I'll be the first to admit that my results are based purely on listening and no scientific measurements. But what I heard made me happy, and isn't that what matters?
With that out of the way, my experience removing the mushrooms was twofold (and to restate, this was with the same massive plinth, first with, then without the mushrooms). One, which was somewhat expected but I didn't believe it until I heard it, was that the table became quieter. Lower noise floor. I could crank it up louder before hearing any noise between tracks. After all, the entire stated premise of the massive plinth, as I've always heard it, is to absorb vibration. The mushrooms create a buffer between the table and plinth so all of that mass can't do its job. I'd even go so far as to say that a massive plinth with mushrooms probably doesn't perform any better than a hollow box with mushrooms, thought it might look better.
Second, and completely unexpected, was that the slam, or PRAT, that idlers are so good at was noticeably improved. Upon hearing it, I surmised that by mounting the table solidly I made the entire platform more rigid, allowing the stylus to trace the groove more accurately. Again, this is admittedly unscientific, and just my brain trying to explain what I hear.
) so no one would find fault with either one.
