Wazoo's Klub-Feet

[The Grand Wazoo]

Well, I was messing around with some bits & bobs the other day, trying to think of what to use for various parts of my Goldring 99 project. I got around to thinking about feet & realised that I've never tried the old chestnut that is the squash ball.

I wondered what sort of weight a set of squash balls would take and how to prevent them rolling around so I bought some to have a play with.

This is what I came up with:

Wazoo's Klub-Feet



I stuck them under my Levinson ML9 power amp simply to see whether they'd take the weight - 36 kgs. The glass bits are from Ikea - £0.49 each. They're candle/tea light holders. The squash ball goes into the wide (tea light) end and the amp's existing rubber foot goes into the narrow (candle) end.

I thought for a turntable, you could drill a hole in the underside of the plinth the diameter of the narrow end with an interference fit. That way, they wouldn't be quite so visually obvious (or ostentatious!) The glass is very thick, so I don't think there'll be any danger of them breaking.

Thirty six kilos squishes the balls down so that the glass bottom is about 1-2 mm off the surface of the shelf!



They definitely do something to the sound - I'm still trying to work this out and I'm a bit surprised really, because I didn't expect much effect on the power amp, but I'd swear the bass is a little better defined and there's a teeny weeny bit more detail.

[MartinT]

There are different grades of squash ball, so I guess you could do a little ball-rolling

[Tim]

There are different grades of squash ball, so I guess you could do a little ball-rolling

[The Grand Wazoo]

There are different grades of squash ball, so I guess you could do a little ball-rolling

Steady Martin..... I thought that comments of that standard were strictly for use by Alex in his welcome comments to new members with odd user names!

[DSJR]

Half-squash balls have been recommended for years I think. Your implentation is sublime I think - well done

There was a turntable in the good old bad old days called the Leak Tru-Speed. I remember very little about it other than the fact that it used squash balls as suspension for the top plate.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Your implentation is sublime I think - well done

Praise indeed, thanks Dave! I think they might work quite well under valve preamps too.

[Alex_UK]

Top work Chris. I've tried squash balls in the past, and thought they worked well under my CD player. I'm all posh now and use Sorbothane Focal Pods, but I doubt there's much difference apart from twenty quid...

Steady Martin..... I thought that comments of that standard were strictly for use by Alex in his welcome comments to new members with odd user names!

- I'm much better behaved these days - I think I scared one or two folks off, so whilst I did love coming up with my "special" introductions, they're now largely consigned to history! Still won't stop me making ball jokes to the rest of you though!

[DSJR]

Thanks to Emporiumshed, who are selling one of these - the original Tru-Speed fitted with what appears to be a version of the Connoisseur SAU2 tonearm.





I wonder where I've seen that motor before?????

[Rare Bird]

Chris i had four Squash balls fitted to my last Garrard '401' plinth, the top board sat directly ontop of em.