Massive is as massive does - Fretless

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Massive is as massive does

Posted by Fretless (A) on May 7, 2007 at 12:38:54

In Reply to: System matching is crucial.... I will give you that..... posted by tubesforever on May 7, 2007 at 07:14:59:

"Rather the stand and the foundation for the stand should exhibit high mass."

Tell that to Mana, Neuance, Symposium, Zoethecus, and Finite Elemente, etc. These companies all build rigid low-to-medium mass supports that sound great, but more importantly, they help your gear maintain a tight grip on the music's PRaT.

I've heard an LP12, several Regas, two Technics, a Spacedeck, a Roksan, a Scout, a crappy suspended Basis, an Avid, a Scheu, and a Michell (my bell) in what was essentially my current system. The only one that sounded better with a massive support - in this case, a thick Mapleshade slab - was the Scheu.

The latter was the forerunner of Teres and its spin-offs and has a massive 4" thick plastic platter. It's an insipid, rhythmically awkward 'table that couldn't out-pace anything short of a Sota with a good headwind behind it, regardless of its support.

In every other case, each massive support I tried - a sandbox, a granite slab, the aforementioned thick maple; all on a massive sand-filled steel rack and/or my Zoethecus frame - sucked the drive and energy out of the music and made the rhythms sound confused and tentative. Granite tended to sound lumpy, edgy, and slow; sand was lifeless, dull and dry, and thick maple was warm, bloated, and lackluster.

There were a few isolated sonic or spatial improvements here and there, but only the Jazz at the Pawnshop crowd cares about that when the music's timing and energy are screwed-up.

So much for "always" when it comes to crude mass-loading. In my experience so far, a well engineered light, rigid support is the ticket if you want to bring the music back alive. A massive support is probably mandatory with a really massive non-suspended turntable, but I've never heard one of those that wasn't sleep-inducing, and as Dylan sez "when ya got nuthin, ya got nuthin to lose."

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Mass Loading your Rack - OMalley 14:40:13 05/05/07 (14)

Re: Mass Loading your Rack - J.D. 18:52:03 05/06/07 (1)

Re:observations on mass loading (long and anecdotal) - user510 16:36:14 05/06/07 (2)

But what would happen if .... i can tell you ;-) - OMalley 16:59:24 05/06/07 (1)

Re: But what would happen if .... i can tell you ;-) - user510 17:38:48 05/06/07 (0)

Thanks Mr. O'Malley! - 1973shovel 16:29:57 05/05/07 (0)

different theories? - analog guy 14:52:45 05/05/07 (8)

Excellent point! - cbrady 12:06:02 05/09/07 (0)

Mass loading always works...... - tubesforever 23:15:29 05/05/07 (6)

Re: Mass loading ALWAYS works: Our resident expert has spoken - Fretless 12:27:04 05/06/07 (5)

Re: Mass loading ALWAYS works: Our resident expert has spoken - illini_skn 19:36:29 05/06/07 (4)

Re: Mass loading ALWAYS works: Our resident expert has spoken - Fretless 21:13:29 05/06/07 (3)

System matching is crucial.... I will give you that..... - tubesforever 07:14:59 05/07/07 (2)

Massive is as massive does - Fretless 12:38:54 05/07/07 (0)

but.... - analog guy 09:49:06 05/07/07 (0)

Follow Ups

Massive is as massive does - Fretless 12:38:54 05/07/07 (0)

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