Tuntable not working with wood floors..Help


Moved into a new (old) house, with wood floors and it is giving me a huge headache. I have my AR Turntable sitting on top of my rack, and it is absolutely unplayable. You can not even tip toe through the room with out the needle bouncing out of control. I placed a bike tube and a piece of glass underneath it, and it helped, but its still not playable. Here's what I need to know. 1) Would a new table help? The AR is set up so the platter and the arm float on the same suspension (which appears to be very loose), would a TT with a different design help/solve my problem. 2) If not the table, what can I do to get this thing to work? I am in college so $ is very slim (I am talking Ramen and Keystone slim). I don't think my landlord would be happy about mounting it on the wall, but I may take that chance if it comes to it. All advise is much appreciated!
azavguys
Not an uncommon experience for folks who have a turntable with suspension. Believe it or not, unsuspended tables can work far better on unrigid floors type than a suspended one.

If this is a ground floor you can go under the house and add supports to floor in the area where your tt is located. You can mount your tt on the wall as jjmali suggest, or in extremis you could build a support platform over your floor with the outside edges extending beyond the joists on eith side of your audio rack and with no contact with the cloor between the joists (so when you step on the floor where you rack is your tt/arm won't bounce up and down - unfortunately when you walk on the floor away ftom the rack it may still bounce.)

Personally, I'd either reinforce the floor under the turntable by adding support under the house. I'd probably use use piers or small jacks directly under the floor under the rack, or I'd get an unsuspended turntable. I did the latter (and years later I have two tt's and a new house with a stable floor).

Oh, I forgot to mention, you might just relocate your rack to an different area in the room where the floor has better support. Floors near bearing walls and corners are usually more solid although corners may not be the best place for acoustical reasons.

Anyway its a PITA, good luck.
Move the TT to a corner (where the floor joists are more solid), or wall mount on a wall rack (anchored into the wall studs.) Use an electronic stud locator to find the center of each stud.
Try hanging from the ceiling first. Really won't cost much to try. May be ugly, but you may be surprised how well it works. I had to do that in my apartment, and even though there was an apartment above me, worked well. Just got a platform and cable. It will sway slightly but it's cheap and easy.
Good luck.. I know how frustrating that can be
Moving the turntable to a corner is a great, cost effective idea. I don't think that mounting it on the wall will help. I don't it's the floor, more like what is supporting the floor that is causing the flexing. If the floor is flexing, there is a good chance that the wall moves with the floor.

If you can get to the basement and look at the floor joists, you may be able to add a couple to the already existing to stiffen the floor. 2 floor joists should be relatively inexpensive. You may find your solution by placing the table in a more structurally sound location in the room if one exists.
I had the same problem with my Dual a few years ago. I found that using a table that is wider than it is tall really helps (I used an endtable from my living room). That solved about 85 percent of the problem. When I went to an unsuspended table, the problem was solved completely.