Open- or closed-bottom for Dual 1019?

[tethead]

Hey, about to embark on a project to build myself a nice new hardwood plinth (oak, mahogany, maybe walnut) for my Dual 1019 and wanted to find out the pluses/minuses of leaving the base of the plinth open vs. closed on the bottom. I've read and heard about doing either, so I'm curious about your opinions...

Thanks!

 

[SaSi]

I remember having read that a weak bottom panel can cause some ringing triggered by vibrations, and that a rigid one can strengthen the plinth.

I have a 1009 with a wooden plinth made by the factory. The bottom is closed, by means of a rather weak plywood (4mm or thinner), with long wooden bars as feet across.

Knocking on the bottom cover generates a loud knocking sound, which seems to prove the point against a sealed bottom.

All in all, I find the factory made plinths of the 1xxx series rather weak, although well made and finished.

One, must however, take into consideration that the 1019 chasis is made of steel, rather than wood. The combination of weak wood, suspension and steel chasis seems to be along the correct path of a mass differential isolation and perhaps the plinths are engineered to be that way rather than made just for looks and low weight.

One could just make a heavy solid plinth out of double thick MDF or plywood and mount the chasis on that, to check if immunity to vibrations and the body of low frequency improves.

 

[Rybeam]

If I could build from the ground up I'd use my stock base as a shell and put an inch thick top plate in it, counter sink the table a 1/4 inch and then use additional wood inside to build up the corners and sides of base inside. I like to keep things looking original.
Otherwise cut the top piece out several times and layer them until you have a base. Finish as is, or veneer it. I have wondered what a 1019 would look mounted flat on a large plinth like they do the Garrard 301's.

 

[ejman]

From what I've read of plinth building for iddler wheel turntables (Lenco, Garrard 301 etc) the two most desirable qualities are high mass and an open bottom so that the enclosure does not resonate and an added benefit of an open bottom is air circulation for the motor. I have bot a 1019 and a Lenco L75 that I need to buid plinths for. The 1019 came in from e-pray totally trashed and I removed the auto mechanisms and finally got it to work as a manual deck. Please post your progress on the plinth building Good Luck!