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Help! Tweaking My Lovan Rack for new Big A**ed Transrotor Turntable!

Folks, some input would be mighty appreciated.

I’ve been using a hand-me-down (though very nice!) Micro Seiki dd-40 turntable for a number of years and finally got the upgrade itch (it helps the upgrade itch when your cartridge is going on 30 years old, and sounding like it!).

I went down the rabbit hole and picked up a Transrotor Fat Bob S turntable, with an Acoustic Solid 12" arm and a Benz Micro Ebony cartridge. All with only about 30 hours of use at a great price. Yay!

Though I have considered getting rid of my old Lovan Classic rack for a new custom jobby, I’m pretty much spent out and I think I’ll have to make do for now, working with the Lovan.

The Fat Bob turntable is 55 lbs of solid aluminum and built like Thor’s hammer.

I figure this will finally get me to fill my Lovan stands for a bit more rigidity - probably with rice. The stand is the old 3 legged triangular shaped bass, which means the thin MDF shelves can feel like they sit sort of precariously on top. But the stand itself feels quite solid.

I want to incorporate a wood platform base, as many do, because I really love the look of a nice wood slab.

At first I thought maybe I’d have 3 spikes drilled in to the bottom corners of the wood base to directly couple it to the rest of the Lovan frame, vs resting it on the top mdf shelf. But I’m not sure that’s really necessary. And I’d like to incorporate some isolation as well, I think. So I’m thinking of just laying it on the top shelf, with something in between.

My first thought is to place a Symposium Segue shelf between the top of the Lovan shelf and the wood base.

Other than that...I’m flummoxed as to all the other choices...roller blocks? Symposium Fat Padz? Vibrapods? Herbie’s Tendersoft footers? Voo-Doo Isopods?  What should I put between the wood platform base and my Lovan shelf?

Any comments of suggestions on the direction I’m going?

Thanks!

(BTW, I’m an resolutely NOT a DIY/Handy-man type, so I’m not trying to go to heroic efforts, wishing this to be as painless as possible).
prof
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 
I need the next higher rated Pods for my other critical sources myself, as they weigh 47lbs (CD/SACD player) and about 50 (VPI table). Same for the power amp and speakers. But the IsoAcoustic GAIA looks interesting, too. I'm in no hurry, gonna take my time. I would love a Minus K table, but I don't want to spend the over $2k it takes to get one!
honeyooi
58 posts
 
I do have similar stand ,or maybe exactly same !
i just put maple block with 3 1/2 inch thick on top chassis with some small pads on 3 frame,
The block sit perfect fit ,you can see how it look at my system here with my VPI classic with upgrade bigger feet .
block size 15x20
prof OP
1,741 posts
 
honeypooi,

Your rack does look similar.  Nice job on those maple blocks, love the look!
prof OP
1,741 posts
 

BTW,

I was originally going to purchase a frosted block of acrylic as the base on which to place the turntable.  My rational was that, while the Transrotor turntable is beautifully made, I'm not crazy about silver as an aesthetic.  So I intended to play with the reflectivity and turn it into a virtue; the acrylic bloc would have an LED light strip affixed to the back so it would glow in whatever color(s) I choose, lighting up the turntable.
(You can get such ready-made blocks online).

However, I had originally been set on some very nice turntables, for instance the VPI Prime Signature in Rosewood, because I love me some beautiful wood.  Turned out the Transrotor was just the better bargain all told in terms of what I was getting for a lower price.

But I still wanted to satisfy my desire for introducing some nice wood into the picture, hence I'm putting the turntable on a nice block of wood.
I'm also keeping the idea of lighting up the turntable with LEDs, either by placing the LED strip on an acrylic panel in front of the wood base, or hidden on a raised (about 1/2" tall) ridge at the front of the wood base.
I grabbed a Philips Hue light strip and played around; it makes the Transrotor table look quite spectacular! 

So up to this point I would have the Townshend Seismic Pods sitting on the top (thin) MDF shelf of the Lovan rack, holding up a 2" thick wood base, on which the turntable will sit.  But now I'm thinking I may add a thicker, more firm piece for the Seismic Pods to sit on: maybe a little sandwich thing like: top MDF Lovan shelf/layer of cork or something like that/granite or thicker MDF slab - and then the Pods holding up the wood base/turntable.

What a rabbit hole one can go down on this stuff!


prof OP
1,741 posts
 

Ended up at home depot looking around today.  All sorts of possibilities went through my mind.  For one thing, while they didn't have any granite slabs to take home, I grabbed instead some 3/4" MDF to place on top of the flimsy MDF shelf of the Lovan.  I also happened upon some thick, solid (but still squishy) various rubber matts.  Some for cars, some for workers to take their boots off on.  About 3/4" of rubber.  I wondered how those would do sandwiched between the Lovan shelf and the MDF board.  Then I remembered that some people have used foam in some sandwich constructions, and I found some nice 1/2" to 1" thick foam. They are the interlocking foam sheets (sort of like a puzzle interlock) used to make little kid's play areas crawl-worthy, or anywhere else a softer floor is needed.  They seemed to fit nicely under the MDF board, with just a bit of give. 

So I thought maybe:  Lovan mdf top shelf (thin)/layer of foam/thicker MDF board - as a sort of more solid, layered top of the shelf.  On that would stand the Townshend Seismic Pods holding up the 2" thick maple bass and turntable.

Am I nuts?


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