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Are turntable isolation stands worth the effort?

cunningr

cunningr

Well-Known Member
So was doing some reading about TT plinths, was curious if using some type of isolation table/platform makes much difference to overall performance. Any thoughts on subject appreciated or suggested isolation platforms at a reasonable price.
 
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If you have a spring hung table like a vibration sensitive Linn or Thorens sitting on a springy floor, you may need to isolate it from floor. Like a wall shelf. Depends on your home construction, for best solution, if you have issues. If your floor is moving from footfalls, I don't think a rigid table will help.
I've not had issues with Linn or other table over a concrete floor. Also, may depend on sensitivity of cartridge. In my estimation. I've never had a high end table/cartridge.
I use 7/8" thick x 2" square rubber/ blue foam sandwiched isolation pads under ALL TTs and electronics. They were Wagner brand pads. Prices vary greatly for same pads. A cheap cure if works for you. Won't cure footfall issues.
When I worked in machine tool industry, often resin/stone compositions replaced cast iron as preferred machine bases. To deal with vibration. How it worked, I don't know.

Edit: I've started using Ikea's large bamboo cutting boards with urethane footers, under my old Linn and other tables. They make a difference, or I'm just imagining. At $20 plus footer and stain, it's a cheap investment. This is on concrete flooring.
 
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In my experience it makes a significant difference with both sprung and unsprung tables.
The best results I had were with a sandbox I built myself upon which I put a bicycle inner tube and then an mdf platform which the actual table sat upon.
 
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The only time I needed extra dampening was with one home that had a springy raised foundation. I've had more problems with subsonics and feedback from speaker to turntable. Repositioning the table usually cures that.
 
It depends on where the noise floor on your existing set up is at the time. Your system will have a noise floor. Any noise that enters the signal path above that floor will find its way through the electronics. The lower the floor, the higher the chance some unwanted noise will get amplified. Isolation is an attempt reduce this, but noises coming through the feet or base of a deck don't have exclusive rights to the unwanted.

For many, it might not be a noticeable improvement. For others the difference could be obvious.
 
Wow lots of input. Not sure I have an issue my floors are concrete walls too, but was just perusing info saw a similar topic but it really never made a point. So I noticed various solutions which made me ponder on the fact if it’s truly helpful or a gimmick.

my specific worry would be vibrations from the speakers as they flank my rack which is a standard glass ht system rack. Also maybe vibrations from the sub.
Really more of a curiosity question I
 
Wes_in_VA said:
In my experience it makes a significant difference with both sprung and unsprung tables.
The best results I had were with a sandbox I built myself upon which I put a bicycle inner tube and then an mdf platform which the actual table sat upon.
Click to expand...

I'll plus one on the sand table .. but with caveats
To the extent possible and assuming that you have a system that's resolving a high level of detail, there is audible benefit to isolating the cartridge from the vibrations of the motor, the platter, and the music which is vibrating the room surfaces ..
I ended up preferring the sound of my AR ES with it sitting on spikes on a granite slab that was just laying on the shelf .. (with sand bags laying on the granite under the table)
There's a lot of ways to try to decouple the table from the room but experiments can pay dividends ..
YMMV
 
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Radical eradication of rumble can be achieved by hanging the TT from the ceiling provided you're not living in an apartment with someone living on top of you. Apart from that the challenge is to set this up without it looking ridiculous. Avoid macramé. I'm serious, there are even suspenders on the market designed for this specific application but unfortunately that market has been overtaken by snake oil peddlers who sell their wares after giving them names like "Suspendor High-Precision Audiophile Vertical Stabilizing Hangeron" or some other ridiculously pretentious moniker applied to what is basically variable-tension vinyl strapping.
 
I saw a wall mount TT shelf with a sand holder, look pretty cool. I saw a picture of a butcher block plinth that was very nice looking.
 
Four isothane self adhesive pads do the job with my Denon DP300F turntable. They really helped isolate it from vibrations coming from the floor .
 
It depends on the table. I have to say the best isolation system I have encountered is the suspension in a Sota turntable. It is immune to vibration and movement that would cause a conventional suspended table like a Thorens or AR to skip. I would take it over a sand box or inner tube any day.

Although one that gets honorary mention is the isolation ability of the Townshend Rock MK III, The combination of heavy steel top plate, internal air bladder, and tone arm dampening trough helped that table reject outside vibration that caused skipping. It was a well executed isolation system.

Cheers
Mister Pig
 
I've always found a wall shelf to be the first line of defense. I make them from 2 layers of 3/4mdf glued and screwed together, mounted on a couple of heavy wall brackets. For my sprung table (Oracle Delphi) there is nothing between the shelf and table. The MVSS tends to help with any other vibrations if any.
My other table is a Rega, also on a wall shelf, but this one has three raquetball balls using the footer cups and a cup under the ball. It decouples nicely and the elasticity of the balls helps stop any other vibration issues.

I've tried other methods, sand box with or without innertube, inner tube alone, various spikes, pucks rubber and nothing has worked any better than what I currently use for my tables in my house. YMMV.
 
My house shakes when buses go past; it's built on clay, and, being 1908, has pretty poor foundations (the house moves annually as clay expands and shrinks with the wet winter/dry summer). The road is in-situ cast concrete slab. Before it was maintained a few years ago, the shaking got really rather bad, as the slabs would, essentially, rock as heavy vehicles went over them (especially across the slab-slab joints). After the road was re-surfaced, things calmed down quite a lot.

So wall-mounting would be subject to vibrations from this effect; and therefore not a brilliant method of isolation.

So I'm with Old Guy8; it depends...
 
I find that isolation is always helpful even when *apparent* issues don’t exist. I’ve been using a VPI HW-2 for more than thirty years with a couple of different turntables. It uses heavy steel plates on both sides of a wood core and suspends that on four damped springs.

There are good reasons why models like the Clearaudio Statement weigh 700 lbs. ;)
 
KB007 said:
I've always found a wall shelf to be the first line of defense. I make them from 2 layers of 3/4mdf glued and screwed together, mounted on a couple of heavy wall brackets. For my sprung table (Oracle Delphi) there is nothing between the shelf and table. The MVSS tends to help with any other vibrations if any.
My other table is a Rega, also on a wall shelf, but this one has three raquetball balls using the footer cups and a cup under the ball. It decouples nicely and the elasticity of the balls helps stop any other vibration issues.

I've tried other methods, sand box with or without innertube, inner tube alone, various spikes, pucks rubber and nothing has worked any better than what I currently use for my tables in my house. YMMV.
Click to expand...

do you have any pics of the rega setup?
 
I used to use a small isolation table that had sorbothane feet. It worked well. But then I gave up vinyl.
 
I have 3 isolation tables. One is a Booz block made of 1 1/2" maple sitting on top of hockey pucks. The other is black African granite, again sitting on hockey pucks and yet another on hockey pucks made from Aspen. Not sure which one is better as there are 3 completely different tables involved. If anything, it gives the table a larger perch to sit on as all of the isolation surfaces are larger than the table footprint. Not very scientific however.
 
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