an improvement in the bass,which there was. But much more significant was the tremendous improvement in the highs and mids. All in all much smoother,more solid, better imaging and better tracking.I do remember years ago getting a similar result using a Cotter base which was a very heavy high tech composite of some sort but it's a little hard to compare.I don't know what the mechanism of the effect is(damping airborn energy or damping energy which is generated in the turntable). I was surprised that there was so much of an effect given that the Linn is a floating sub-chassis and would expect even more improvement with a solid suspension.

This is an interesting thread!

In the guitar world (my other bad habit), maple is considered to be bright sounding. Mahogany has a more mellow, midrangy sound. Some guitars (notably the legendary Gibson Les Paul series) use mahogany with a thin maple cap to get the best of both worlds.

I have no idea if this applies to turntables - keep us posted.

The Shun Mook fellows make their amp stands from a combination of maple and ebony. The m-pingo discs are made from ebony, and the record weigh/clamp is also ebony. They definitely like maple, but normally in combination with ebony.

The experiment certainly sounds interesting. You certainly pick up a tough competition to go against the VPI HRX, probably one of the best turntables there is.

Thank you for the very informed responses, I am answering in the order I received them.
Twl, I have described the Teres to Pierre, He has experimented with lead in wood bases and acrylic and his take is that it "deadens the sound" maybe the Teres designer has struck a fine balance between the aliveness of the cocobo and the blantness of lead. Thank you for your good wishes.
Loudspeaker7, The butcherblock under the Linn is fine. Finer yet would be a solid piece of Canadian maple, which is better sounding than the American, for some unknown reason. Every material has its own vibration and therefore it sounds different than others, as a rule, high-tech materials sound just that! Maybe at first, the sound appears to be more exciting but upon repeated auditions it will reveal it's character. This however depends upon the taste of the individual that hears it. Some prefer Hi-Fi, as opposed to natural sound.
Ghostrider, I think that mahogany should give the same sonic quality to components as it does to guitars.
Jaica, I know about "The Mookies". I have 1"x 3" square ebony Pucks in place of the suspension,under my TT's plinth. They are very musical but sound harder than maple. My sound changed from opulent, laid back and forgiving, to fast, solid and detailed with more definition, clicks and pops though became more pronounced. One fact seems to be true in every case, that if a sound system is very good, every material placed under it will invariably change its sound, and that the sound will resemble the character of what this material is made from, ie, metal sounds hard, rubber sounds bloated, cloth sounds muffled, and on it goes.
Thank you all
Ted

Tphalieros. I would be very interested to hear how your experiment turns out. I have a HW19 mkIV and and am in the process of waiting for HR-X bearings/Platter/clamping systme to be availble as well. I am new to Audiogon and have been noticing there is a lot of talk about Teres. I am now strongly considering purchasing their lead filled platter and bearing to put on my plinth, since the cost is about the same with the HR-X parts. The only problem is that the hole for the bearing is too small on my plinth for the teres bearing and would have to ream out .25". Also the armboard would be a problem because the platter is 3" thick. I would have to make a custom armboard. I do have a SAMA and SDS so compatibility between my motor and teres platter should be ok. Since so much modification maybe necessary for my plinth I was considering making an entirely new plinth out of another material. Someone told me corion was good. Others have told me Maple was good also. After reading your post I think I would choose maple, so let me know if your assumptions were correct. Also I have had other individuals mention Twl in their postings. They seem to be infering that this person had very good knowledge about analogue in general so I decided to brouse the postings and indeed that seems to be so. TWL, if you don't mind could you comment on my question I posted a few days ago titled: Help Please: What Cartridge?. It would be greatly appreciated. Your comments regarding this posting would be appreciated as well.