I’ll ask Thom myself but let me hazard a guess. If you’ve seen the wood plinth, the portion of the plinth for the arm mount looks to be about an inch thick of walnut. Compare to the arm wing which probably weighs a good 10bs or more - I was quite surprised at the weight. I would guess the wood arm word has a warmer resonant sound than the much better damped aluminum wing. I got the sense that wood was offered because of customer interest in a wood option. I know I loved the look of it. But I opted for the aluminum wing as I suspected it would yield better performance.
Hi Dave,
If you have the opportunity to ask Thom about his thoughts on the wood plinth and could share that with us, that would be great and very much appreciated.
I wouldn't doubt that the manner in which the entirety of a turntable is designed - structurally, parts/materials, weight, rigidity, etc all may play a roll in the sound the table may have. Good, bad or indifferent.
I've only had the pleasure of hearing the Stabi R wood version so far. I have never heard the aluminum version, let alone side by side with the wood version in the same system, with same arm/cartridge, etc. However, I must say that I did enjoy listening to the wood version at the AXPONA Show last year. Imho, the wood version does look great in pictures and even better in the flesh... but I've always been a sucker for a beautiful wooden plinth. I'll try and upload a pic of my custom LP12/Naim ARO/Benz Ruby Zebra Wood MC that utilizes a Brazilian Rosewood Plinth that I absolutely love and have never grown tired of looking at
I would imagine that it is entirely possible for the wooden plinth of the Stabi R to add a certain degree of warmth or resonant coloration to the overall sound from the table. Just as I would imagine that other materials being used in various parts of turntables would offer possibly a different type of coloration, whether it's a plinth made from aluminum or slate; or a platter from delrin, copper, acrylic or various metals; or a tonearm made from various types of wood, or carbon fiber or metals; in which to some listeners may feel that the colorations may sound hard or sterile; dull or lifeless; or warm and full of emotions, etc.
So, I guess at the end of the day, we all try to find gear that will synergistically match the rest of our system and our individualistic musical tastes based on the types of music we most listen too.
I would imagine, for many people we would like all of our gear to be neutral, so as to be able to just hear what was in the grooves. However, is that even possible? Everything imparts a sound of it's own throughout the entire chain. The table, the cartridge, the tone arm, the interconnects, the phono stage, the pre-amp, the amplifier, the transistors, j-fets, SUT's, vacuum tubes, the output transformers, the resistors and capacitors, the speakers, the crossovers, the on and on and on.....
For me, if a system is going to error.... I'd personally like it to error on being a little warm vs cool, with a little more resonance vs being sterile; a little more liquid vs being hard, having more emotions vs being dull or lifeless. ( Please know and understand that I am not in any way saying the aluminum version of the Stabi R is hard, dull or lifeless vs the wood version ) I am just talking in a very general sense with very broad brush strokes, of any turntable so to speak.
Maybe I lean the way that I do, because I love hearing the resonance and the body of my Montagnana cello when I'm playing it. ( I'll try and attach a pic of it below) Just as the design, structure, and materials play an important role when building audio equipment; so it does as well with musical instruments. The type of woods used for the front, ribs, back, neck, pegs, etc of a stringed instrument greatly affects the sound it will project. No different from the types of metals used in the lead pipe, slide, bell, etc of my tenor and bass trombones. These differences play a role in the sound that I want to achieve depending on whether I'm playing in a small jazz combo, or in a big band, or in a symphony orchestra. Or the type of projection I'll need if I'm playing in a small intimate club or in a big hall. It all comes down to that Synergy thing that we were talking about earlier.
In any case, I always love to learn from my fellow forum members in what they are hearing from the various equipment out there, and from their thoughts and experiences. We are blessed that we are living in a world in which we have so much to chose from.... but it is also somewhat difficult for many of us (or at least for me) to be able to actually hear and compare everything that I would love to be able to.
Wowza... I really drifted off there on some tangents, lol.
Sorry for being so long winded.
Wishing you all the very best!
Don