Which is a better turntable isolation upgrade: base block or feet?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Marc Kremers, Sep 14, 2021.

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  1. Marc Kremers

    Marc Kremers Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paris
    I’m looking to isolate my Pro-Ject Evo with an isolation solution.

    The TT weighs 6kg, maybe a little more with the alu sub platter upgrade.

    I have really old and noisy wooden floors in this apartment.

    Isoacoustics seems like a solid choice, I plugged in the measurements of my TT and it recommends a few options:


    DELOS 18151 or DELOS 22161
    DELOS Series | IsoAcoustics

    zaZen I
    zaZen Series | IsoAcoustics

    OREA Bronze (QTY 3) or Graphite (QTY 4)
    OREA Series | IsoAcoustics

    I’m wondering what’s the best route here, block or feet?

    And also open to hearing about other brands offering feet or blocks.

    thanks.
     
  2. Jeffreylee

    Jeffreylee Rock 'n' Roll Typist

    Location:
    Louisville
    I have springy wooden floors and tried a lot of stuff but Isoacoustics is the only gear that has well and truly worked. I tied a zaZen by itself and it almost solved the problem. I then put the platform on five of the Iso mini pucks and everything has been fine since.
     
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  3. sturgus

    sturgus Forum Resident

    Location:
    St. Louis Mo
    Marc Kremers and aunitedlemon like this.
  4. Daddy Dom

    Daddy Dom Lodger

    Location:
    New Zealand
    An Iso-puck in each corner works for me - way cheaper than other Iso stuff and my t/t weight around 25kg.
     
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  5. bluesky

    bluesky Senior Member

    Location:
    south florida, usa
    My 1980 Sansui SR-838 TT has rubber feet with serious spring inserts from top to bottom.

    They function outstandingly.

    I've seen after-market feet with springs for sale on the internet.
     
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  6. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    Everything depends 0n environment and gear. A basement concrete floor with a suspended TT and unipivot tonearm and the second floor of a 90-yr house with a solid plinth TT and magnetic bearing tonearm arm will have very, very different requirements for isolation. There is no right answer until you audition the alternatives for yourself. Your TT, your envirnment.
     
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  7. MattHooper

    MattHooper Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    These:

    Townshend Isolation Pods:

    Seismic Isolation Pods - www.townshendaudio.com

    I did extensive research and testing when building an isolation platform for my turntable. I used a vibration measuring/seismometer app to measure vibration isolation on lots
    of different footers and materials: sorbothane, rubber, sponge footers, constrained layer damping, iscoacoustics pucks and others. Nothing came even close to the isolation
    properties of the spring-based footers like Townshend. They stopped vibrations getting through to the turntable almost dead, where the others had barely measurable effects.

    There are cheaper versions of spring footers on Amazon. Search for "Nobsound" and you'll see that brand and plenty of alternatives.

    Recently I tried some cheaper Nobsound (or off-shoot brand) spring footers under my speakers and the effects were remarkable in terms of decoupling the speakers from the floor, cleaning up the sound, tightening the bass and making the imaging more 3D. You may want to try some of those under your turntable base.
     
  8. aunitedlemon

    aunitedlemon Unity is in the pith.

    Location:
    Oregon
    I've had surprisingly good results using Vibrapods + Vibracones beneath the butcher block platform I built for my tt. Good return on very little spent. I put it all up on a wall shelf which also seems like a solid suggestion if your floors are interfering with your tt.
    Don't bother with the inexpensive rubber and cork sandwich blocks. They didn't do squat for me.
    [​IMG]
     
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  9. csgreene

    csgreene Forum Resident

    Location:
    Idaho, USA
    I find this topic interesting as I live in a house that has the main music system in the basement family room. The floor is concrete and I have my 1210GR sitting on top of an old entertainment/TV cabinet. It's only isolated by the feet of the table and there are, not surprisingly, zero issues. However, upstairs in the living room of this very old house with wood floors throughout the main floor (although the living room has thick carpet and padding) I have my old Technics SL-QL1 sitting on a Boos cutting board with small stick-on rubber feet (Home Depot grade stuff) on a sofa table with the other gear and have experienced no issues in that room or the adjacent library where my Denon DP-23F just sits on a library table with the other gear. I'd always assumed I'd need additional isolation for both of the upstairs table and was surprised I didn't.

    I think the OP would be best served by a wall mount if possible but suspect the ISO feet he links to would work fine as might a number of other audio isolation feet as well. Just be sure that whatever is purchased is returnable if it doesn't solve the problem.
     
  10. Marc Kremers

    Marc Kremers Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paris
    Amazing I was scared to ask about combos. Nice to know it’s an option.
     
  11. Marc Kremers

    Marc Kremers Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paris
    I’ve heard about this. thing is it’s a pretty basic wall made of insulation and some kind of wood composite.

    Could you recommend a de facto YT video or after or thread on the subject so I could explore this?
     
  12. Marc Kremers

    Marc Kremers Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paris

    Very interesting. But I wonder if the results from those was due to the combination of their methods and your particular home?

    Regarding the Nobsounds, did you measure those as well as listen?

    Which apps did you use or could recommend for measuring vibrations? That sounds like a good route.
    Thanks.
     
  13. IsoAcoustics have their roots in pro audio, so the bovine excrement factor is absent.
     
  14. old music lover

    old music lover Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salonta, Romania
    Springs, like DUAL does on their turntables...
     
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  15. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    Not a lot of specific detail in that lit for those products so hard to evaluate which one will work better. Also, some things will depend on your set up -- how flexy is your floor? How rigid is the shelf the turntable is on now?

    As a rule of thumb, to isolate a turntable from structure borne vibration you want some kind of isolating system that works down to very low frequencies (ideally below 4 Hz if you want to isolate from footfalls on a flexy floor, but not too many types of isolation do that, pneumatic systems often can work that low); you want an isolation system whose own resonant frequency is not in the same range as the frequency of footfalls (circa 4-6 Hz, but depending on the floor materials, construction and size) -- that has been a problem for some sprung suspension turntables, a suspension system resonance at the same frequency as the foot falls and you get oscillation and the arm jumping out of the groove; and you want an isolation system that will dissipate movement in both the horizontal and vertical planes.

    Whether or not you need any added rigidity -- like the product that's the decoupled butcher block (which you'd then ideally couple the turntable itself to) -- or added mass -- like the zazen platform -- or just isolation -- really depends on your turntable's design, what furniture you intend to stick this platform on, etc.

    If you have an apartment with old wooden floors, you really might be best off with a wall shelf attached to load bearing elements of the wall and then the isolation footers, if you can do that. Are you experiencing problems with foot falls? Pneumatic isolation tend to be better at getting you isolated all the way down to and beyond the frequencies of footfalls on a wooden floor, but I'm not sure of the nature of Isoacoustic's devices. If you can't wall mount a shelf you might be able to mass load a rigid stand in a way that maybe moves the resonant frequency up to a point where common iso technologies work, but that also could make things worse because the mass loaded support might wind up storing more energy that a lighter weight rigid one. Does Isoacoustics provide any data about the effective frequency range of its isolation products? Do they provide any guidance on when they recommend using the high mass platform?
     
  16. Marc Kremers

    Marc Kremers Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paris
    Hey there. Really appreciate your considered reply and everyone’s here actually thank you.

    Re the floor, actually it’s not walking around that bothers me. I can tip toe even if it’s 6”3ft worth of it lol.

    it more just making the TT as silent as possible and not having any bad base to start with.

    I def think wall mount is next!

    The base is just an IKEA side board with a bunch of heavy books under it. MDF or chipboard with a glass surface on top.
    The apartment is an old french building and the floors are soooo bad. I think they are even hollow underneath. Have a carpet to cover but def not a good base.

    I’m posting new pics and purchases next have a look.
     
  17. Pkcpga

    Pkcpga Audio Enthusiast

    Wall mounts don’t always work, depends where your wall is. I’ve found internal house walls like the one in my family room that eventually connects to our front stair case has more vibration when people use that stair case then people walking on the floor in that room. I think every room situation has to be looked at separately.
     
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  18. AP1

    AP1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    TX
    So far the only thing that surely work is Minus-K platform:

    Small Vibration Isolators, Isolation Platforms & Bench Tops | The BM-10

    It is not cheap, but price is comparable with mid-range modern turntable.
     
  19. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    Good point. A wall mount does need to be on a sturdy load bearing wall into the studs and also away from vibration and flexing.
     
  20. hifisoup

    hifisoup @hearmoremusic on Instagram

    Location:
    USA
    The SR-838 is a GREAT vintage turntable. I'd love to find one but they are hard to find.
     
  21. aorecords

    aorecords Forum Resident

    I stuck some IsoAcoustic Gaia III on my Technica sl1200 mk 2 and was pretty astonished at the improvement. Surface noise was quiter images were more defined and layers of depth were added.

    I use the Gaias on my speakers but for kicks removed them and put one set on the t'table. The goal is to pick up one more set before the end of the year. I would have done it already but I somehow accidentally broke the cantilever off my cartridge and had to buy a new one.
     
  22. bluesky

    bluesky Senior Member

    Location:
    south florida, usa
    I did get really 'lucky' when I found mine . Perfect.
     
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