Taking It to the Next Level: Optimum Support Solutions for Ultimate Performance

nce you have created a dispersive support structure for your record player, one of the simplest and most cost-effective upgrades to most turntables is to use some form of hard coupler to create an energy drain from the deck itself into that structure. These couplers can be as simple as small wooden blocks, and as an experiment these are certainly worth playing with. But purpose-built solutions will generally offer significantly better performance and are easy to try and well worth investigating. Just ensure that you can maintain the level of the deck and any separate elements like motor housings, and that all the various elements will maintain their geometrical relationship. Sometimes lifting things like motor pods onto supporting couplers can allow them to walk.

If money is no object, then there is a range of super-sophisticated rack options available from the likes of Harmonic Resolution Systems, Stillpoints, Silent Running Audio, Grand Prix Audio and finite elemente, often incorporating a coupler option as outlined above. Grand Prix also offer one of the few really excellent wall-shelf solutions. What all of these racks have in common is the use of materials and technology to create a reasonably lightweight, dispersive structure with a very low storage signature. The other thing is big-ticket prices to match -- prices that are fully justified by the performance but which not everyone is in a position to afford.

The crucial consideration in purchasing any such rack is the footprint of your turntable and the dimensions of your other equipment. Few of us can afford the cost or space demanded by a dedicated rack just for the record player, so vertical separation of shelves, whether they are independently adjustable, and whether the rack will allow extra vertical separation for ventilation are all relevant considerations. More important still is the size and nature of your turntable. Increasingly, record players are designed with separate motor housings (and even armpods) requiring a single planar support surface. Even if your existing turntable uses a single-piece, integrated chassis, your next one might not, so if you are serious about playing records, then make sure that whatever rack you buy will accommodate a modular chassis design without compromising the performance of the deck or the rack itself.