Turntable placement help required

[Leehallam]

Could someone give me some advice please.
I have ordered a rp3 with the TTpsu and i will be collecting it on Saturday 15th. I have just read the WHF review recommending to place it as far away from The speakers as possible. My problem is it will be Placed on a atacama equinox unit pretty close to one of my speakers. How bad will this be? Is it workable?or should I put my turntable hopes on hold until I move everything around again.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Lee

 

[nopiano]

Hi Lee

I suspect that the advice, though quite correct, is worrying you needlessly. It is possible that feedback from bass frequencies though your speakers will disturb the unsprung RP3, which will blur the sound at high volmes. But at lower levels it is unlikely to cause any issues, especially as you have a decent stand. Make sure the Atacama is dead level, and firmly spiked into your floor and you should be fine.

If you are listening to string quartets rather than heavy metal it is less likely to be an issue, but if you play anything with very strong bass at high volume you might have a a bit of feedback. Just try different volumes to see if it gets noticeably worse at a particular point - by which time I suspect it will be too loud anyway.

There are some tweaks that you can make to speaker and TT positioning if this happens, so come back to us if that arises. But don't be put off getting your lovely Rega!

 

[Al ears]

Lee, nopiano is quite right. My turntable is unsprung, much as your RP3 is, and placed on an identical rack between my speakers. Neither speaker is more than 2.5ft from this rack and I suffer no problems unless volume is cranked up to anti-sociable levels. Try your set up as suggested and fear not!

 

[Anonymous]

The general rule for turntables is to place them on something lightweight and rigid, like a small coffee table for example. A few years ago Ikea Lack tables were highly praised as a turntable support and we have even supplied customers with them, they also cost very little. The lighter the table the less energy it stores and being made from non-metal has no ringing. Rega decks have no suspension as such and are more likely to feed back as a result - remember that a stylus is capable of reading movements down to millionths of an inch ! Decks with suspension are less likely to feed back, but nontheless benefit from a separate lightweight table of its own. Possibly the best compromise would be to place the deck at the side of the main stand on a small table. Nearby loudspeakers will obviously vibrate the deck, usually making the bass boomy and generally thickening the sound. Rega used to recommend an alcove shelf, with the shelf just resting on the supports not screwed to it. This is to avoid coupling the deck to the wall mass, an even worse situation as the house is subject to sub-sonic vibration from traffic, etc. You could experiment with a small table and then on your Atacama to hear the difference and decide which way to go.

 

[Leehallam]

Thank you for your responses. I have not taken delivery of the RP3 am I better going for sprug turntable will this be less likely to be effected.

 

[Al ears]

The answer to that has to be yes. However, the turntable could prove trickier to set up initially and to be honest I cannot think of a sprung turntable, that you could get for Rega money, that would better it.

 

[lindsayt]

Traditionally, Rega TT's = wallshelf for best results.

Could you put yours on a wallshelf?

 

[iemslie]

I'd be inclined to stick with your original plan. RP3 on unit near speakers nice and level.

There's every chance that you'll be more than happy with the results, so try not to worry about it until your all set up.

Play a few records and If something's amiss, you'll become aware of it pretty soon and can tackle it using the advice above.

Hope this helps

 

[MajorFubar]

Thank you for your responses. I have not taken delivery of the RP3 am I better going for sprug turntable will this be less likely to be effected.

Does you house have wooden floors? Sprung TTs can have their own sets of problems in houses with wooden floors. Wall mounting is the ultimate answer in that case. Unless you live literally yards from a busy railway line or a motorway, or beneath the flight-path of low-flying aircraft, I wouldn't worry too much about subsonic rumble being transmitted up the wall. Unless you've mastered levitation, your biggest enemy with wooden floors + a sprung TT will be footfalls and the vibrations they send up the cabinet's legs.

Of course if you have concrete floors you can ignore pretty much all I've just typed and instead accept my deep envy.

 

[Leehallam]

I picked up my RP3 yesterday with the TT PSU.

Placed it beside the speaker as original plan on the atacama Equinox.

Balancing the tone arm was not easy as it keeps moving but got there in the end. Played a few records and needed to back off the tracking force to 1.5g to get the best sound, at 1.75 the voices were breaking up and muffled.

Played all 4 sides of Pink Floyd The Wall & my original press of Jeff Buckley Grace it sounded excellent I am very happy with the Rega RP3.

Thankfully the speaker doesnot seem to be effecting the sound at the volume i enjoy listening.

I am so pleased i got the power supply i could not imagine needing to take off the platter and moving the belt to play 45rpm.

Thanks for all you help

Lee

 

[Leehallam]

I picked up my RP3 yesterday with the TT PSU.

Placed it beside the speaker as original plan on the atacama Equinox.

Balancing the tone arm was not easy as it keeps moving but got there in the end. Played a few records and needed to back off the tracking force to 1.5g to get the best sound, at 1.75 the voices were breaking up and muffled.

Played all 4 sides of Pink Floyd The Wall & my original press of Jeff Buckley Grace it sounded excellent I am very happy with the Rega RP3.

Thankfully the speaker doesnot seem to be effecting the sound at the volume i enjoy listening.

I am so pleased i got the power supply i could not imagine needing to take off the platter and moving the belt to play 45rpm.

Thanks for all you help

Lee

 

[nopiano]

Good to read a happy outcome, Lee! And glad the advice was sound too.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_10153520467700848]

Hope I can Just jump in here Guys.

On advice from a friend I built a shelf into an alcove specifically for my Turntable. It is Near where one of my speakers sits however its not reallt crossed my mind till I made a significant speaker upgrade. The speaker sits about 37cm from the turn table and a bit below it. Ive angled it away from the turn table as much as I guess I can. What do you guys think?

Also, concerning wall vibration etc. The shelf is made from timber and MDF sheet. it is hollow. Should I look at further insulating the TT. I havent had any issues as yet with playback, but im considering getting some sorbothane feet for the TT. Will this help protect it?

Heres a pic

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/WoundTrauma/nook.jpg

Thanks guys

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

5 year old thread Mr Ruffles.

 

[BigH]

Hope I can Just jump in here Guys.

On advice from a friend I built a shelf into an alcove specifically for my Turntable. It is Near where one of my speakers sits however its not reallt crossed my mind till I made a significant speaker upgrade. The speaker sits about 37cm from the turn table and a bit below it. Ive angled it away from the turn table as much as I guess I can. What do you guys think?

Also, concerning wall vibration etc. The shelf is made from timber and MDF sheet. it is hollow. Should I look at further insulating the TT. I havent had any issues as yet with playback, but im considering getting some sorbothane feet for the TT. Will this help protect it?

Heres a pic

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb225/WoundTrauma/nook.jpg

Thanks guys

Sorbothane may well help but there are other things you can do. Have a read of this: http://www.barrydiamentaudio.com/vibration.htm

Its quite cheap to do. Barry is a sound engineer, said to have produced some of the best sounding cds for groups such as Led Zepp. If not plyboard instead of mdf may improve the isolation. Play some music with a lot of bass at high volume and see if you have any problems. Even if you can't hear any problems reducing vibrations should improve the sound quality.