A SOTA Nova turntable on a Segue ISO MD (up to 80 lbs / 32 kG) with Rollerblock Jr.+ (with Grade 10 Tungsten Bearings) substituted for the original soft rubber feet. This made a considerable improvement in sound, as well as completely eliminating the footfall problem the owner originally had.

The Segue ISO provides proper higher frequency resonance damping through its platform, and correctly damped vertical wave isolation through its LDSS footer system. The Rollerblocks provide complementary lateral low frequency isolation and also preserve an efficient mechanical ground connection between the turntable chassis and the Segue platform.

 

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  Second photo: A closer view of the adaptation of the original footer mounts to the Rollerblock Jr. The Jrs have 1/4-20 threaded holes dead center but needed an adapter to mate to the different sized threads of the SOTA foot mounts. In this case, the owner glued nuts with the same thread as the SOTA table to large washers which then sat against the top of the Rollerblock Jr. These could have had 1/4-20 screws, in turn, glued to the washers, which could then be threaded into the Rollerblocks, but this is not absolutely necessary.

Mounting in this fashion is an excellent way to provide good mechanical coupling, an important aspect of vibration control and damping, between the Segue ISO platform and the turntable chassis. Mechanical coupling and energy damping is an often overlooked aspect of vibration control, as "isolation" by itself does not comprehensively address the sonic problems caused by vibration. Rollerblocks and the Segue ISO together provide a comprehensive, yet affordable, approach to proper turntable isolation and energy/resonance damping, and thus brings out performance not possible with methods that ignore these fundamental precepts of vibration control, or mistakenly pursue them by using materials such as rubber, polymers, ceramic, etc.

 

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