Woofer Flutter ? - UTurn Audio Turntable + Marantz 4430 Receiver

Unless the table is very very well isolated, that is what happens--flutter. Is is common enough that a device is made to help--it's called a low pass filter, or sometimes called a rumble filter. It basically cuts off all frequencies below 40hz.

I am having the same issue with my bedroom setup. No problem when playing FM or CD, but I also have a lot of woofer flutter when using the turntable. The turntable is on a heavy dresser, and the speakers are on their own stands on either side.

Do you guys think that a low pass filter is my best option? What about something like vibrapods, would that make a difference in isolating my turntable?

Is the woofer flutter bad for my speakers?

Read my suggestions in the big thread regarding placing your table on a granite slab with ISO-pods under it--it can be done relatively cheaply. I provided links and a detailed explanation in the big thread.

This will help immensely.

And yes, you aren't getting much below 30Hz unless you get into much larger speakers.

I'm in the process of returning the FMODs. Several problems, starting with shipping me one instead of the ordered pair. I tried that one out and it muted and colored the sound horribly. I've got a phono preamp with rumble filter on order to try. I'll bypass my marantz phono input and just aux it. We shall see how it sounds.

Thanks for the tip and link. That may end up as plan C

Glad to see it helped.

Turntable plinths, by nature (large, flat planes of hard, solid wood) pick up a crapload of sound pressure waves. Often times people think they have a table well isolated, only to find rumble still making its way into the playback chain. If you lightly place your finger on the turntable plinth when listening at a mid to high volume, you will still feel minute vibrations on the plinth. This is where placement comes in.

Try, if you can, to get the table behind the speakers (tall order, I know) if the problem persists. That is where you have the least amount of sound pressure waves.

When you look at many high end turntables ($10k and up), you will find that most of them are outright massive. This is by design to eliminate as many airborne vibrations as possible. The platter and plinth are usually very heavy and dense, with great attention given to reducing vibration.

I have never had wow & flutter issues in the least on my VPI table, but it weighs in at over 100 lbs. My Pro-Ject Debut 3 table, however, is another story.

I have found the granite slab/Vibrapod absorption cups to be the best solution that isn't crazy expensive. They come in different sizes for different weights and you can put any combination of them under the granite slab/turntable to get to the right weight.
You can usually have the local granite company cut and finish a piece of "waste" granite they cut from another project for you for about $70 or so...and it looks really nice under the turntable! The Vibrapod feet are around $5/ea. and you will need about 4 or 5 depending on the weight of the slab and table together.

So for around $100, you can get a very useful tweak and a visual enhancement to boot!

Try it!