Teres Turntable Support - concrete, wood, rack...?

Oakiris,

Our equipment (except speakers) is all in/on a Salamander Synergy Triple 20. See it here:

http://www.mander.com/syn/synergy.jsp?modelbase=sl20

This stand is decidedly NOT audiophile approved. In fact it rings like a bell. I know that so please nobody yell at me. (Okay, TWL can yell at me if he likes, but nobody else!) We chose it because:

1. It looks decent in the living room
2. It holds all our gear, click on my system for details
3. It looks decent in the living room
4. It's flexible enough to hold different gear when things change
5. It looks decent in the living room
6. It fits our very tight space to the nearest 1/4", I'm not exaggerating, that's how much free space we have on the equipment wall
7. It looks decent in the living room

Our TV occupies two thirds of the top surface. The Teres gets the remaining third, which is not quite fair. The Teres + tonearm not only weigh more than the TV, they get far more use.

Doug, you crack me up!

No yelling coming from here.

I don't seem to be getting any closer to a decision here. Still waiting to hear what you use for your equipment/component rack Dave! So many people swear by the wonderful sonics they get from thick wood racks and platforms, and yet, like Dave & Twl, others say that they are definitely not the way to go! As important as the rack may be, I really don't want to spend almost as much on it as I do on the turntable - I just don't have the $$$ to burn.

Any comments on the Sonus rack?

I will be going to see Chris of Teres tomorrow. I'll see what he has to say about preferred racks for the Teres turntables - just so I can get more confused by the choices, probably. :-)

John - somehow I lost track of the fact that you started this thread!! What did you end up getting for your stand/rack? Or are you still looking?

Holly

Oakiris, I am using my Galibier turntable on a 3/4" thick maple butcherblock shelf from Bed, Bath and Beyond, which is supported in the corners by the solid oak posts of a DIY stand. Surprising as it may seem, I prefer that to the 3" thick platform from Timbernation. This started out as a strictly temporary setup, but I have not been able to find anything that I prefer.

My favorite mounting for my power amps is a solid walnut platform resting directly on the carpet. My preamps sound best, at least so far, on a short nesting table made of solid oak. I have not tried most of the commercial offerings since I prefer to do things myself where possible.

I would like to try a very solid and rigid metal stand, perhaps a Sound Anchors or Billy Bags product. My present thinking is that this might provide the best combination of sound characteristics that I am looking for. TWL's comments about the new Sistrum stand also interest me. I look forward to seeing some photos. Also, Lugnut's stand looks great and I suspect sounds very nice.

My reason for posting here was not to say what is best, but rather to issue a caution about assuming that a thick maple BB platform will solve all of your problems.

My experiments to date lead me to two conclusions: First, different shelves and stands can sound dramatically different. Second, two people can reach opposite conclusions about which material sounds best. Ultimately, like most things in home audio, you have to try something yourself and reach your own conclusions.

Dave