We've been approached by the local music aficionado and highly demanding audiophile with the request to design and manufacture a plinth for his beloved Garrard 401 in the style of our Dostoyevsky DCX turntable model; several Baltic Birch plywood layers bonded together, balanced and even mass distribution, high level of vibration control, etc.
Creating a massive Baltic Birch plywood plinth and applying our turntable design principles in the same time was a highly demanding task. Baltic Birch plywood is relatively "lively" material, and vibration control in a such a massive block made of Baltic Birch plywood is not an easy task. Further, some design restrictions conditioned by the original Garrard metal plinth design and how it's fixed to the rest of the table brought design difficulties and some compromise.
Design was done by the help of the 3D CAD modeling software, applying even mass distribution throughout. Further, rubber-cork washers of different sizes and shapes were strategical used when fixing the Garrard 401 massive metal plinth to the plywood plinth for the better vibration control. Furthermore, two different arm-boards, one made of aluminum, and one made of Acrylic, were designed and manufactured, following the idea to use the heavier aluminum one for the heavier tone-arms, and the lighter Acrylic one for the lighter tone-arms.
After the designing was finished we engaged our partner company N.N. Acoustics to manufacture the plywood plinth itself. Thankfully to their expertise and extensive experience in the Baltic Birch plywood manufactured loudspeakers, they did a great job!
We were more than pleased with the end results, and mostly rewarding was a grin on the face of our client when he heard the sound of his Garrard 401/Jelco 750/Koetsu combination, once the turntable was ready and installed in his audio system.
Total cost of this commissioned project was around EUR 800.00, where the total sum can be split 50/50 between the costs of the materials and manufacturing and the design and testing expenses.
