RC cherry plinth and 401 motor heat

[da2222]

Hi Guys

I'm seriously considering buying a Russ Collinson cherry plinth for my 401 but am a little concerned about the space (or lack of) for the motor as it relates to the possibility of overheating. Living in Italy the temperatures do get high in summer... Am I over thinking this or is it worthy of consideration?

Also, have any of you compared the sonic qualities of the RC solid cherry plinth with his Classic one (layered ply with hardwood top)? I'm undecided which of the two to go for. Thanks very much!

[montesquieu]

I had one for my previous 401, going back 10 or so years, with an early Thomas Schick arm (in fact there's a pic of it on Russ's web site - reproduced below). Never had any hassles with mine admittedly in not so sunny Berkshire. But I'm sure if you have concerns he'd open up the aperture for you.

I sold this in favour of a Townshend Rock Reference, followed by Voyd The Voyd (3 motor) but went back to an idler after a year or two (TD124, now Schoppered) and have stuck with that ever since.

[tlscapital]

Hi Guys

I'm seriously considering buying a Russ Collinson cherry plinth for my 401 but am a little concerned about the space (or lack of) for the motor as it relates to the possibility of overheating. Living in Italy the temperatures do get high in summer... Am I over thinking this or is it worthy of consideration?

Such considerations can only be answered by a ventilation system if ever... Are you planning to keep it running continuously for 24 hours to cause such heat-up ? My guess is that such thick plinth isolate some it from heat changes as well. You're not going to sunbathe your tutrntable I hope... LOL !

Also, have any of you compared the sonic qualities of the RC solid cherry plinth with his Classic one (layered ply with hardwood top)? I'm undecided which of the two to go for. Thanks very much!

A plinth doesn't have "sonic qualities" as such. Yet one can refer to the "sonic signature" of a (whole) turntable. But I get your point. The purpose of a plinth is to isolate the cartridge signal from external interferences and through it's mass give it enough inertia to allow better "trouble free" stylus/cartridge tracking.

Depending on the rest of your phono chain, if yours is of the "clear" and "dynamic" kind, likely you don't want to over dampen your turntable as this will muffle the sound and might kill some or a lot of the "clarity" and the "dynamic" of your beloved sound.

It's hard to tell before hand and I am with my suspended sub-chassis Thorens turntable. Any changes that tends to muffle my sound is immediately reversed. Some seem to need or prefer to damp their transcription Garrard 301 & 401 turntable plinths where others fix them on an "open desk" support with the "open-air" bottom...

Two very different school and approach and I guess "sonic signature"... Experiment is the best way for one to know what suits him best.

[da2222]

Thanks Tom, how did you find the 401 in that particular plinth, were you happy with the sonic signature?

I had one for my previous 401, going back 10 or so years, with an early Thomas Schick arm (in fact there's a pic of it on Russ's web site - reproduced below). Never had any hassles with mine admittedly in not so sunny Berkshire. But I'm sure if you have concerns he'd open up the aperture for you.

[da2222]

Such considerations can only be answered by a ventilation system if ever... Are you planning to keep it running continuously for 24 hours to cause such heat-up ?

Hi Tim, perhaps I should have elaborated; humidity is very high in the north of Italy so although my turntable will *clearly* not be any where near the sun, temperatures indoors can get up to 30 degrees. I've heard 401s run hot, hence my concern...


A plinth doesn't have "sonic qualities" as such. Yet one can refer to the "sonic signature" of a (whole) turntable. But I get your point. The purpose of a plinth is to isolate the cartridge signal from external interferences and through it's mass give it enough inertia to allow better "trouble free" stylus/cartridge tracking.

Depending on the rest of your phono chain, if yours is of the "clear" and "dynamic" kind, likely you don't want to over dampen your turntable as this will muffle the sound and might kill some or a lot of the "clarity" and the "dynamic" of your beloved sound.

It's hard to tell before hand and I am with my suspended sub-chassis Thorens turntable. Any changes that tends to muffle my sound is immediately reversed. Some seem to need or prefer to damp their transcription Garrard 301 & 401 turntable plinths where others fix them on an "open desk" support with the "open-air" bottom...

Two very different school and approach and I guess "sonic signature"... Experiment is the best way for one to know what suits him best.

Thanks for the input and yes, experimentation I suppose is the only real way to find out though like most I'd rather not have to spend 1000s doing so :-)

[montesquieu]

Thanks Tom, how did you find the 401 in that particular plinth, were you happy with the sonic signature?

To be honest, it was my first idler, my first 12 inch arm and my first removable headshell setup (which was great and I promptly went nuts trying out cartridges) - I had had 25 years of an LP12/Ittok before that. So at the time I really had no benchmark for comparison, save to say that I really liked what it did in comparison to the old fruitbox - tons of drive, far better bass and an easy musicality. It was right at the start of a long learning curve for me.

I can only say I really liked it, and very soon after it went I wished I hadn't been so hasty chopping it in for a Rock Reference (it had been hearing a well-set up Rock that had weaned me off the LP12 so I thought I was doing the right thing when the RR came up - I wouldn't make such a radical move these days without a proper comparison first).

I own a 401 again now (bought from Ali Tait on this forum, now in a smaller but deeper layered cherry plinth, with a Phonomac-fettled AT1503 Mk1 broadcast arm on it), and while for my classical stuff I still prefer the TD124, the 401 is a great deck and always very musical and enjoyable especially with jazz and rock. Still an out and out bargain considering what some companies are charging for a plank of painted ply with a motor bolted on the bottom.

I'm not sure I'm really the right person to be discussing whether/how varieties of cherry wood or marine varnish impact the sound - it may well be that an expensively-made plinth does indeed add x per cent to the sound quality but you have to draw the line somewhere and I don't have limitless funds to spend on hifi. Russ has done quite a lot of bits and pieces over the years for me (from plinths to speaker cabinets), he isn't dogmatic in his approach and always happy to accommodate requests, he works fast, his prices are affordable, the work is decent quality and he's never let me down. Can't really say more than that.

[Vrajbasi]

The 401 in a Collinson plinth is decent for the money it is not likely you will find anything thats as well finished and hes a true gentleman to deal with I had one and was very pleased at the time, I actually preffer sonically the bastin plinth but does look rather heath robinson by comparison and takes for ages to get one I like the idea of separating the motor etc. If you want a overall good value package you can go wrong. I personally would prefer a Rock Reference to a 401 but maybe thats just me I like what they do but why should we all like the same thing life would be very boring if we did. It has to be said that a 401 collinson plinth is a lovely thing indeed and way better than most things out there I am sure you will get lots of enjoyment out of it. If I had more money to spend or waste there are other plinths but hay who cares.

[WESTLOWER]

I have a Collinson 401 and I’m very happy indeed with it. I have no other reference. As Tom says, not unlimited funds and I agree with Nari, I think you’d be hard pushed to find a better plinth for the 401 at the price point Russ pitches at. Couldn’t be happier with money spent.

[da2222]

Thanks Adam, good to hear!

[da2222]

I have a Collinson 401 and I’m very happy indeed with it. I have no other reference. As Tom says, not unlimited funds and I agree with Nari, I think you’d be hard pushed to find a better plinth for the 401 at the price point Russ pitches at. Couldn’t be happier with money spent.

In correspondence with Russ he says the sonic signature of the cherry plinth edges towards 'warm/vintage' while the birch ply errs towards a is a cleaner, crisper tone. I wonder if that's most users experience?