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maple under tape decks and amps and cd players also?

A

aifrecords

New Member
some people say a maple board under tunrtables sounds best even better than a maple butcher block. I'm debating whether to just buy an ikea stereo rack made out of particle board and fiber board and then just go to the local lumber yard and get a maple board to stick under the turntable then call it a day. Or other option is to make a maple rack then maple will be under not only turntable but 2 cassette decks, 8 track deck, amp and cd player. does maple really only enhance sound if it is under just turntables? or does it enhance sound if under tape decks and amps and cd players as well?
 
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Yes, but maple syrup would sweeten the sound and raise your blood sugar levels. Be careful :)

Seriously though, I have first hand experience that a sturdy base for a turntable provides audible benefits. If possible, mount it on a shelf rigidly mounted on a brick wall, if available.
A turntable mounted on a multi-shelf rack housing plenty of equipment with moving parts (motors, fans, etc) acts like a vibration enhancer and blurs the sound.

And even more seriously, I've seen products and discussions about anti-vibration mounts for CD players and even amplifiers. An even raising blocks for speaker cables. Plenty of ways to waste money and lose the focus.
 
Back in the day when we I used to listen to records... many moons ago... I made a small wooden table that had four screw on legs and would sit above the integrated amplifier. The turntable sat on that and it worked well.

Later I added a separate table that sat on top of the wooden table. It had four sorbothane feet. The turntable itself had a sorbothane mat. I was really into sorbothane and it did work well.

BTW, that wooden table that I made just had a piece of plywood. I added trim to the edges using finish nails and then stained it all and coated it with polyurethane.
 
Maple doesn't have any magic properties. Yes, placing something under your turntable can be beneficial, but that would depend on a huge number of factors. Just shoving any old piece of maple under it in the hope that maple's magic properties will confer some benefit is optimistic in the extreme.
 
The guy who started Mapleshade was obviously gifted a very large container/containers of premium Maple and was sitting at the bar with his buddies and paused, then said, "Hey, I got it, I'm going to sell this stuff to audiophools. They'll buy anything with the proper buzz words thrown in like palpable midrange, liquidity, taut bass, holographic presence, etc" .
And that's how he paid his house off in 2 years.
 
A base can benefit SOMETIMES. Depends on where it’s sitting and what it’s sitting on. When I first got back in to vinyl I made a nice maple base with isolation blocks. It sounded good but for whatever reason it caused a pretty big footfall problem. As soon as I removed the base the problem was gone.
 
aifrecords said:
some people say a maple board under tunrtables sounds best even better than a maple butcher block. I'm debating whether to just buy an ikea stereo rack made out of particle board and fiber board and then just go to the local lumber yard and get a maple board to stick under the turntable then call it a day. Or other option is to make a maple rack then maple will be under not only turntable but 2 cassette decks, 8 track deck, amp and cd player. does maple really only enhance sound if it is under just turntables? or does it enhance sound if under tape decks and amps and cd players as well?
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I am assuming this guy is making a joke about the maple wood.
 
Maple is a cost effective wood with high density. I use generic maple butcher blocks under my tube amps.

For transports, however, I prefer roller ball based resonance isolation.
 
BillyTheKid said:
I would assume so. We all know that Italian Marble is the best material.
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Actually, Marble has a tendency to ring. Granite is much better. Dupont Corian may be even better.:D

For those who wear tinfoil hats, be aware that almost all Granite is very slightly radioactive. You might want to remember that the next time you're in GC Station in Manhattan.:eek:
 
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