But why is steel slab good? What I read suggests steel slab rings (unless it is layered and laminated).
Laminated or not 1/2"-3/4" steel plate in that size doesn't ring. Some of mine are laminated and some aren't, don't hear a difference.
I understand that natural granite may ring, but Corian or engineered granite such as Caesarstone seem to have better vibration damping properties than steel.
Have you tried a 200lb-300lb slab of solid steel to know if it rings or not
? Of course you can use Corian, Ceasarstone, granite, etc. and there are ways to deal with all of them but I prefer solid steel best.
Also the metal honeycomb core or composite table tops by TMC and Kinetic Systems used for optical microscope platforms seem to have much better damping properties than steel slab.
metal honeycomb: http://www.kineticsystems.com/page324.html
composite: http://www.kineticsystems.com/page326.html
Why do you prefer steel slab over these optical microscope "breadboard" tops?
Mass to begin with! I don't always want damping and when I do I want to be able to control how much and what materials to use, the honeycombs, breadboards, carbon fiber, moon dirt, etc. are generic solutions that might or might not work for one's application while the steel is a solid inert platform that IME has works perfectly for most of my audio applications and if needed I can easily control some unwanted resonance with different kinds of top layers. There's a huge difference between resonance control & damping, each has it's place.
Edit- To be clear Ron, I'm not claiming that this is the only way or the best way just the best solution for my needs!
david