[BrianAbington]

http://www.clearaudio.de/_en/lw_Upgrading.php

My Ariston RD-40 is a 3 point turntable. I plan to add some spikes to replace the tiny feet but I was wondering if bracing like this and some wood in addition to the spikes would further improve the quality.

[Douger]

I found that putting children's blocks under the same points as the feet on my Systemdek IIX seemed to help stabilize it. As it is
inexpensive and reversible, you might try it and let us know

[BrianAbington]

i plan to replace the feet with spikes...im wondering if something like this bracing would stiffen up the chassi by connecting the 3 mounting points or if it would be a waste

[Delta Wave]

That all depends on how rigid and/or solid your plinth is, I've never messed with an Ariston deck but if it's anything like the Mission deck in my 2nd system (built like a tank) it would be a waste IMO.

[BaMorin]

http://www.clearaudio.de/_en/lw_Upgrading.php

My Ariston RD-40 is a 3 point turntable. I plan to add some spikes to replace the tiny feet but I was wondering if bracing like this and some wood in addition to the spikes would further improve the quality.

Without knowing how the suspension is attached, that looks to add rigidity to the table base. I have a similar device on my AR, but it attaches to the suspension studs so they all drain top plate/motor energy equally.

[wagnju]

Hi Brian
I have downsized from 4 to 2 Ariston RD 40  .
Brazing like the Clearaudio parts doesn't bring you any plus in performance , I have tried something similar and it didn't do anything positive to the table.
What do you want to achieve with the brazing ?? Imho the table itself is rigid enough and doesn't need any additional brazing.
What helps on this tables to increase performance is a good clean of the bearing and new oil refill , new set of springs (Linn) . New spikes are mainly just for the looks but still better than the original cheap rubber feets .
Give this table a sturdy and heavy platform to stay on (granite , ... or  thick maple ) that will bring the most improvement on the RD 40 for relatively moderate investment .
Juergen

[rcag_ils]

I don't recommend to mess with the springs of the Ariston, not even with the Linn springs, they are not interchangeable sonically. The original Ariston springs are tuned to certain freq for their tables. I installed a set of Linn springs in my RD-11 Superiour, only to put the original springs back in later due to a drastic sonic change in a negative way. Leave it alone.

[wagnju]

I also have 2 RD-11 and agree a little bit on the spring issue but we are talking of the RD-40 a different animal and not to compare with the RD-11 .
Over time the RD-40 springs settle down , depending how much weight you add to the table (mat , heavy tonearm, ...) . The Linn springs fit perfect in the RD-40 !!

[Wayner]

The "Q" value, or overall resonance frequency of sprung tables will be screwed up if you mess with the springs. They have been tuned to get the mechanical noise to an inaudible frequency. Also, using a record weight or clamp, while perhaps calming a record down, may also change the resonance frequency of the entire system and actually make things worse.

rcag_ils is very correct.

Wayner

[BaMorin]

I don't recommend to mess with the springs of the Ariston, not even with the Linn springs, they are not interchangeable sonically. The original Ariston springs are tuned to certain freq for their tables. I installed a set of Linn springs in my RD-11 Superiour, only to put the original springs back in later due to a drastic sonic change in a negative way. Leave it alone.

The springs, if loaded to equal static deflection (compression) as the originals would have resulted in the same exact frequency.  That's the biggest issue when people start modifying suspended decks get into.
The formula for this is F=(10/D)1/2   where F is resonate frequency and D is deflection.  To really simplify this into laymans terms, and i'll use some spring examples vs weight difference,
the linn black spring is 1.65" in static height. To get 3.5hz resonate frequency, it must be mass loaded to a compressed height of 1.32" or 80% of its static height minimum to 1.15" or 70% maximum. Putting Linn black springs onto an AR XA will require the addition of 3.3 pounds of mass distributed evenly around the center of gravity of the subchassis to get to the same resonate frequency as the original AR springs. 

[BrianAbington]

jeez....I wasn't expecting there to be math involved.

My main goal is to make this already awesome sounding turntable even better, it needs a full restoration.

It's been neglected so it is filthy. The grado red cartridge is missing it's stylus so for now I plan to upgrade to a silver stylus and eventually replace the jelco tone arm with something easier to adjust, maybe even go as far as a linear tracking arm if I can get a good price on one.

I am thinking about using slate for the plinth and maybe making a sand box for it to set in and putting the tone arm on an isolated pillar to remove it from the body mount.

Any input for modifying this unit is more than welcome.

[BaMorin]

jeez....I wasn't expecting there to be math involved.

My main goal is to make this already awesome sounding turntable even better, it needs a full restoration.

It's been neglected so it is filthy. The grado red cartridge is missing it's stylus so for now I plan to upgrade to a silver stylus and eventually replace the jelco tone arm with something easier to adjust, maybe even go as far as a linear tracking arm if I can get a good price on one.

I am thinking about using slate for the plinth and maybe making a sand box for it to set in and putting the tone arm on an isolated pillar to remove it from the body mount.

Any input for modifying this unit is more than welcome.

Don't waste your time with the silver stylus, go to the 8MZ stylus.  It's only $10.00 more, but will give you a lot more music.  I tried to remove as much calculus in spring tuning as I could with some basic numbers to achieve.  Moving the arm mount from a rigid coupling to the platter bearing to an independant mount will be a large backwards move. A better arm may mask some of the new issues you face with this. And in my personal experience, Jelco arms aren't a good sonic match for grado carts. They may work in the arm/cart resonate set up, but the sound field really suffers in them.

[BrianAbington]

good to know. I honestly was under the impression that the way the arm mounted had potential to transmit noise. Glad I'm asking before making the changes.

[BaMorin]

good to know. I honestly was under the impression that the way the arm mounted had potential to transmit noise. Glad I'm asking before making the changes.

The suspension is supposed to take all energy, acoustic or mechanical, and filter that down to a single frequency of what the springs are tuned to. That is provided the springs are all tuned to the same frequency.
improperly tuned springs is what gives sprung/hung tables a bad name.

[BrianAbington]

it has the originals...and 2 of the 3 are a bit saggy.

[wagnju]

Hi Brian
Since Wayner and rcag_ils know the RD40 much better than I do , they will give you recommendations about the right springs and where to get them , ...! But be sure what type of arm you want to install as the original springs where tuned for one specific arm only . You know that you also can adjust the springs ??
I will just add some pictures of my 2 RD 40.










good luck and have fun in your restoration.
Juergen

you can also find some more info in the Ariston Forum at the vinylengine website

[Wayner]

I know nothing of the RD-40 table. I do know that if you just blindly start monkeying around with the suspension, you will end up with problems, unless your goal is to restore the suspension to it's original condition.

Wayner

[neobop]

Nowhere to go but up with the suspension of the RD40.    I'd listen to the voice of experience. You could always put the old springs back in, but why would you even consider that?  Defeating the suspension altogether would be preferable IMO. It's one of the worst suspensions I ever saw.  I'm not saying that to make a point, it really is bad. You could try some kind of rubber or sorbothane replacements, but I've never done it.

Hi Brian
I have downsized from 4 to 2 Ariston RD 40  .
Brazing like the Clearaudio parts doesn't bring you any plus in performance , I have tried something similar and it didn't do anything positive to the table.
What do you want to achieve with the brazing ?? Imho the table itself is rigid enough and doesn't need any additional brazing.
What helps on this tables to increase performance is a good clean of the bearing and new oil refill , new set of springs (Linn) . New spikes are mainly just for the looks but still better than the original cheap rubber feets .
Give this table a sturdy and heavy platform to stay on (granite , ... or  thick maple ) that will bring the most improvement on the RD 40 for relatively moderate investment .
Juergen

[BaMorin]

it has the originals...and 2 of the 3 are a bit saggy.

I'm going to venture the "stronger" spring is the one closest to the tonearm mount?

[BrianAbington]

I'm glad I posted here...I'm not total noob when it comes to audio, but apparently I have a lot to learn about suspension turn tables.

I'm open to experimentation if there are things you guys have wanted to try but never did. (as long as it's nothing to expensive)

The front two springs are the saggy ones.

Your two RD's look amazing I really like that linear arm and now that I see that one can be mounted on the original mount that really has me interested. What arms are you using on those?

Here is a link to the photo gallery I have of mine on facebook. It was heavily neglected by my dad before I traded him and it is super dusty. The texturing of the black metal has a lot of dust in it and it actually looks grey in the right light. I want to polish the metal to have more of a flat brushed look than shiny chrome.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.287892667888433.78980.100000031066067&type=3&l=27ab61a9eb

The stylus is missing  because I honestly think one of my sisters friends tried to dj scratch with it and ripped it out. So I'll open it up before ordering a new stylus and if it's mangled inside I'll send it to grado for repair.

When my dad had it in his entertainment stand the 1/4" thick shelf it sat on hummed and vibrated from the motor so I really want to put it on a thick dead plinth. is slate or a hard wood preferable for  a suspension table? I've read about boxes with racquet balls or several inches of sand with the plinth set in the box as being really effective.