Justin & Jerry's Hifi Blog

[jandl100]

Yes, I think my 150ii is a bit lighter in construction. It has a largely wooden baseplate/plinth rather than the dense rubber composite sandwich of the 1210.
I think that affects the character of the sound as well as it's susceptibility to acoustic feedback (see below).

It is still quite a lump, mind you, no featherweight.

If I tap the plinth with stylus down there is a bit of a whoom from the speakers. It's not dead silent. I'm pretty sure my old 1210 was quieter in that regard.

[jandl100]

Looking at the specs - the 1210ii is 12.5KG - the 150ii is 10.2Kg - so not a massive (pardon the pun ) difference, but yep the 1210ii is heavier.

[Marco]

Cheers, it's what I suspected. Interesting that you haven't perceived the lack of isolation against feedback as having a negative effect on the sound?

One would've thought so, but of course the most important thing is that the overall sound of the T/T pleases your ears, and obviously it does, so I guess that the feedback 'issue' is moot

What mat are you using on your T/T?

Marco.

[jandl100]

I suspect part of the issue here is our (very) different listening habits. My listening tends not to push the outer dynamic or listening level envelopes , whereas Marco likes to be pinned to the back wall!

[jandl100]

Ah - mats. Yep, a bit of a saga, there.

I started off with my ResoMat - and was horribly disappointed with the sound from my new 150ii. Bland and drab.

A quick experiment confirmed my suspicion - flick the 150ii platter with a finger nail and tinggggggg !

But the solution was readily to hand. On went my hugely lossy Dumpa mat. Yep, much improved. Then on top of that went my lossy Herbie mat. No ting at all now.

The sound was transformed. Sorted!

[jandl100]

I've not (yet) heard any feedback issues that I recognise as such when playing music. Clean and pure.

[Marco]

I suspect part of the issue here is our (very) different listening habits. My listening tends not to push the outer dynamic or listening level envelopes , whereas Marco likes to be pinned to the back wall!

Lol! Most likely... I guess that if you don't listen too loudly, the lack of isolation shouldn't be a problem

Marco.

[Marco]

Ah - mats. Yep, a bit of a saga, there.

I started off with my ResoMat - and was horribly disappointed with the sound from my new 150ii. Bland and drab.

A quick experiment confirmed my suspicion - flick the 150ii platter with a finger nail and tinggggggg !

But the solution was readily to hand. On went my hugely lossy Dumpa mat. Yep, much improved. Then on top of that went my lossy Herbie mat. No ting at all now.

The sound was transformed. Sorted!

Yup, I had a feeling that your choice of mat was going to be crucial!

I suspect that your T/T may also sound rather different, depending on where it is sited, and also respond well to some form of added isolation under the plinth, such as this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ISOKINETIK...item2a2adc2f85


Or this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SILENT-STA...item4d0cc1ca1d

I'd expect either of those to offer a worthwhile sonic upgrade. Why not give one a go and see? Might be an interesting one!

Marco.

[jandl100]

Hmm, OK.

They are just a pretty platform sitting on sorbothane footers?

I have some sorbothane footers in my drawer, I'll have a play with them going under the tt in some fashion later.

I generally don't like what they do to the sound of components, finding they overdamp the sound, but such an accusation has been made against my Dumpa mat (with some justification in some implementations!) and that works mighty fine with the 150ii.

[MartinT]

I've heard that said about sorbothane before, Jerry.

I don't believe you can 'overdamp' equipment by use of sorbothane. All you can do is add successive amounts of isolation (like I do by combining the Technifeet with Isonoes) to kill off the resonances that make you think the sound is more lively. What you end up with is insight, finer detail and a lower noise floor.