Vinyl Asylum: REVIEW: Gingko Audio Cloud 10 For Scout Turntables by srdavis2000

Model:	Cloud 10 For Scout
Category:	Turntables
Suggested Retail Price:	$329
Description:	Isolation Platform
Manufacturer URL:	Gingko Audio
Model Picture:	View

Review by srdavis2000 ( A ) on January 19, 2005 at 16:02:31
IP Address: 129.230.241.5

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for the Cloud 10 For Scout

I recently purchased the Gingko Cloud 10 sized for the VPI Scout/Scoutmaster turntable and have had some time to experiment with it. First it is a well-made product and is nice to look at. My box did not contain the silicone buttons that are supposed to be provided to protect the surface from the Scouts coned feet, but the vendor is working that issue and I should receive them sometime soon. In the meantime, I cut small squares from a mouse pad and placed these under the feet.
Putting Things in Perspective:
This review was of the Cloud platform under a turntable. I expect that the Gingko products would work very well under another component, but I have not tried mine under anything but my Scout. The platform came with 5 balls. I tried 4 at each corner and adding the 5th under the motor. I found no difference in my preliminary tests and ended up using 4 balls in the corners. The balls are said to support 10 lbs each and the Scout weighs 37 lbs.
I did not do a comparison with the Cloud to my turntable placed on an ordinary table or shelf. My table was already sitting on a DIY 1 Â½â€ butcher block made from laminating alternate strips of maple and cherry with a motor cutout and that was what I compared it to. I think it would be a greater improvement over a plain shelf. I had some reservations about how the Cloud platform would compete with the motor having to be placed on the same surface as the table. I have seen the Cloud 11 advertised with a cutout for the motor; however, Vinh Vu with Gingko told me that they have not made a platform with a cutout. He suggested using the Mini Clouds and building something to raise the motor to the appropriate height. The very week after I purchased my Cloud 10, they posted pictures on their website of a Scoutmaster sitting on the minis. This is probably a good solution, a cheaper route and a lot less trouble than what I ended up doing.
Some Testing:
Before I removed the table from my DIY butcher block I borrowed my sonâ€™s stethoscope and did some listening. This turned out to be very interesting. I would not have believed that vibration would travel down through the 1-Â½â€ cutout slab, into the stand surface, and back up through the 1 Â½â€ slab of wood and be noticeable, but I could clearly hear the motor hum on the top of the butcher block. I could also hear it more faintly on the plinth and surprisingly, it was very slightly more noticeable on the platter than the plinth, probably due to the vibration traveling better through the metal bearing than the plinth material. Keep in mind that I am talking about very minor vibrations. I next removed the belt, lowered the stylus onto a record and turned the volume up slowly. I could barely hear the hum through the speakers at the 12 o clock position (normal listening level). This would be covered up by music and you wouldnâ€™t have your ear this close to the speaker when playing music. Well, I wouldnâ€™t. So this little experiment/adventure was getting interestinger and interestiner. I learned that I had been fooling myself to an extent with my isolation scheme. So how did the Gingko do?
Cloud 10 vs. The Butcher Block:
I know Iâ€™m long winded. Let me shorten things up. With the table on the Gingko, and the motor setting on top, the motor vibration I heard with the stethoscope was more noticeable on the top of the Gingko platform than it had been on the butcher block. This probably isnâ€™t surprising considering the channel the vibration had to go through with the wood. With the Gingko, the vibration was slightly less pronounced on the plinth and platter. The only explanation I have for that is that the vibration was altered to a frequency that the table was better able to cope with. With the needle in the groove, I could still hear the motor through the speakers at high volume settings. Again, this isnâ€™t going to bother most listeners.
For people interested in the Gingko to put under a Scout, you can stop here. The Cloud 10 is a fine isolation devise. It does remove a tremendous amount of vibration and it
slightly betters the butcher block. I think it can compete with most other platforms. I canâ€™t bet the farm on that, as I didnâ€™t test any others. This is just an opinion. If you intend to use one with the motor on top, make yourself a pad for the motor with a couple of layers of the (black) shelf liner and one layer of (black) mouse pad. Put the motor on this rather than directly onto the Cloud. This padding got rid of almost all of the vibration (but not all). The Mini Clouds would be another very solid solution to separate the motor from the table, but you will have to do something to raise the motor. Maybe I should have listened to Mr. Vu. For the other perfectionists and crazies, stay tuned.
Eliminating 99.9999999% of the remaining 3% of the vibration:
Well that is obviously an unsubstantiatable (word?) claim, but it got your attention. That last bit of vibration that I could hear still bothered me. I thought that even though the motor hum is (way) beneath the music these vibrations couldnâ€™t help the stylus while it is reading the grooves. I donâ€™t know for sure that this is true. Would you rather read in a car on a rough road (with someone else driving of course) or sitting quietly? By now you can see that my exaggerations are overboard and my analogies are out there. What to do? I decided that if I could suspend the motor somehow independently of the platform, that I
could do some good. First I did some brain storming. My wife wouldnâ€™t allow me to suspend the motor from the ceiling with wire, but it might have worked. I didnâ€™t want to take my saw to the Gingko, but I think that would have worked nicely. I decided to try to build a Plexiglas platform that would hold the motor above the surface of the Cloud. That did not work out. It seems like it could have, but I used acrylic cement and Plexiglas that I had laying around. My platform sagged overnight. Could have been a bad material combo. Next I went to Home Depot and found some thin sheet metal. I fashioned a C shaped bracket with this. One layer of this material would not support the weight of the motor so I had to double it. I piddled with it until I got it shaped just right and painted the end result flat black. It still isnâ€™t pretty, but it works beautifully.
I can no longer hear any motor hum getting to the plinth or the platter with the stethoscope. Even more impressive is that I can place the stylus on a record with the motor running (belt disconnected) and turn the volume up all the way with no motor hum. I am sure that others with better tools could fashion a nicer looking bracket. I may make another attempt someday myself if I run into some slightly thicker metal plate.
How does it sound? I do not have the rhetoric of the reviewing press boys, but I think it sounds freaking fantastic. I know it sounds better than it ever did before. What I notice is that the notes seem to start and stop more cleanly and that some things sound more harmonically natural than before. As they say, the sound emerges from a much darker background. Is that because I know I eliminated some noise or do I hear it? I donâ€™t know. It definitely sounds like I upgraded my table, and I did. I sleep better too knowing that those pesky motor vibrations arenâ€™t messing with my stylus/vinyl interface anymore. I think I could have gotten similar results for less money and trouble using the Mini-Clouds.
One other little thing that is important to me is that I have contacted Gingko twice with questions and they have been responsive and helpful. They seem to be on top of the customer relations thing. I like folks like that.

Product Weakness: None.
Product Strengths: Works as advertised. Well made and finished.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Conrad Johnson Premier 11
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Rogue 99 Magnum
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	VPI Scout
Speakers:	Von Schweikert VR4
Cables/Interconnects:	Audience AU24
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Rock, Pop, Classical, Vocal
Room Size (LxWxH):	27 x 18 x 8
Time Period/Length of Audition:	one week
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Richard Gray, Monster
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	None.
Product Strengths:	Works as advertised. Well made and finished.