A Copernican View of the Turntable System

Brad,
It is almost impossible to achieve a 'moment' connection between wood and metal (especially the way shown in that armpod).
Without this 'moment' connection.....movement between the wood and metal is a given....ergo....no rigidity here.
If one were to grab the top of this pod with one hand and the bottom with the other and twist back and forwards.......you would appreciate the movement induced.

Ecir38,

Thanks for those photo's. I tried something very similar with my Mambo but ended up trying a slightly different solution with the full arm tower attachment to gain weight. I'm not really certain why he didn't simply stick with the Acoustic Signature aluminium top-plate in his application though!

Interestingly, the main problem I found with the AS tt was the motor having to sit on the same platform as the deck. I believe that Raul overcomes this problem by decoupling his AS from the platform with pneumatic footers. The improvement this affords seems both obvious and interesting in our current wider context.

Dear Henry
Re: your thoughts on suspended tables designs is not true. In the 1980s through into the 90s I was quite content with a Sota Star Sapphire more so then anything before and after.
As the new decade approached my perception at this time was that buying new would have to be better. At least this is what the audio press was pushing of course.

This past decade saw a SME 20 including some TNT tweaked variants to a TW Acoustics AC from a couple or three years ago all ending with a dark sound I couldnt get rid of.
For the used going price of a sota sappire i'm thinking of a re-visit.

Pods,....for the sake of comparing your turntable solutions with experimenting with damping, rigidity and stability, put your Victor 101 in a well designed plinth with attached arm boards and attached adjustable feet, keep it all in the loop.

There are some clever ideas from some high profile members here on Audiogon that go beyond just mass loading with whatever seems heavy-ist.

Finally, some of you challenging the likes of Jonathan Carr , Dover and Lewn to name a few, on this subject of going plinth-less with pods as opposed to a solid grounded plinth really makes me wonder what you as a collective group of believers know what they do not.

Peterayer,

I have listened to the SME 30/2 in a very good Kondo chain in the UK together with a good friend and a dealer. We stayed there for one day (!) and compared many many records we all knew quite well, also having played on my own TTs with the same Kondo M7 phono preamp.

My impression was that it is a fine turntable as the Walker is too but it is not one of the Top 5 I ever listened to. And we all three auditioning at that day agreed on this impression. This is why I told Raul when he is telling me the 30/2 is the King of Turntables in his opinion, so it is his benchmark table. I am just saying in my opinion it is not but it will be a fine turntable in many good chains and therefore it may not make sense to elobarate in detail what is missing because you need to compare with TTs Raul and maybe you did not listen to so far (don`t get me wrong I am not blaming you nor Raul for this). I hope you can live with my statement and pls. enjoy your wonderful system.

I have not listened to the SME 30/12

best @ fun only

Dear Dgob: Yes that makes a rewarded difference. The TTs and the motor are atop those pneumatic footers.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.