recommendation for turntable vibration damping

Thanks for all the thoughts so far. It sounds like getting into the crawlspace is going to be the most effective solution for reducing vibration from the footfalls.

It also sounds like the wall-mount option would be a good bet...although the quick search i did didn't turn up anything that seemed big enough for an original Aries TT. The walls around here don't seem the best...closing the front door firmly seems to cause things to shake. I wonder if it's 6 of one, half dozen of the other. after all, if i'm listening to music, i'm sitting down & not causing vibrations from footfalls.

Re: Damping the turntable's chassis...
I don't think this is what I was hoping for. Basically, I'd just like to give it a rigid support such that no vibrations are coming up from below the chassis. I don't wnat to "weigh down" the chassis or any such thing. Would a Bright Start Big Rock do that? I'm under the impression that it just limits vibration.

Thanks!

I'm also looking into/learning about the SRA products, but what I'm hearing so far is that dealing with the space under the floor is the biggest area for improvement, and everything else will not make much of a difference until that is taken care of.

For reference, my speakers are on heavy stands (w/ spikes), and it doesn't seem like they're really getting the vibration from the floor...so i wonder if part of this is just that the rack does not weight enough and the spikes are not penetrating the carpet/pad.

Thank you all! I appreciate your thoughts.

Hi Ebalog,

How's it coming along??

I just wanted to say: Don't completely dismiss the wall mounting option- it's superior.

Wall mounting your turntable is one of the best ways to isolate it. Even when vibration isn't as obvious (as it is in your case), wall mounting is still a choice method. You should brace the floors anyway- that will help no matter what you do with your TT. (my 2 cents).

If Target doesn't have the size you are looking for- try Apollo or Rega (Needledoctor carries both). A google search will turn up a lot of leads as there are several manufacturers making them.

Even a simple DIY wooden shelf will do wonders for your turntable. If you are mechanically inclined enough to tackle bracing and securing your floor joists- you can obviously build a high quality wall shelf that will not only look great- but will reap a LOT of performance increase for under $50 & a couple of hours' worth of effort. Look at the analogdept.com site and check out the DIY shleves for inspiration.

best of luck with your audio adventures and let us know how it all works out.

Take care.

thanks for the post. i didn't see anything at "analogdept.com".

i haven't made any progress yet, as i have been on-the-road, and i haven't felt like unpacking all of the boxes & such that are blocking access to the crawlspace. (i had to unpack and repack them so many times while getting the floor insulation done, and the prospect of doing it once more hasn't been appealing.)

i had a conversation earlier today, and someone mentioned the idea of measure the distance of the rack to the wall, then cutting two 2x4s to that length +1/4". that would brace the race to the wall and dramatically reduce lateral displacement of the rack.

that seems quite logical -- but it might not affect things is the floor is moving vertically.

as i contemplate this, i start to thing about how i am generally not moving around when listening to a record, thus there are no footfall issues (and no "major"/visible vibration). it's logical that there are still smaller vibrations which could affect the music, but i wonder if these could be treated by mass-loading the rack a bit, and using some air suspension.

i will investigate the wall-mount further to see if there is something in the size i need.

thanks!

Just wanted to post an update. I have decided on a wall-mount solution for the turntable, as i believe that all other solutions are attempts to fix the vibration problem with results that may or may not pan out.

What I mean is that the floor is clearly highly compliant/springy -- so much so that the top of the rack visibly shakes with footfalls -- and is moving vertically as well as horizontally. Bracing the floor from below would definitely help, as would mass-loading the rack and changing the shelving.

However, as good as those solutions may be, I don't think they'll eliminate as much vibration in one fell swoop as doing a wall-mount -- and there could be more time and/or expense involved.

I'm going to see what happens with the wall mount. I have no doubt that all the solutions regarding treating the floor and rack would help with the rest of my system, but I think they're lower priority than dealing with the most sensitive source.

I hope to be in a better position to evaluate my turntable's true performance, as well as that of the rest of the system as soon as the wall mount is in place.

Thank you!

You'll really be happy with a wall mounted turntable. I used to walk with such care- now I can do whatever. Before I had a wall mount, I wouldn't want to get up during playback- not even to answer a phone/door for fear that I would make the needle jump! I felt like once to record had started- I was a prisoner. That's not to mention my active 3yr old who loves to jump around when the music is on. I was constantly trying to keep her from dancing, and I though 'What's wrong with this picture!? She loves music; Just like her dad.' Now it's nice to watch her do her dance routines without worry. :)

The overall fidelity was improved, too. Bass got tighter- highs more silky...