Hello all you dedicated sound technologists… I could really use a bit of your thinking on an issue I’m having with my turntable. Here’s what’s going on.
When I gently drop the needle of my Technics deck (SL-100C) on an album, I’m greeted by almost silence. However, it seems like the moment the least bit of vibration hits my deck (say a footfall on wood floors), I’m punished with a growing vibration from my speakers (Warfedale Lintons + SVS SB-1000 Pros) that starts below my hearing range (I almost feel it coming) and takes off until I need to either lift the needle or filter out sub 100hz frequencies (I’ll explain below).
My setup:
Technics —> (RCA In) Waxwing (Optical Out) —> (Optical In) WiiM Ultra (RCA Out) —> NCx500 monoblocks —> Speakers.
The vibration through my speakers occurs when the deck is both on and off as well as both plugged in and unplugged.
I believe the vibrations are in the 70hz to 100hz range because the Waxwing allows me to configure its Lo setting (Butterworth filter) to remove a range of low frequency signals. As I go from its default of 25hz up through 70hz the vibration remains unchanged. However, when I hit 70hz it seems to reduce somewhat and then disappear when I filter at 100hz.
Thinking it could be a tonearm dampening issue, I installed a liquid dampening paddle on the tonearm. It’s made no discernible difference.
My next tactic is going to be to wrap the tonearm in plumber’s tape (carbon fiber). I’ve read several posts that this may help reduce tonearm vibrations.
If that fails, my next todo would be to install a wall mounted shelf for the deck. Unfortunately, my room is quite small so my placement options are limited. The deck either needs to stay where it is, but on a shelf, or move to the other side of the room which would be … suboptimal.
A couple of other points. Both the speakers and the deck are on decoupling stands. I’ve attached a (messy) pic so that you can see what I mean about placement options.
I’m guessing that there is something going on that’s noob simple and I’m just not getting it. Some sort of acoustic feedback loop or some such. My worst case scenario is that the speakers are too close to the turntable as that would mean moving the deck across the room which is a nontrivial event (doable, but a pita). My acoustics are a challenge, but that’s a different saga.
Thanks in advance……… I sincerely appreciate your help.
When I gently drop the needle of my Technics deck (SL-100C) on an album, I’m greeted by almost silence. However, it seems like the moment the least bit of vibration hits my deck (say a footfall on wood floors), I’m punished with a growing vibration from my speakers (Warfedale Lintons + SVS SB-1000 Pros) that starts below my hearing range (I almost feel it coming) and takes off until I need to either lift the needle or filter out sub 100hz frequencies (I’ll explain below).
My setup:
Technics —> (RCA In) Waxwing (Optical Out) —> (Optical In) WiiM Ultra (RCA Out) —> NCx500 monoblocks —> Speakers.
The vibration through my speakers occurs when the deck is both on and off as well as both plugged in and unplugged.
I believe the vibrations are in the 70hz to 100hz range because the Waxwing allows me to configure its Lo setting (Butterworth filter) to remove a range of low frequency signals. As I go from its default of 25hz up through 70hz the vibration remains unchanged. However, when I hit 70hz it seems to reduce somewhat and then disappear when I filter at 100hz.
Thinking it could be a tonearm dampening issue, I installed a liquid dampening paddle on the tonearm. It’s made no discernible difference.
My next tactic is going to be to wrap the tonearm in plumber’s tape (carbon fiber). I’ve read several posts that this may help reduce tonearm vibrations.
If that fails, my next todo would be to install a wall mounted shelf for the deck. Unfortunately, my room is quite small so my placement options are limited. The deck either needs to stay where it is, but on a shelf, or move to the other side of the room which would be … suboptimal.
A couple of other points. Both the speakers and the deck are on decoupling stands. I’ve attached a (messy) pic so that you can see what I mean about placement options.
I’m guessing that there is something going on that’s noob simple and I’m just not getting it. Some sort of acoustic feedback loop or some such. My worst case scenario is that the speakers are too close to the turntable as that would mean moving the deck across the room which is a nontrivial event (doable, but a pita). My acoustics are a challenge, but that’s a different saga.
Thanks in advance……… I sincerely appreciate your help.