Technics 1200 isonoe feet

I just put on my isonoe feet I got from kabusa, and I’m wondering if I should get the sorbothane boots to go along with the feet? I have hockey pucks under the feet to add some height and keep it flat since the wood has some imperfections.

Vibration is much better with the isonoe feet, but I’d like to reduce it as best as I can. If you put the arm down on the record so that the stylus is resting, and then pound your hand in the floor you can see the woofers moving.

I’ll be installing the KAB fluid damper this weekend hopefully. Should I do the resonance cap as well?

Just trying to get my MK5 performing at its best, within reason.
Any other tweaks you think would benefit me are appreciated!

 

No need for the silly boots (I'm referring to the goofy techno boots - not the KAB ones.) The Isonoes should be enough - mine do a great job of keeping out vibrations etc (I've proven it.) The only thing to put under them would be glass - as the bottoms have 3 bearings that should have as little contact with the surface as possible - and glass allows this. Mine - are simply on my IKEA Expedite - they were on glass prior - no difference that I could tell.


The Isonoe boots with the glass inserts would be nice - but for me - just not necessary.

 

I may be looking at these mods eventually, but they will have to wait for a bit. I'm curious if anyone has had success to a truly demonstrable effect by adding those boots with the glass pucks. They do add to the cost quite a bit, and the feet themselves aren't exactly cheap.

Out of curiosity, what mat have you got there? Rubber or felt?

 

If it were me, I'd set the Technics atop a platform of some kind, itself with some kind of basic footers or spikes.

If you wanted to get very fancy you could get a sorbothane sheet and put it between a piece of glass on top and a cutting board of the same size beneath. "Constrained layer damping" for poor people. I have ZERO empirical evidence that such a thing works, but I've always wanted to try it for my own edification.

 

I was originally only using the super thick technics rubber mat. But I decided to try the thinner technics rubber mat, with a Jakes deer hide mat on top. It’s been the perfect match for me.

Very good info, thank you.

 

I use the Isonoe feet in the Technics SL-1200 Mk II which lives in the transmitter site apartment building, connected to a McIntosh C 28 preamplifier, a McIntosh MC 2105 power amplifier, and which drives a pair of JBL 4311B loudspeakers. There also is a Tascam 112 cassette machine, a ReVox CD player, and a ReVox PR 99 Mk II open reel, connected to a Henry MatchBox. This apartment has hardwood floors with a resonance mode which easily makes tonearms skittish (especially with an engineer with Cerebral Palsy is using it, i.e. McLover). I have yet to make a record ever skip with this system. It sounds musical and accurate.

 

I love that line "transmitter site apartment building" - reminds me of this Outer Limits episode with the backyard radiostation + antenna where the guy is using up all the watts to communicate
with an alien:



Yeah - if I stomp around my VPI classic - skips big time - but the Technics - not at all with the Isonoes. I can stomp and not affect it.

 

I’m in an old Chicago bungalow, the turntable has never skipped on me because of vibration. But, with the stock feet you could see the woofers going in and out if you pound on the flood. Surely this is doing something to the sound?

with the isonoe feet installed, it’s drastically reduced this. But I’d like to eliminate it completely.

 

Apartment is there for engineer who needs to stay overnight during overnight maintenance or long repairs. And is available when station is manned in emergencies. And available to staff engineer who wants to live there. It's fully furnished, nice and comfortable, and has 3 bedrooms. It's nice for those of the crew who need it sometimes. Sometimes a crew engineer has lived there when necessary.

 

I suggest adding a DIY butcher's block or Ikea board in between the hockey pucks and your 1200. Most people use an additional layer in the form of a board/block to improve isolation, it doesn't have to be expensive for it to work, also it looks pretty cool. I have a set of Isonoe's on my 1200 and they work really well, I don't think you can improve on those any further.

 

I have the Isonoe feet and the sorbothane "pucks" with glass inserts. The feet are great but the extra sorbothane "pucks" did not improve the sound at all, but they did not degrade it either and you can't too much of damping. My take is if you have the extra cash it is a maybe, but I am sure the hockey pucks will do a fine job too. Stick with them and add your favourite cutting board from a Swedish furniture warehouse near you.

 

As I see it; Isonoe feet plus fluid damping aren´t that easy to improve.

 

Keep on tweakin ! I have the same exact pucks under my 1200 btw. I may have to get some of those footers. Any idea if they will wor on the original 1200 (MK1)?

 

Activate the subsonic filter if you have it. Or try DB Systems-DB Systems Subsonic Filter-Turntable Accessories|Acoustic Sounds

 

You have the right idea, but spikes don't belong anywhere near a turntable. Spikes will couple the platform to the rack and pass vibrations to the turntable.

What you want to do is decouple (isolate) the platform from the rack. I use rubber anti-vibration pads, and it works very well. (Be aware that they will leave stains on wood, so slip a piece of paper between them and wooden surfaces.)

Adding the 1.5" maple cutting board made a significant difference in my SL-1200's performance, to the point where I may forego spending the money on fancy footers.

 

I did buy the boots, but got the ones with the glass insert. They definitely helped completely kill the resonance issue I was having. As one post above stated, the boots are kinda pointless without using glass.

 

Installed the fluid damper today. I noticed an immediate improvement with the sound! First cart I tried was my VM540ML. It did exactly what I was hoping it would. The bass became more present and thicker, and everything seems to have smoothed out. I listened to the same few songs before I installed the damper, and then right after. But I already knew what they sounded like anyway. Very impressed.

Installation was like an episode of three stooges however. it’s hard to tell how much halfway is, so that took a forever, then at one point I put the plunger on the ground, and backed up right on it. The silicone shot out all over the floor which I immediately stepped on. I then slid into the wall and crunched my elbow. Thankfully I got the level correct, because I have no more silicone left.

Kevin at KABUSA was curious whether it did anything to help the woofer vibration, which it did not. I wasn’t expecting it to.

As soon as the stores open back up, I’ll get one of those cutting boards.

@action pact where can I get pads like that?

 

I hear you re: filling up halfway. I actually sent an email immediately to Kevin after installation recommending if there is any way for future versions to include some kind of hash Mark or line that shows where the half way point is exactly. Before installing, I had enough sense to eyeball the halfway point and use a pencil to make a little hash Mark, so that when it came time to filling plunger and filling the trough, I had a rough idea of where to fill up to.

 

Here ya go:
https://www.supplyhouse.com/Diversi...NeSWYhpUsb01mjroMpVB7aCWbXsM8v0BoC5lgQAvD_BwE