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Elac 50H...how to make it stop skipping?

vinyldavid

vinyldavid

Collectorius Giganticus
Subscriber
my Elac 50H is growing on me...which is a nice thing.

But, it has a terrible skipping problem, whenever I walk/move around my room, it sends the arm skipping over a few grooves. The base is a custom job that could probably be bettered, but are there any other hints in order to keep it from skipping? it is spring loaded...would bolting it down to the plinth be a good idea? I am currently running an AudioTechnica AT15S cartridge at 1.75g VTF.

Would this benefit from a massive plinth like the more fabled idlers like the Lenco L75, Russco CueMaster, ROK decks, and the like have?
 
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G'day all, try placing the turntable completely on a thick layer of carpet underlay. That stuff is miraculous at absorbing vibration. Regards, Felix aka catman.
 
How hard is it to defeat the springs? Can you remove them and just try it without them? That may help, and it would be the first thing I'd try.
 
so... is this implying that other decks arent affected as such in that room? i would agree with slowing that spring deflection thing down or even find some others. Locking it down would be ok I reckon, but if I did that then I would def go with catmans suggestion with the carpet underlayment to take the sharpness of the vibe away before the telegraphing upwards occurs.
 
bobaloniny said:
so... is this implying that other decks arent affected as such in that room? i would agree with slowing that spring deflection thing down or even find some others. Locking it down would be ok I reckon, but if I did that then I would def go with catmans suggestion with the carpet underlayment to take the sharpness of the vibe away before the telegraphing upwards occurs.
Click to expand...

My Project Xpression III/Shure V15III does not skip in the same place, but I have seen the arm bounce a bit when I walk...no skipping, though.
 
On my Lenco, I removed the springs and set the whole turntable on vibrapods. It worked for me, but that's obviously a different turntable so YMMV. My father's 50H doesn't skip..but it's sitting on a shelf that's integral with a wall, attached to a concrete basement floor. My apartment is bouncy...hence what I did to the Lenco (plus I like the way it sounds better now w/o the springs, regardless of the skipping issue).
 
Too bad the wall shelf is out! :sigh: It's a neat solution, in most cases.

The alternative is to work on isolation underneath the TT. You could try the small innertube(s) under a heavier slab, surmounted by roller balls-in-cups approach. It is widely praised in certain circles, for getting rid of unwanted vibrations/isolation.

A sandbox is another alternative, but if your problem is serious, you'll probably need to add something like that carpet underlay beneath it.

Skipping is caused by fairly large movements, not tiny sonic vibrations, so some element of cushiony or spring-like material (inner tube, carpet underlay, etc...) will probably be needed to absorb that. Most of that motion is vertical; the roller balls work against horizontal movement, and can help overall, too.

Sometimes simple things can work: try sandwiching styrofoam sheeting with different materials you have around the house, or even just slabs of styro (from any old packaging) by themselves. May or may not be sufficient, but worth a try.

Of course, there is always the perfectionist's path: Cut through your floor and drive piles straight down to bedrock. Embed the piles in stone-concrete mix. Or excavate down to bedrock, and pile large stone blocks atop it, up to your room level. Sit the TT directly atop that. Problem solved; all you need to be concerned about is the occasional earthquake. :D

Good luck! :thmbsp:
 
I took the springs off the turntable, and it is resting on it's base...no more skipping issues! I can even tap on the top plate with my fingers and it doesn't skip...it used to go flying whenever I did that.

Only now it seems a bit of the liveliness has gone, and there's a bit more rumble. I'll keep playing with isolation ideas, and strengthening the base....it's pretty weak.
 
maybe if you take some foam and put in between the deck and plinth, something medium dense (not stupid springy, fluffy) that was just thick enough to get the 2 seperated, know what I mean? No bounce, but yet will give if a little pressure is exerted. Something along the lines of auto weatherstrip or garage door seal.
 
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