Turntable advice

Oh that is the hardest part!

 

Indeed! Never mind all that other stuff: try it and listen

Ahh. OK.... So... buy something inexpensive with "Delivery Tomorrow"

 

Going to bump this question again as I am now actively planning and would like some thoughts. Internet research keeps pointing to panzerholz, picawood, resin homebrews, or mdf/corian sandwiches to dampen the AF out of things. Others say too much dampening creates a dead sound. I am thinking of this richlite/birch ply as it seems to have satisfy the composite sandwich with good but not crazy dampening. https://www.richlite.com/product-page/stratum-birch-black-diamond-sample

Carrying on, I am going to make a plinth like so...

I found some nearly 3" thick super chunky cherry and i am making what will essentially be an outside frame with a groove cut into the inside that the mounting plate will slide into. The main TT chassis then has 4 springs in each corner that sit in holes on that plate.

 

That looks great!

I'm sure there is more hype-fi about turntables than any other audio kit! But beauty matters. Beauty will make your life better. And who knows: it might even improve the sound.

Mass might matter. I don't know, I was never very technical about such things. In my humble opinion, the thing that matters most with a turntable is protecting it from external vibrations. A simple shelf screwed to a solid wall would be more effective at that than half a ton of granite which is sitting on the same floor as a dozen rockers are leaping up and down on. This is a thousand miles from audiophoolery: it's music versus, worst-case jumping stylus! That's a difference everybody can hear.

If I was doing turntables today, and if I was doing it with some money in the pocket (say... as much as I might have spent on a lens in recent years) I'd go with an isolation table as well as a solid support. That is something that I consider total bollocks for the electronics (other than microphonic valves, maybe) but not for a turntable. Ideally, the deck would be isolated from the plinth anyway, but I would guess that your Dual, and every turntable I've had the pleasure of cohabiting with, is simply suspended on four springs with levelling screws.

Get it set up and playing, and muse about this stuff as you enjoy the music.