Turntable Isolation Sand Box

[MillerLiteScott]

I built a sand box isolation table for my turntable and I finally installed it today. It has a 3/4" MDF base with 3/4" X 5" high oak sides. I painted it black to match my speakers. the box itself weighs @ 15-20 lbs and I added 50 lbs of Home Depot play sand which I dried in the oven. ( Pretty low on the WAF factor).

It has definitely added some weight to the music and I heard some bass that I have never heard before.

I have ordered a piece of 18"X 18" black galaxy granite to sit my table on but I am using the piece of slate I had till it arrives.

Definitely a positive DIY tweak.

Scott

[analog97]

Wow!! I think that is a great idea. That amount of sand will really be effective for your purpose. Just be careful not to mix sand and vinyl!! That would be a lethal combination.:D:D

[strider]

Damn, don't know how I missed this thread. Looks real good. I'm curious to hear your thoughts after you get the granite for it.

I was hoping you didn't get sand yet, I've got about half a Bobcat scoop of mason's sand sitting in my yard at the moment.

[dorokusai]

That looks cool Scott, now make one big enough to wrestle in and its ON!

[MillerLiteScott]

Thanks Ben but the sand only set me back about $3.50.


Mark I thought you were more of a Jello wrestling type guy. Or was it puddin':eek:

I am very pleased with the results of this sand box. If I tap my finger on the side of the sand box you can barely here it, before it was a very load sound if I tapped my finger on the shelf. In addition to the additional weight and power to the music I noticed quite a bit more seperation in instruments and layering of vocals.

A nice tweak in my book.

Scott

[Gaara]

Sounds like a TNT Sandblaster. I've made sandblasters for cdps, my Gallos, and my loveseat all with good effect.

[F1nut]

Like I said on the phone, you've got a lot of faith in those supports. ;)

[treitz3]

Damn, no doubt. Cool though. I might have to give this one a whirl. I'm not pleased with where mine is currently at which is on the top shelf of a metal stand sitting on glass with some Sorbothane risers. When the wife does laundry, I can't spin vinyl. [LR is behind the stand]

[Doctor R]

Certainly looks stable and a great solid isolation base, but I vote that it can only be used in a "cat free" home.

[MillerLiteScott]

Definitely no cats here.

[MillerLiteScott]

My latest addition of an 18x18 Black Galaxy granite tile. It fills the box up better than the piece of slate I had and looks a lot better.

I have @ 70lbs od sand in the box and you can wrap your fingers on the box while it is playing and it is barely audible.

I am going to mount the box on some better wall brackets over the weekend. Jesse scared me.:D

Scott

[danger boy]

this would so not go over well in my house. my cat would use it as her litterbox :eek: :p

[shadowofnight]

this would so not go over well in my house. my cat would use it as her litterbox :eek: :p


Haha....yeah, we saw what Sal's cat did to his radiator...imagine if it had a go at this :)

[strider]

That's a nice piece of stone, looks really good. One of these days I'll have to post my shelf, you've been bringing your "A" game lately.:D

[MillerLiteScott]

When I put my new piece of granite in the box I also added about 20 more pounds of sand to raise the level to get the TT to sit up higher above the box. The additional weight of the sand and the tile made my HD sourced mounting system seem a bit wambly.

So I mounted my isolation sand box utilizing another Home Depot sourced wall/shelf brackets that Strider showed me one day when we ran into each other at HD. Thanks Ben.

Over the weekend I found that at volume levels slightly above my normal listening level I was getting some resonance. I believed it was from the stock aluminum cones under my TT against the granite tile. I then went digging for some of those little round metal discs with the indent in them for the point of a cone to sit it. While digging I found some self addhesive foam pads to stick on the bottom of the round discs. I thought perfect. I stuck them on the discs, put them under the TT cone feet and cued up another LP and good bit of the life was sucked out of the music. I tried the little discs with out the foam and I still had the resonance. I then used some contact cement to stick some left over accoustiblok material that I had from a job. Accoustiblok is a dense rubber material. It seems to have done the trick. I am very pleased with the weight of the music and the detail the sand box, shelf, and granite tile have brought forward.

I was amazed at how the foam just sucked the life out of the music.

YMMV.

Scott