Maple platforms

Hi.

I made some platforms for some speakers out of white canadian oak and found the improvement to be MASSIVE in every way possible. There was MASSIVE imporvement in all areas. The speakers are 1975 B&W DM6 and they originally have their cast alloy "C" style feet. They measure 350d x 450w x 120h and weigh about 15kgs each. Over 1 litre of glue was used to make the two platforms. I stained them english walnut and finished them off with danish oil. The platforms were made with 19mm x 80mm tongue'n'groove planks glued together to get the platform sizes. Six platforms were they cross laminted together to form one solid slab. To finsh off, I glued more planks to "frame" the slab to hide all end grain. The platforms are supported on 4 brass adjustable cones/spike that I turned from 50mm brass stock, adding another 2kgs to the wieght.

Photos and details can be found on w w w . audioenz . co . nz clicking on "forums" down the left hand side, clicking on "D-I-Y" seciton, clicking the topic "Speaker Plinths/Anchors".

Regards,
David

I always thought spruce was the preferred wood for musical instruments, especially if its from the Val de fieme(may have got the spelling wrong).

IME, MDF rings at certain frequencies so by itself doesn't work very well for 'table stand. I think you're on the right track with trying to isolate the MDF from the Rega.

I've built my own equipment and turntable stands using maple and walnut but they also incorporate sandboxes as shelves. I'm also building a pair of speakers using maple and walnut. However, maple directly under my turntable did not work well at all for me. It smeared notes badly and killed dynamics. Granite shelves in the sandbox worked much better for me. Similar experience with arm boards I made from maple and one from birch ply. I agree with the other posters that much denser, exotic woods work much better. Cocobolo, for example, is excellent.

I'm just making speaker platforms in the same vein as this thread. I was told "the harder the wood, the less sonic signature it will leave". So I compared the specific gravity and density of the woods available and have a couple of blocks of Wenge, ready to be oiled and finished.

I'm doing this b/c the speaker designer suggested it for a suspended wood floor. I will report results.

Hatari, I would be interested in the results as I have a suspended wood floor as well and have been looking for a speaker platform to deal with the issue. Feel free to email me offline with your solution and results.