[003]

OK, so here's the deal. My turntable is in the absolute worst possible location regarding isolation from vibrations. It's location can not be changed. There is absolutely NO ROOM to put it ANYWHERE else. Not on a shelf, nada. This must be made clear right now. I do not want/need suggestions telling me to move it, install a shelf, etc... There is NO ROOM for a shelf to even be installed. NONE.

So please do not give me any suggestions that involve moving the turntable or anything else around it. It just can't happen (Believe me, I've thought about it, I'm not stupid). Period. With that out of the way, I will proceed.
________________________________________________


So here's the deal. The turntable is on my desk, directly on top of my computer (not literally). It is hard for me to describe and probably hard for you to visualize without a picture, so feast your eyes on my paint skills:

The desk is made of particle board and is sitting on a hard wood pine floor.

I know, this is like the absolute worst possible place to put the turntable, but it's all I have, and even this was a very tight squeeze. Less than an inch of clearance (literally) on both sides.

What can I use and/or do to reduce vibrations as much as humanly possible without breaking the bank or relocating things? I am vaguely familiar (read: I have read about their existence, and have no actual experience) with using special isolating feet for the turntable, putting thick blocks of wood under it, using special weights that go on top of a playing LP, etc.. What can I do with a maximum of $200 to spend (relying on DIY as much as possible to conserve money) to isolate the turntable as much as possible?

Many thanks for help in advance.

 

[happyangryhappy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What can I do with a maximum of $200 to spend (relying on DIY as much as possible to conserve money) to isolate the turntable as much as possible?

Since you mentioned a DIY option, do a search over on the vinyl asylum or on google for a diy turntable sandbox. It's basically a sandbox with a floating top that should isolate a fair amount better in your situation then traditional cones or blocks.

 

[JadeEast]

A big concrete paving stone or piece of granite on tennis balls
cut in half or small inner tube (keep it level) is another option
besides the DIY sandbox.

 

[MontanaJustin]

Do you have space for about 4 inches of stuff to go under your turntable to isolate it?
If so, than buy a kids bike innertube, a square piece of particle board, a six-pack of your favorite drink, some marbles/ball bearing balls, and a chunk of tile. Oh, and a drinking straw.
Put the innertube on the desk where your turntable is now. Set the straw underneath it at a 90 degree angle, so air will not be trapped in the circle inside the tube. Place your piece of particle board on top of the tube. Inflate the tube just a bit.
Consume the six-pack (this can be done the night before, or of course you could just dig through your recycling). With a pair of tin-snips, cut off the bottoms of the six cans - 1 inch above the ground, if they were standing upright. Bend the rims IN on 3 of bottoms, and place the other three bottoms around and over the firs three, forming a kind of aluminum puck, or base.
Set your 3 bases on the board in as big of a triangle as you can, set your marbles/steel balls on top of the bases so they can roll around inside of the depression, and then place your tile shiny side down on top of the three balls.
Now you add the Turntable, and you are set (you'll probably have to adjust where the three "legs" are located, so the weight is spread out evenly). You'll know you have it right when the 3 marbles are all resting in the center of their depressions, and the turntable above is level.
Inflate the innertube just a bit more, so that the whole contraption is just barely "floating" on a cushy bed of air.
Now you have isolation in the veritical plane (air) and the horizontal plane (roller-bearings) and the rotational plane (roller-bearings). Now, who cares that the tt is on a crappy desk, with a computer right below? It doesn't matter anymore.
All this for $5-30, depending on how resourceful you are. If you want, I could even mail you three ball bearings - I just ordered 25 super nice bearings from McMaster-Carr, aircraft-grade aluminum, .000025 tolerance, blah blah blah, and I could make do with 22, I'm sure

 

[SprNtrl]

I am going suggest (in conjunction with the above ideas) lining the interior, hidden surfaces of the desk with Dynamat or a similar product, but given your budget I don't know how appealing that would be.

 

[003]

Here is what I have decided to do:
-Use bubblewrap and cardboard to confine the vibrations from the computers inside the computers.

-Get mapleshade isoblocks and use a marble slab on top and then the turntable on top of that to isolate the turntable.

I have already isolated the computers, and boy it really works. Now when I put my hand on the desk I can not feel any vibrations at all, I have been sitting here for 20 minutes turning the computer off and on and I can no longer tell if it is running just by touch. I have also noted, when I put my hand on the computers, I can feel them vibrating a lot more then they used to when they were not isolated. I assume this is because the vibrations are trapped inside them.

Now a question:

I was out walking today, and I found somebody throwing out a circular marble tabletop, about 0.75" thick with a diameter of 26". It is solid marble. If I clean it up and have it cut to a good size to fit my turntable, and put isoblocks under it, will it work better than using medium density fiberboard, or some other material?

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

It's also important to isolate the computer from your desk. Fans and hardrives vibrate a lot, and external hardrives are even worse. I recommend isolating both your PC and the TT (and anything else that vibrates on your desk). Being a mountain biker and having a bunch of bike parts lying around, I cut up bike grips (like this one) into half-inch chunks and place them underneath my equipment, they work like a charm. My external hardrives used to make my desk hum like a tuning fork and the grip-mod fixed it 100%. Oh by the way, some grips are softer than others so you can pick whichever firmness you think is best, just pay your local bike shop a visit, there're lots of grips to choose from, they're are like cereal for bikers.

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was out walking today, and I found somebody throwing out a circular marble tabletop, about 0.75" thick with a diameter of 26". It is solid marble. If I clean it up and have it cut to a good size to fit my turntable, and put isoblocks under it, will it work better than using medium density fiberboard, or some other material?

How exactly does putting a slab of 'something' underneath your equipment help isolate it from vibration? I never figured this one out... if the desk is vibrating, wouldn't everything solid that's attached to it also vibrate? It makes as much sense to me as making car tires out of solid granite vs. MDF... neither works. I'd stick with the bubble wrap/inner tube/grip idea.

 

[883dave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 /img/forum/go_quote.gif OK, so here's the deal. My turntable is in the absolute worst possible location regarding isolation from vibrations. It's location can not be changed. There is absolutely NO ROOM to put it ANYWHERE else. Not on a shelf, nada. This must be made clear right now. I do not want/need suggestions telling me to move it, install a shelf, etc... There is NO ROOM for a shelf to even be installed. NONE. So please do not give me any suggestions that involve moving the turntable or anything else around it. It just can't happen (Believe me, I've thought about it, I'm not stupid). Period. With that out of the way, I will proceed. ________________________________________________ So here's the deal. The turntable is on my desk, directly on top of my computer (not literally). It is hard for me to describe and probably hard for you to visualize without a picture, so feast your eyes on my paint skills: The desk is made of particle board and is sitting on a hard wood pine floor. I know, this is like the absolute worst possible place to put the turntable, but it's all I have, and even this was a very tight squeeze. Less than an inch of clearance (literally) on both sides. What can I use and/or do to reduce vibrations as much as humanly possible without breaking the bank or relocating things? I am vaguely familiar (read: I have read about their existence, and have no actual experience) with using special isolating feet for the turntable, putting thick blocks of wood under it, using special weights that go on top of a playing LP, etc.. What can I do with a maximum of $200 to spend (relying on DIY as much as possible to conserve money) to isolate the turntable as much as possible? Many thanks for help in advance.

"Your turntable is in the worst place for vibrations"

What is the vibration doing to your turntable? Does the TT skip? skate? jump?
Where is the vibration coming from? can you see or feel this vibration? and what is the magnitude? (when you put a glass of water on the turntable or desk can you see the vibrations in the water?

Are you talking about vibration or resonance?

 

[003]

I did isolate my computer from the desk, using cardboard and bubblewrap. I used the larger kind of bubblewrap. Here is a sketch to show how I did it:

It works quite well. When I put my hand on the desk directly above the computer, I can no longer feel ANY vibrations. I feel zero difference from when it is off and when it is on now. I also did a test with a glass of water. I put the water on top of the turntable and let it sit. I looked at it very closely and it was 100% still. Same thing when I placed it on the desk in front of the turntable. When I placed it on the computer, I could easily see it vibrating.

I have also ordered a set of 99lb Mapleshade Isoblocks:
http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/aud.../isoblocks.php

I am going to put them under the turntable, with the cut-to-size slab of marble between the isoblocks and turntable.

Dept_of_Alchemy,
I have read that placing a turntable directly on an isolating material (rubber, cork, air suspension, etc...) is something that should be avoided at all costs, and you should always have a very dense, rigid material between the two (maple, marble, granite, etc...)

883dave,
I don't know what the vibration is doing to the turntable because I have never heard a turntable in an ideal location. The best I have heard is right here on my desk.

The vibrations come from the computer, and before I isolated it I could feel the vibrations on the desk and turntable with my hand alone. I did not try with a glass of water.

I'm not quite sure of the differences between vibration and resonance.

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

So. Does it sound better now?

By the way, I'm still not sure about the slab of granite thing. Do you have a link or some kinda reference that you can give me? I'm very curious about it all.

 

[003]

I have not listened yet. I still have my SL-Q200 and I do not want to play anything on it because it's anti skate is out of alignment (with no apparent way to align it) and I do not want to damage any LPs. I am waiting for my RP2400.

For the tt info, check out this thread:
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vin...65/657759.html

Also check out this:
http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/d.pl?...faq.html#vinyl

 

[003]

Ok guys I have succumb to Mapleshade's advertising team and ordered a $167 worth of stuff from them, which fit nicely into my budget. I ordered a set of Isoblock v.1s, a set of Surefoot v.3s and a ready-to-be-finished 18x15x2 slab of maple. I do not actually intend to finish it. A finished slab was $155 and unfinished was $75, so that was a pretty clear choice for me. The only visual difference was the finished slab had slanted edges and it was polished up and very shiny, but other than that I don't see how any audible differences in it's isolation properties could exist. I have sketched a new picture in paint that reflects all the changes made so far:

At this point should the turntable be isolated at least decently? Is there anything else I can do to aid with isolation that does not require spending any more money?

I still have that marble slab, could I put that to good use? Would it be a good idea to put it between the isoblocks and the desk, or anywhere else?

It was also suggested to me at AudioAsylum that I put as many bags of cement as I can fit on the desk. I don't like the idea of bags of cement (god forbid one breaks open), but bricks would be OK. Would it be a good idea for me to fill up all the free space on and in the desk with bricks?

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dept_of_Alchemy /img/forum/go_quote.gif How exactly does putting a slab of 'something' underneath your equipment help isolate it from vibration? I never figured this one out... if the desk is vibrating, wouldn't everything solid that's attached to it also vibrate? It makes as much sense to me as making car tires out of solid granite vs. MDF... neither works. I'd stick with the bubble wrap/inner tube/grip idea.

by adding mass to the "non vibrating" object, the little bit that gets through the bubble-wrap and other stuff is less likely to actually shake it. radio stations used to (and still do when they use real recordings...) have their turntables mounted on sandboxes that looked like laundry machines. walking (or even jumping) next to a 1000lb sandbox isnt going to rattle it at all. put the turntable on an average table and you hear ever footstep in your music.

caution is warranted with adding mass. some isolation devices only work within a certain range of weights.
Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 /img/forum/go_quote.gif It was also suggested to me at AudioAsylum that I put as many bags of cement as I can fit on the desk. I don't like the idea of bags of cement (god forbid one breaks open), but bricks would be OK. Would it be a good idea for me to fill up all the free space on and in the desk with bricks?

try it with bricks. they will add mass to the desk, which will make it harder to shake the desk. a less shaky desk shakes the vibration controls for the turntable less.... it should trickle up.

 

[003]

Ok, now would it be a good idea to put blue-tak under the bricks to better couple their mass to the desk?