Using Maple Butcher Block Under a Turntable

[tfpic mode /on] The reason maple butcher block is used because there is a scarcity of The ideal material, solid blocks of argon.  It's perfect, but very hard to keep in its solid state.   [tfpic mode /off]

It seems that maple block is not the best material.  Bamboo seems to sould better to many, but maple has been around for a long time.  I think the reason is that it's better than most of the shelving material.  

I have my two TT on top of a common metal tube (filled with sand) and glass shelves TV stand. On the top glass sit eight round patio stones which have 1/4" butyl rubber bases. On the stones of one sits an old VPI floating shelf, on which is a Rega P5The other four stones have size 10 butyl rubber bottle stoppers on top, and on that is a flooring sample I lucked into of some Teak like South American (now banned from import) wood, 1" thick very heavy dense wood on a cheap substrate. And on That sits my Kuzma brass pipe Turntable. turntables far away from speakers.(other end of living room)

@invictus005 ,

You’re actually half right. Sometimes people have nothing else better to do. I found my 1-1/4" thick butcher block at my aunt’s house. It was at least 20 years old and hadn’t been used in years. This particular block had round feet made out of the same material that I cut off with a trim saw. Got a bag of lemons and an orbital sander and used the lemon halves to clean the multiple layers on the top of block until I got down to virgin wood. Then finished sanding the entire block. Brushed and air hosed the block off, sealed and stained that bad boy.

This is where I disagree with you. When the carpenters, you know the same people that make those lovely danish mid century hutches and such that audiophiles love to put their turntables on, make the butcher blocks they use up to 1/2" thick pieces of hardwood that they glue together with the grain going in opposite directions with compression on all 4 sides which completely changes the characteristics and composition of the wood than if it was just made out of 1 solid piece. It ends up quite dense after those treatments. Now I know you can relate to that.

The butcher block cost me nothing, it did and does absorb vibrations and made a quieter less vibrating turntable base especially when I added the Hudson Hi-Fi Silicone Isolation Feet. And it looks good too. But you’ve done this before right? Because you know it has no effect on vibrations on a turntable.

Those danish mid century hutches with the beautiful laminate teak that audiophiles put their turntables on are made the same way and use the same technique as the lowly butcher block. And the same construction technique is used when making the most expensive speaker cabinets. Layers of wood going in different grain directions glued together in compression specifically for the vibrations they don’t produce .

And I forgot to mention that some of the most expensive vintage and new turntable plinths use the same technique also, except with a butcher block and a lot of the newer turntables on the market today, there is hardly none to no void - for the vibrations to travel through.