Aluminum instead of POM platter/turntable for turntables?

My Dr Feickert turntable has a POM platter with embedded brass weights (model Inertia). I've been told that a platter made of aluminum might sound better (e.g., more vivid).

Are there also users here who would prefer an aluminum platter to the more modern POM platter?

 

What was the turntable designed to use in the first place? Not all turntables are designed to use aluminum platters. There are also many different types of aluminum platters, and some require damping with a rubber mat. Odds are you will notice a bigger change in sound by changing the ends of the reproduction chain, e.g. the cartridge or the speakers vs. swapping platters.

 

Yours should be superior. You may prefer using it with a mat. Try a felt or paper / cork mat. One advantage of felt is that it will protect your records from debris, whereas a hard surface platter and the record can get debris between them resulting in record damage.
- Bill

 

How do you like the sound of your Turntable as is? If you like it I would just leave it alone and enjoy the music.

 

Talk about audiophilia nervosa! You have one of the best platters on the planet and you are thinking about replacing it with an aluminum one?

Many years ago VPI replaced an aluminum platter with a delrin-lead one. A comparison was published in The Absolute Sound (back when it was worth reading). The Delrin wiped the floor with the aluminum. Later VPI replaced their delrin-lead or delrin-steel platters with an aluminum ones. It was done simply because aluminum platters are far cheaper to make and VPI saw itself as a volume producer. Could aluminum result in a brighter sound? Possibly; it will be a coloration. Is that necessarily a better, more accurate sound? Probably not. If your audio is out of balance look elsewhere.

As for your TT and platter, enjoy what you have and revel in it.

 

Probably wont make a big difference except throw off the speed stability.

 

Thank you all for your replies so far. Very interesting. I appreciate it. I took the chance to get a copy (actually two) of Dr. Feickerts aluminium platters (one in silver, one in black) to try it for a couple of days. I have just had the time to listen to about three albums so far.
What I could hear right from the beginning: more clarity, voices reach me better if they are just accompanied by lets say a single guitar, mostly ballads or something rather quiet . But to me it all sounds a bit brighter. Don‘t know why and if I‘m wrong. So when listening to certain songs, I like it more because I listen more carefully. On the other hand, if there‘s one thing I cannot stand it‘s bright sounding systems. Of course it‘s not such a fundamental change, but it definitely sounds differently. You can here it from the get go.

The Dr. Feickert Woodpecker is only available with POM platters. Either just POM or POM including the integrated brass weights. I have the latter and it costs 1,200 Euro bought separately.
My dealer, who‘s really an expert in many ways, is a huge fan of aluminium platters and tried hard to get the Dr. Feickert Platters which seem to be sold only in the US (or mainly) but not in Germany. Don‘t know why. I thought it might be the case that aluminium platters (for whatever reason) are more popular in the States. But judging from what you have written so far this doesn‘t seem to be the case or a general rule.

I will try to find some time to listen a bit more using the aluminium platter. So far I‘m not sure whether I would let go of my Inertia platter…

P.S. I use a Dereneville Magic Mat. Both on the Inertia POM and on the aluminum platter.

 

Btw. the inertia weighs about 6kg, the aluminum platter 8 kg.

 

Seems like felt, with all of it's static, would attract more debris than rubber?

 

No; gravity "attracts" debris. Not much that you can do about that. The felt does however allow many dust particles to pass through its top fiber layer and then the whole thing compresses just a bit to conform to both the Lp and any dust that does manage to settle. Way, way less pressure than a rigid surface. You really should look at it from a crossection and see that the trick is the fibers are so low mass and that the air pockets around them are huge by comparison. This basically has the effect of the Lp sitting on a cushion of air. In other words, the mat decouples the Lp from the platter. solid mats will have more mass, even more than the Lp in most cases, and couple the Lp to the platter. This is notable because the more the record is isolated, ie decoupled, from the platter the more information is extracted from the Lp, i.e. higher SNR, which is a very good thing as it is not one of the easy things to achieve with phono.
- Bill

 

Nice! What about putting a rubber mat under the felt if you can adjust vta? Good idea?

 

If it damps the platter and has no I'll effects, then it's a welcome addition. It will add rotational mass which is good. It also adds mass to the overall deck, which is better in some designs than others. It is standard issue on thin aluminum platters with good reason. Those things can ring like a bell.
- Bill

 

Yup 1200 platter all aluminum. I put one of my felts on the thinner Technics rubber and it doesn't seem to have the static issue any longer!

 

I also feel that the drums with the aluminum platter have a little more directness/punch. Saxophone also a bit more direct.

Let's hear more...

 

Aluminum platters are plentiful in the States because VPI uses aluminum platters exclusiverly in all its current production and has so for years.

I use no mat on my Delrin (POM) platter and I think it is best that way. When these sorts of platters were made by VPI that was their recommendation and most users, I think,
did the same. When the aluminum platter was reintroduced everyone seemed to go out and look for a platter mat.

 

Some say VPI went to aluminum because it was cheaper, some say because it was better for quality control. I do think that it was more difficult to meet desired tolerances with the composite platters, particularly in critical runout, and do so consistently, which likely made them more expensive to manufacture.

The turntable is a system, in that changing just one aspect can have a negative impact. For example, in my experience VPI metal arms used with an acrylic or composite platter do not require a mat, as most (all?) will lead to an undesirable diminishing of the high end, but when using the same arm with an aluminum platter mats may make an improvement. Similarly, I find that there is no benefit to using a mat with a 3D arm/aluminum platter.

JohnK

 

I have a Clearaudio Ovation that uses a combination of aluminum sub-platter and POM main platter. I don't use a mat, but I do use a 1000 gr clamp and 1500 gr outer ring. I do know the clamp can make a difference in sound. I have two: one is the HRS ADH with their rubber coupler and the other is all steel and carbon-fiber. The latter is noticeably more detailed and lively. At first I thought it was less warm than the HRS, but came to realize what I thought was warmth was more a veiled midrange.

I think about someday getting a Clearaudio Innovation. That has a full size 15mm stainless steel sub-platter plus a 70mm POM platter.

 

What's POM? Some kind of polymer?

Google has Pepper Spray Shooter, Pomegranate juice, and, of course, that Aussie term of endearment for the Brits.

 

Polyoxymethylene - Wikipedia

 

Apparently, the OP is not reveling. Or even wassailing.

I know a little about Dr. Scholl but nussing about Dr. Feikert. What I do know is that my high mass HW-19 IV with the Delrin and lead platter sounded great after years of tinkering and their next product, the lower mass Scout, sounded lifeless with another polymer platter. When I finally made a change I went lower mass with aluminum platter, Traveler, thinking the Scout was an object lesson in 'don't do that'.

No question the aluminum platter Traveler is livelier than the Scout and with the same ZYX cartridge in mine and my friends Classic 2, the differences in SQ between them are minimal. My Traveler is far better than my HW-19.

Don't simply write off aluminum but do audition. Everyone does 30, even 60 day returns these days.

 

I’ve heard the OP’s table with a Khuzma 4 point. I personally like the sound more than even the upper end VPI tables with aluminum platters. I find it extremely precise and revealing, but my buddy, who owns the table, found it uninvolving and lacking musicality. He also prefers the aluminum platters on VPI. He swapped the arm on the Woodpecker for a Triplaner and the table is now his favorite. Obviously everything matters, and there is a lot of ways to get the sound that’s right for you. If you prefer the sound with the aluminum platter then that’s the right platter for your table.

 

Very interesting. So you would recommend, generally speaking, a felt mat over a cork one?

 

On my aluminum platter, pretty heavy one, I am using leather and plexiglas combo (sandwich supplied by manufacturer). A very good combo, totally remove aluminum ringing

 

static indeed attracts dust that is opposite charged.

The Mechanism of Particle adhesion | KEYENCE America .

look at this video for example


what I have found very useful to fight both dust and static (Santiago is usually dry and dusty/pollutted) is using an humidifier, it help reduce static and also makes airborne dust heavier so more of it goes to the ground and heavier/bigger particles are easier to clean or vacuum.

I use the type of humidifier like a Stadler Oskar that moistures the air directly, not the ultrasonic ones that create water vapor that later gets in the air but can create moisture problems near the source or corners etc, and their vapor also contain the contaminants that the water had.

 

Sure, but that's not what I was saying. The fellow suggested that felt contained static or had heard that somewhere. That isn't so. Static is created by friction and any material can be charged, so acrylic (POM) or aluminum can be. Your use of a humidifier is what I recommend for folks who complain about static being a problem in their room and effecting their records or mats. But assuming no static, dust will settle on every surface below it due to gravity. So keeping the room clean, and records clean is a big help. What makes people think that felt might be associated with static is that it is so light that it can sometimes be lifted with a record that has become statically charged. That can be fixed with double sided tape and is not a fault or property of felt but of the static built up on the record from handling.
- Bill