[GentleBender]

Has the sound changed at all with the new shelf?

I haven't had enough time to listen since adding the additional material to the shelf. Catching up at work after my vacation has me going in early and by the time I'm done with everything I'm extra tired from the time change here. However, I still make time for one side of a record. 

 I may try to do a comparison, but that table is heavy with that TNT platter and I hate fighting to get the ground wires attached behind the phono stage.   The tonearm has two separate grounds and my anti-static brush has one too, when I try to attach the third, one of the three jump off. Times like that make me wish I had three arms...

[GentleBender]

Granite surface plate. 18X18X3 inch thick. 108lbs. All surfaces polished, no dirt, grit or BS. Parallel, FLAT and square. Sold by Grizzly through Amazon (free shipping via freight). $113.00
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DD0KI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

Stops all vibrations in my setup. Rests on Sorbothane bushings. http://www.mcmaster.com/#sorbothane/=zo4erv

Probably make your rack top heavy though.... Maybe a new rack............ light weights need not apply...

I love it! Would definitely need a new rack for that though. I would need the 24x18 and that thing weighs about 150lbs so the top shelf would have over 218lbs on it. It would crush whatever it fell on including the porcelain tile floor!  That thing is awesome though.

[ACHiPo]

I may try to do a comparison, but that table is heavy with that TNT platter and I hate fighting to get the ground wires attached behind the phono stage.   The tonearm has two separate grounds and my anti-static brush has one too, when I try to attach the third, one of the three jump off. Times like that make me wish I had three arms...

Sounds like it may be time for the power of positive thinking, i.e. "I'm positive this really heavy and hard to move thing makes the sound SOOO much better I'm never, ever moving it." 

[sunnydaze]

Years ago I built a turntable stand with a Grizzly 3" granite surface plate.  I also bought the accompanying machinist stand because I had nothing substantial enough to site it on.  Put a few MDF shelves on the inside to hold other gear. 

Massive and rock solid, that's for sure!  Great for non-sprung tables.  Ended up selling it, not because I had a problem with its performance, only because I got tired of looking at the industrial nature of it in my LR.

I would not recommend this for your current rack.  I think it might make it bow or sway.  Not to mention, the massive weight makes it a real bitch to work with.  Sonically, I think you'd be just as happy with nice thick butcher block.  Nicer aestetics, too.

[Bob2]

Lots of different stands out there. Not all look industrial nor are they expensive.
Just a thought...

[sunnydaze]

 I may try to do a comparison, but that table is heavy with that TNT platter and I hate fighting to get the ground wires attached behind the phono stage.   The tonearm has two separate grounds and my anti-static brush has one too, when I try to attach the third, one of the three jump off. Times like that make me wish I had three arms...

When you have multiple ground wires to attach in a tight space, there are some easy solutions:

(1)   attach any crappy old piece of zip cord to your preamp grounding post.  Call this "new wire"

(2)   route new wire to a convenient location on your rack.  You can make it tidy w/ some duct tape.

(3)   put an alligator clip on new wire end.  Also, strip off some insulation behind the clip.

(4)   attach gear ground wires to this new wire end.

If gear ground wire is bare, attach an alligator to it, and clamp this to new wire bare end.

If gear ground wire terminates in a "u" connector, attach the "u" to new wire alligator clip.

In my rig I route new wire to the front of one of my shelves so it can serve double duty as a human discharge station in dry winter conditions.  Touch it before anything else in the rig, no more static shocks.

Oviously, you can locate the new wire wherever you want, and the length can be whatever you need.

Your preamp's ground post should be able to accommodate this new wire,  plus a coupla others.

Here's another method I use that works great if your preamp ground post has a hole in the middle -- the kindof hole that accepts bananas.  Get a few of these:

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?p_id=9436&gclid=CjwKEAiAmeyxBRCJxoKk7IWLl2oSJABvZjhhGXwQjuD_jjxS55ySMnZNYHhNkEbRuZ1m1Gdi_i2zWBoCRvnw_wcB

Get cheapest ones you can find, definitely not BS audiophile grade!  Attach one of these to each ground wire (it will accept bare wire and U connector), then plug one into ground post.  The adapters have a hole on the end to accept other bananas, so they can be "stacked".  With these, several ground wires can be attached / detached to a single ground post quickly and easily.

If preamp ground post hole accepts only bare wire, I'd go with the new wire method.

[GentleBender]

Sorry to gush, but I love this site and all the helpful people here. You guys have been a tremendous help wading through this ocean of equipment and opinions. Sorry if I haven't thanked you individually and even if I did not go in the direction you pointed, I have spent time looking into it. Please don't take it personally.

Sunnydaze's last post is one that makes me go duh! I could have set that up in less time than fighting with the current setup.  I don't mind an industrial look, just look at my setup (will be updated after I have time to clean things up). The machinist stand may be just what I am looking for. I want something minimal that will minimize interaction with the speakers. I was thinking the machinist rack with the 24x18x3 slab of granite for the TT and two smaller slabs to place on the floor with sorbothane under them to isolate them and placing the amp and phono stage on. 

Sounds like it may be time for the power of positive thinking, i.e. "I'm positive this really heavy and hard to move thing makes the sound SOOO much better I'm never, ever moving it." 

Maybe...  I did order a couple Herbie products so I will have to move things around and with the ground wire suggestion from Sunnydaze, I will do a very unscientific listening test between stock shelf and the "modified" shelf with Herbies under the granite.

[sunnydaze]

Alrighty then, time to go shopping!      

These are the ones I got:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/18-x-24-x-3-Granite-Surface-Plate-No-Ledge/G9654

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Surface-Plate-Stand-18-x-24-/G9658

About $300 in total, and half of that is the shipping charge!  If you are somewhat handy you can cheaply add some shelves in the void for phono stage and other gear.  Under $400 is actually very reasonable for a nice solid 3 or 4 shelf rack.  Plus, there's also some space under the bottom shelf.

You could also build a small threaded rod rack (or cut down and re-purpose your current one?), to put on the inside.

It was quite a few years ago, but if IIRC it was freight shipped to a local warehouse location, and I had to go pick it up.  I guess too heavy / expensive for Fedex and UPS.

I suggest you start eating your Wheaties now!   

If you go this route, I offer this info........

Once the plate is in place on the stand, it's almost impossible to get your fingers under it to lift it off again.  I learned this the hard way.  Only way I could get it off was by slipping a thin blade screwdriver underneath and levering it up.  But be careful not to chip the edge!!

So I would put something between them to create a lil gap.  Rubber bumpers, stick on felt protection discs,  Herbies grunge busters,  etc.  To remove plate, into the gap I would slide two leather belts.  Then you can lift it off using the belts -- with a friend, or solo if you eat enough Wheaties.        

As a younger man I could manage this setup, but TBH my creaking knees and achey back are glad to be rid of it.  I guess if you leave things in place, not much of an issue.   But I was never the sort to leave well enough alone.     

[THROWBACK]

OK, here's one more. Gingko (http://www.gingkoaudio.com/). I had a perfectly wonderful Mapleshade base, but it (and my homemade turntable cover) would not fit when I added a second arm/cartridge combo for mono. I swapped it out for a Gingko combo. Yes, it was gorgeous; but I did not expect a sonic improvement. I was wrong. It looked better and sounded better. Highly recommended.

[GentleBender]

Alrighty then, time to go shopping!      

These are the ones I got:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/18-x-24-x-3-Granite-Surface-Plate-No-Ledge/G9654

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Surface-Plate-Stand-18-x-24-/G9658

About $300 in total, and half of that is the shipping charge!  If you are somewhat handy you can cheaply add some shelves in the void for phono stage and other gear.  Under $400 is actually very reasonable for a nice solid 3 or 4 shelf rack.  Plus, there's also some space under the bottom shelf.

You could also build a small threaded rod rack (or cut down and re-purpose your current one?), to put on the inside.

It was quite a few years ago, but if IIRC it was freight shipped to a local warehouse location, and I had to go pick it up.  I guess too heavy / expensive for Fedex and UPS.

I suggest you start eating your Wheaties now!   

If you go this route, I offer this info........

Once the plate is in place on the stand, it's almost impossible to get your fingers under it to lift it off again.  I learned this the hard way.  Only way I could get it off was by slipping a thin blade screwdriver underneath and levering it up.  But be careful not to chip the edge!!

So I would put something between them to create a lil gap.  Rubber bumpers, stick on felt protection discs,  Herbies grunge busters,  etc.  To remove plate, into the gap I would slide two leather belts.  Then you can lift it off using the belts -- with a friend, or solo if you eat enough Wheaties.        

As a younger man I could manage this setup, but TBH my creaking knees and achey back are glad to be rid of it.  I guess if you leave things in place, not much of an issue.   But I was never the sort to leave well enough alone.     

No shopping yet. I need to get through Christmas and build up a bit of audio funds again first. I had a little extra since I didn't get the cartridge due to damage and put some of that toward the Herbies. But those tips are appreciated! Things I would not have thought of for sure. Amazon Prime ships those granite bases! Two day shipping on those monsters is hard to believe.

I think I know why Herbies have not posted anything in a while, they are moving office locations.

Anyone else have any experience with the Gingko Cloud platforms?

[sunnydaze]

Yeh,  make your own!    Cut some holes in wood,  acrylic sheets,  whatever.   Then drop in the orbs of your choice: squash balls,  tennis balls,  golf balls,  bowling balls.   

The tweak possibilities are endless.

[kbuzz3]

Here's one more just to confuse you-double check the top plate dimensions if considering it...looks a wee bit small

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/linephono/turntable-station-audio-furniture-solution