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Got Wood?? Mega-Tweak for Unsuspended Tables (aka Pierre is right)

Posted by the analog kid (A) on June 3, 2008 at 13:50:33

Been awhile since I posted here (pretty much since before kids), but felt compelled to post this for those people with unsuspended tables (especially Pro-Ject, Music Hall, and Rega). For many of you this may fall squarely into the "Duh!" category, but hopefully this will help some to radically enhance the quality of the sound they're getting from their table(s).

For a couple of years now, I've been suffering the near-constant commentary of my best audio-buddy in town (Joe) talking about Pierre's amazing insights into audio (Pierre Sprey from Mapleshade). One of the most notable was the insistence that turntables - as well as virtually every other component - MUST be placed on thick wood platforms for best sound - and in particular, Maple (Pierre goes so far as to suggest that air-dried is the best - haven't tested his claim, so don't know).

Well, a few weeks ago, I was messing around in my basement, and found a large chunk of wood I had grabbed during our house build a decade ago - I found it in the dirt, and set it aside, thinking at the time (as any audio-obsessed person naturally does in such situations), "gee, maybe this someday will have an audio application!!" The arguments of my bud Joe (and his mentor Pierre) flashed through my mind, and I decided to put the chunk (which actually is pine) underneath my Music Hall MMF-7. I was absolutely STUNNED by the difference. I mean, we're not talking subtle, squint your eyes, switch back and forth, and try and ponder, "IS there a difference???" Instead, we're talking about the kind of mega-difference that normally requires the investment of several thousand additional dollars into the system in order to gain. MUCH less noise (deeper blackness in background), better imaging, more natural warmth of tone, more inner detail, greater frequency extension - basically every and any "audiophile" dimension you can conceive of - this change radically improved. I STILL - three weeks later - am stunned by the transformation. Adding some of Pierre's "Heavyfeet" under the "platform" (aka chunk of leftover pine) further enhanced the sound.

In more than a decade of vinyl-philia, I have NEVER experienced a tweak that has resulted in such a radical across-the-board (no pun intended) improvement. I enthusiastically encourage all fellow vinyl-philes with unsuspended tables to slap a LARGE, THICK hunk of wood DIRECTLY under the table, and see if it doesn't render remarkable sonic improvements. Never again will I concern myself with balloons, granite, sandboxes, etc. GO WOOD!!!

FWIW, I subsequently sanded and finished (with light oil) my big hunk o' pine, and have attached a photo.

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VH Audio

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