Turntable Shelf...

[James Edward]

I am in need of a shelf for a new turntable purchase. It will be mounted on an exterior wall, which if I remember reading correctly, provides better isolation from footfalls than an interior wall.
Be that as it may, the Home Depot type option can be had for under 40 dollars. Those sold by Music Direct, Audio Advisor, et al., start at 200 dollars. There are many stylish options available too, though none claim to be 'audiophile approved,' etc., etc.
My question is this- since it will be mounted on an exterior wall, do I need to be concerned as much about the isolation/acoustic qualities of one intended for interior walls?
This will NOT be in or on a cabinet. I will be mounting it above my current Salamander cabinet.
All thoughts appreciated. This is a domestic living room system, and this is my only option...

[Nick B]

I am in need of a shelf for a new turntable purchase. It will be mounted on an exterior wall, which if I remember reading correctly, provides better isolation from footfalls than an interior wall.
Be that as it may, the Home Depot type option can be had for under 40 dollars. Those sold by Music Direct, Audio Advisor, et al., start at 200 dollars. There are many stylish options available too, though none claim to be 'audiophile approved,' etc., etc.
My question is this- since it will be mounted on an exterior wall, do I need to be concerned as much about the isolation/acoustic qualities of one intended for interior walls?
This will NOT be in or on a cabinet. I will be mounting it above my current Salamander cabinet.
All thoughts appreciated. This is a domestic living room system, and this is my only option...

I'm having a little trouble visualizing what you mean by mounting to an external wall. Can you elaborate?

[James Edward]

Sure. The wall I will be mounting the shelf to is an outside wall. On the other side of the wall is the outside of the house. I think I remember reading somewhere that this wall is not coupled to the floor in the same way as an interior wall; such as one that may have a bedroom, kitchen, dining room, etc., on the other side.

[tmazz]

You are correct Jim. An interior wall is basically just sitting on the floor, so if the floor moves, in theory, at lest some of that energy can be transferred to the wall. However; an exterior wall mounted directly on the house's foundation (unless of course your house is built on a slab in which case all of the first floor walls are sitting on concrete). In addition to being mounted to a virtually unmovable object (at least with respect to footfalls and airborne vibrations) the exterior walls are supporting the weight of the house and as such have a lot of mass loading that will also dampen out any footfalls or sound vibrations. Just be sure that the wall mount is anchored solidly into beams since not only will the sheetrock  have trouble supporting the weight of the wall mount and the turntable, no matter what kind of anchor you put in it, but the wallboard will flex easily and transmit vibrations to the table. Screwing the wall mount directly into the beams couples you directly to the structure of the house and will provide the most solid base for the TT.

I know you said you have no other option, but just for arguments sake, if you can't use an exterior wall the next best thing would be an interior load bearing wall. While this would not have the sable base of the foundation under it. a load bearing wall would at leas have the mass loading from supporting the upper structure of the house. Not as good as an exterior wall but probably the next best thing.

[rollo]

   You may consider hanging a platform from clg if a good wall is not available. If you decide on wall try to locate studs for better application. The Exterior wall will be furred out and have have zero issue. Might be to high above your stand. Or just get a really good stand.
  May I suggest SGR from Australia. www.sgraudio.com. I can discount SGR for you. BTW what TT did you get ?

charles