Isolating my turntable from footfall

F2370C26-69B6-4DE5-B764-4FB8A3677E4C.jpeg 846F1D7C-C775-416D-95FF-FE6F410660D4.jpeg I used spikes and sorbothane pads. You can get the pads off auction site. Not a suspension table but my kids can go running past it and there is no more bouncing or skipping.

You could use a cutting board or something similar and make an isolation platform. Then use the sorbothane pads underneath.
 
Mr Boochie said:
This is sometimes, the only cure. I crossed braced my floor where stereo and sound room (for guitar amps) is located. Did this from under the house --- while I was rewiring the house --- to isolate the breaker switches in the panel.

You only need to do this once, for both good floor vibration insulation and electrical isolation.

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I'm sure the OP will have the time of his life doing this in his NY Co Op :thumbsdown:
 
Mr Boochie said:
This is sometimes, the only cure. I crossed braced my floor where stereo and sound room (for guitar amps) is located. Did this from under the house --- while I was rewiring the house --- to isolate the breaker switches in the panel.

You only need to do this once, for both good floor vibration insulation and electrical isolation.

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Yes, but it looks like it isn't an option in the OP's case.
Another approach would be to use shear mass to stabilise the turntable, but that would take a lot of mass. Think if it this way - the floor is acting as a see-saw and the weight of a person at one end is tipping the see-saw. You'll need the weight of a person at the other end to stop it tipping. Having the turntable on a large piece of furniture full of books and LPs might work.
 
I've seen ppl add mass to the floors around the turntable (where there is most problems). Bricks and heavy floor mats.
 
Krasdale said:
Yes, a wall mount seems like the most certain solution. Did you make your own or buy one? Thanks for your reply.
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Krasdale.....man, this has got to be a no-brainer far as I can see. You can try a lot of other solutions and maybe get lucky.....Wall mount it and you're done. You don't have to spend a ton either! I bought a couple of wall shelf brackets like these:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-16-in-x-10-in-White-Heavy-Duty-Shelf-Bracket-14826/202895664

I used the 8 inch leg to bolt to the wall into a stud so I have 16 inches to set my shelf on. If you get two of these and find a stud, you should find the next one about 16 inches over, one side or the other. Then, just get a piece of solid MDF that is large enough to accomodate your table or get creative like I did and find a piece of something you like better......in my case, that was a 45lb. slab of 1.5 inch granite that matches the kitchen countertops (keep the missus happy!) and you're done. I can dance a jig in front of this (happens, occasionally :)) and there will be NO effect on the turntable.....NONE.

Here's a picture of how it looks when you are done:

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The brackets all but disappear, if you are concerned about how it will look. I actually got a piece of MDF, which you can barely make out under the granite, painted it black because I liked how things sounded BETTER with the MDF in place rather than just the granite. Here's a side-view in case you were wondering......

IMG_3982.JPG

I'm just thinking this is your best solution and fairly economical as well....less than $40, but I had a friend with the granite so he only charged me $10 to cut it to the size I wanted, which by the way for this table needed to be 18" X 22". The MDF underneath is only 18" X 14".

I actually went with this after using the same method upstairs in my B system, which has a Thorens TD160 in play, notorious for footfall susceptibility and other vibrations that tend to do bad things to the sound of this suspended table. That's it, behaving well and sounding great on the far left above the Dual 1219 which is currently NOT in service, otherwise it would be on such a shelf instead of the small stand it is on now:

B System.JPG

So, what do you think about that? In retrospect, I should have gone with the white brackets instead of the grey.....the grey are more noticeable.

PS - Nope, I know what you're thinking.....there will be NO pictures of jig dancing :no:
 
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If the suspension on the turntable is adjustable, try stiffening it. Worked like a champ on my Thorens TD-125. Elephants stampeding through my music room make it skip, but normal footfalls don't cause any issues.
 
Fishead said:
Krasdale.....man, this has got to be a no-brainer far as I can see. You can try a lot of other solutions and maybe get lucky.....Wall mount it and you're done. You don't have to spend a ton either!
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Yes, wall-mounting is the obvious answer and almost certain to work. I didn't mention it because it's the obvious answer :thumbsup:
 
Nashou66 said:
No amount of isolation will stop the interaction of bouncing floor and a bouncing suspended table They will still bounce and cause the arm to bounce as well.

You have three suspensions in action here, the floor the table and the cartridge.

The only table I have personal experience with that can handle bouncing floors is a SOTA Sapphire/Nova/Cosmos etc .
They do it right with enough bounce and mass in the sub-chassis to counteract the bounce of the floor with out allowing the third suspended component to be excited, the cartridge.

Try this, if you can lock down your tables suspension so it doesn't bounce do it. then see if
you have the same issues. you might get lucky and not hear footfalls or other outside noises.

PS: Your issue isn't called footfall, its bounce . Footfalls are heard through the speakers.

Nashou
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Thanks for the correction.
 
BillEpstein said:
Wall mounting is the surest way to isolate but be sure to use an outside, or at least load bearing wall, if possible. It's what I've done for decades. I first used the Target mounts but even the heavy duty one with twin beams could be seen to flex. 20 years ago when looks weren't so much a concern but cost was, I went with the large cantilever arms sold at HD and Lowe's.
gi.mpl


If appearance matters and you need to avoid the cantilever support arm for space reasons, check into these Hybrid Brackets from A&M. https://www.aandmhardware.com/PDF/hybrid-price-list.pdf The 18x18 is what I someday will get around to except my current setup ain't broke.
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Appearance matters, so I'll definitely look into this.
 
Thefamous said:
View attachment 1980021 View attachment 1980022 I used spikes and sorbothane pads. You can get the pads off auction site. Not a suspension table but my kids can go running past it and there is no more bouncing or skipping.

You could use a cutting board or something similar and make an isolation platform. Then use the sorbothane pads underneath.
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I'm considering a maple butcher block with some sorbothane beneath. I even priced some on McMaster-Carr. However, wall mounting seems more economical right now.
 
Thank you all for your replies and suggestions. I'm going to go with a wall mount as it seems like the surest bet and is an inexpensive solution. I heard back from the manufacturer of the feet I linked to in my post and while I'm sure it's a fair price, they're much more expensive than a wall mount. Maybe next year!

When I got home from work today, I swapped out my AR for a Kenwood KD-500 (different arm/cart) and tried walking through my living room and bouncing around. The Kenwood was an absolute rock and didn't skip at all as I passed through. It only skipped a little when I was making an effort and jumping up and down. I intend to give this table to a friend who did me a big favor recently, but I'll keep it on my rack until the wall mount is ready. Maybe I'll start saving for a Thorens that can be dropped into a concrete plinth.

Thank you again for your help and if you're looking for an inexpensive turntable that will play through an earthquake, consider a Kenwood.
 
Krasdale said:
Yes, a wall mount seems like the most certain solution. Did you make your own or buy one? Thanks for your reply.
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Looks great to me. Two brackets from hardware store, put in the studs, and one piece of wood. Sorry don't have an underneath shot.
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I use racquet balls cut in half, on a heavy cutting board. It works wonders in my living room, not so great in the bedroom.

Might be worth a try, for a couple of bucks.
 
Michael Fremer has a solution. Mount the turntable to an isolation bass and then attach two adjustable threaded rods to the studs of the wall to hold the isolation base to the wall rigidly in the horizontal plane.
 
Some earlier mention of fixing the floor and I agree - that would be a good start. And if as suggested earlier it's the joists themselves bouncing around - I'd think that a few skips are the least of your problems.

Also, what the co-op gestapo don't know, right? These snap off screws are killer for securing loose flooring, and pretty much invisible when done. You can also screw right thru carpeting. Easy DIY project too, and the only tool you'll need is a drill and bits ...

51IoNtW1R9L.__AC_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg


 
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