Any idler driven turntable should be free from
vibration or rumble before building a plinth since a heavy plinth is not
a cure for a worn out idler wheel or mal adjustment.
I used my TD124
for several years on a stock box type plinth and my 301 spent months on a
single layer of 3/4" plywood while I made sure it was working up to factory specifications.
Turntable restoration sites:
Only then did I avail of the benefits of a heavy plinth which in my experience serve to dampen the last vestiges of
vibration from the heavy duty motors employed
in idler drive design.
My choice of using layered plywood evolved from my open baffle project wherein I purposely avoided the damped everything approach. Besides I got used to working with the material. ;) I decided to make the plinth 20-30% heavier than the turntable assembly, not very scientific either. ;)
Construction is very simple, it is a sandwich layering [anywhere between 5-7 layers] of 3/4" Birch or Fir plywood boards clamped overnight using hide glue which is the preferred adhesive of violin makers. Using a jigsaw, I cut the first two or three layers based on the mounting template of the turntable and once the proper clearance [depth] is attained I usually leave the two bottom layers solid except at the arm mounting positions which should be pre-determined along with the motor board cutout.
Fortunately my local lumber yard cut the boards evenly so that the sides square up nicely and only a touch up with a hand plane and sander is necessary to smooth things out.
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| My 301 plinth 24"W x 24"L x 7 layers of 3/4: plywood |
Pictures of 301 plinths built by
my SETUP buddies.
Living proof wood veneered MDF also works.
A custom base for a
TD124 built using scrap pieces of Philippine Mahogany and other indigenous hard
wood glued together.
Some people claim the best material to build a plinth is
using different types of hard wood glued together which is supposedly the
Shindo approach in building his plinth.
Have fun and happy listening!
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