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Rega Turntable shelf on stud wall?

O

ossy

pfm Member
I’ve just mounted my rega on a hollow stud wall. It’s bolted into the solid wall behind but there is clearly a cavity - the wall sounds hollow when tapped.

I have convinced myself that the sound has changed and the high frequency’s have become shriller. Is this likely? Or a simple case of hifi nervosa? Prior to this it sounded warm and lovely, but it is complicated by running in a new exact cart.

anybody with experience of this?
 
I did the very same to my rega, rega wall bracket mounted to stud wall, i removed it after about a week, as for sure it sounded worse.
Its back on top of the rack once more and straight away the sound returned.
Obviously the void behind does something, maybe vibrations in the air in the void? I dont know really, but it wasn't great.
 
It's hard to be sure because you've changed the cart at the same time. I tried a Mana wall shelf on a solid brick wall but it sounded worse than the floor stand, also Mana.

Generally, I find wall shelves sound good but it's all about what works in your particular system.
 
ossy said:
It’s bolted into the solid wall behind but there is clearly a cavity
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A bit odd to have a stud wall with a solid wall behind; it's normally one or the other, for obv. reasons. Maybe it's an insulation void? You mention 'bolt' but I can't see how. I used to have about 7 Target wall shelves and they were excellent (apart from access to the rear of kit) but they were always affixed by 6 screws into solid wall. Stud walls could change the presentation but offhand, I'd've thought it would deaden or soften the dynamics.

Thing is, if you've a suspended floor you'd be lucky to find a spot for a table which is totally immune to footfall, so taking kit onto walls is generally a good, if not aesthetic, idea.
 
I've got an Audiotech wall shelf on a solid wall. It nicely tightens up the sound of an LP12 and probably does make it sound less warm but for some reason it's less musically enjoyable than a rack or Lack table sat on a the suspended wooden floor.
 
When I say stud wall, I mean a wall that’s been dry lined with a cavity behind it (apologies, am not a builder!). The fixings are in the solid wall through the plasterboard but there is a void between the plasterboard and solid wall, I couldn’t find the studs.

Anyway, it’s back on the sideboard this morning so will see what’s what.
 
It's the way a lot of modern homes are built now
Brick outside...breeze block inside ..dot and dab plasterboard facing

You are left with a 10mm "cavity" between the plasterboard and breeze block...except where the plaster "dots" are.

Not good for a turntable support to be mounted to that!
It would be a fair bit of work and mess to cut out a section of board and then make good again with solid instead of board...but ultimately probably well worth it?

Maybe think of a way to mount the support directly to the inner wall without touching the plasterboard? ....sleeved holes though it?....wooden dowel bonded into the block but not touching the plasterboard? ... some sort of frame held on with fixing anchors?
There are a few possibilities
 
What effect it would have is going to vary, but a shelf held on bolts into a block wall but butted up to platerboard that has a gap between it and the blocks, will pick up any vibrations from the plasterboard.

A better solution would be to drill modestly over-sized holes in the plasterboard (presumably needed for the wall anchors anyway?), and use one or more metal spacers (which could be nuts) so that the shelf was held on the spacers, not the plasterboard. Not much work and easily made good.
 
Alternatively, you could get chemical anchors with sleeves that would fill in between the wall and the plasterboard and make things solid. I’m not sure how much problem you might have with vibrations but the mounting would be solid. I have my oled tv on a cantilever mount fixed to a dot and dab wall that way and it’s rock solid, even pulled out 3 feet from the wall.
 
Lateral vibrations much worse than vertical.
I use an oil rig type scenario straight off founds through the suspended floor to eradicate the vertical and footfall causing mdf floor bending
 
ossy said:
When I say stud wall, I mean a wall that’s been dry lined with a cavity behind it (apologies, am not a builder!). The fixings are in the solid wall through the plasterboard but there is a void between the plasterboard and solid wall, I couldn’t find the studs.
Click to expand...

You don't mention 'bolts' (how d'you get the nuts into a solid wall?) but presumably they must be screws (into Rawlplugs). Decent suggestions above, as the simple truth is that you need to avoid that plasterboard, though how you avoid the shelf pressing against the plasterboard I don't know, unless you mount a solid batten into the wall and mount from that (tricky) or maybe insulate that part of the shelf which touches, with rubber sheet or washers or whatever (much easier). Must be a modern house !
 
It’s a 1950 house that’s been dry lined by the previous inhabitants, cheaper than plastering I suppose. It’s a suspended floor but solid, I can jump up and down in front of turntable with no effect. It sounds better again, more solid and warm.

thanks for all the responses, I thought I was going mad, makes sense now. The plasterboard is probably coupled to the floor, haha!

Just have to fill holes now :rolleyes:
 
Mike Reed said:
You don't mention 'bolts' (how d'you get the nuts into a solid wall?) but presumably they must be screws (into Rawlplugs).
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure he's talking about this:

Cut oversize holes in the plasterboard and mount threaded rods in the brick. Run bolts and washers onto the rods out beyond the surface of the plasterboard.

Use more washers and bolts to fix the shelf to the rods. The shelf is mounted on the rods and is not touching the plasterboard at all.

This is how they mount satellite dishes for instance.
 
I sould think the void space is acting like a speaker enclosure and has sound vibrations running in it, as said my P10 didn't like it, when i did much the same.
The gap between the plasterboard and blocks can be quite big and will probably be different over the wall, and will depend on how upright and good the block work is and plasterboard. They are ment to put a complete seal of bonding at the top and bottom of each plasterboard, to prevent air flow, but they dont, as that costs money
 
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