A while back I wrote a piece highlighting the remarkable efficacy of Townshend Engineering’s Seismic Vibration Isolation Platform. In particular, I praised the platform’s efficacy in improving my system’s ability to play classical records and reproduce classical music dramatically better.

Yesterday I had one of the most memorable experiences I’ve had to date as an audiophile, and feel I need to share it with those of you who use Townshend Platters. And for those of you who don’t already have one under your turntable AND your amp, you may find yourself ordering a couple after reading this. A small change I made to the platters that was basically free, literally TRANSFORMED the sound of my system.

I must admit, I have not tried other isolation platforms, and when I tell other audiophiles about the Townshend platter and what a wonderful product it is, I typically get the same response – “I already have my TT on an isolation platform.” And while some of the other isolation platforms on the market may very well be good, I honestly have a hard time believing that ANY can compete with Townshend’s, especially when it’s loaded properly.

On the advice of a friend I added some heavy, square bolts to my platter a few months ago. He recommended using heavy steel plates that he said could be purchased at Home Depot. My local hardware store had no such plates, but I found these bolts and added some soft stick on pads so they would be easy to slide around without scratching the platter’s surface.

Placing these 6 bolts, each weighing about a pound, yielded no audible improvement. I shelved the idea for a time and decided to revisit it later when I could really focus on it.

Then a friend gave me some old adjustable barbells he had lying around and some extra 2 1/2 pound flat weights. So the other day when I had my system REALLY sounding good with well vetted records on hand that I’d been listening to a lot and was very familiar with, I tried adding some of these weights to the platter under my turntable and under my amp.

I slid 2 of the weights under the front of my amp and one just under the right side. The amp itself is not evenly weighted and the platter tips to the left. Townshend recommends adjusting the feet to compensate for this, which I have tried, but I’ve never been able to get the platter and amp to sit fully level. So I put the weight under the right side to try and compensate for this tilt a little. This was simply my thought process. I was basically experimenting with adding weight to the platter and with the possible locations for that weight.

Then I played my SHS of Ruggiero Ricci playing Bizet’s Carmen with the London Symphony Orchestra. Ricci’s violin was now bigger and more full bodied. The orchestra, which had tended to sound more distant and with less presence than I’d have liked, now came to life in a whole new way!

In my earlier review of the Townshend platter, I described how the platter helped my system better articulate placement of instruments. Using the platter under my turntable and my amp made it easier not just to hear the various instruments in the orchestra more clearly, but hear exactly where in the hall they were sitting.

By increasing the load on the platters, I could now also hear more of the space around each of the instruments, making them appear bigger, weightier and giving them substantially greater presence. The increased load also made the sound substantially more transparent. It was a remarkable improvement, no doubt facilitated by the fact that the record itself is so remarkable in the first place.

Next I put on David Crosby’s debut, If Only I Could Remember My Name. I’ve spent quite a bit of time with several different copies of this record, both in researching a recent article I wrote comparing different Hot Stampers, as well as just loving the record and wanting to hear it more since. Whenever I play this record, I keep coming back to the song “Laughing.” On this occasion this song was sounding better than ever.

As I was listening, I noticed a space on the platter under my turntable that seemed somehow to be calling out to me. I looked down at the floor where the 2 1/2 pound flat weights had been sitting and noticed I had one left. I put that weight in that spot and played the song again.

David Crosby’s head suddenly appeared in front of me like the projected head of the wizard in The Wizard of Oz. He was larger than life! Then the backing vocals came in, clearer, fuller and with much more presence from their place a little ways back at the right of the soundstage. And Oh! Those already very big bass notes were even BIGGER and clearer. The twang of the bass guitar string revealing every ridge on its surface.

It was a startling transformation in the sound, one I’d have gladly paid at least a $1000 bucks to hear. As it was I paid $0 and about 10 minutes of my time. Although that 10 minutes built on the many many hours I’d already put in, tweaking my system and room, researching, cleaning and playing records and doing no small amount of critical listening to train my ear.

This improvement, I would also remind you, only added to the already vast improvement that the Townshend Seismic Platters had made when they were installed in the first place. And that was when I had not yet added any weight to them, other than the weight of the components themselves. Adding the extra weight served merely to help the platters perform to their full potential.

I should also acknowledge that the Townshend platters are also giving my turntable and amp the opportunity to perform to their full potential. I knew when first set up my Merrill Williams REAL 101.2 turntable with a Triplanar MK VII arm a couple of years ago I’d gotten a great turntable and tonearm, I just didn’t yet know HOW good. After I put them on a Townshend Seismic Platter and played them through an EAR 324 phono preamp, I could more fully appreciate their potential. And now with the platters loaded properly, I’m beyond thrilled with the investment I’ve made in each and every component of my analog front end.

If you do not yet have the turntable and/or tonearm you’d ultimately like to have, you might wonder – Will I get the value from a Townshend platter that you have? It’s a fair question and one I just happen to have a very easy answer for. It’s an EMPHATIC “yes”! Because even if you don’t have the analog front end of your dreams yet, you will still hear a big improvement using a Townshend platter with the equipment you have now, and that improvement will only get BIGGER as you improve not just your analog front end but your entire system.

Plain and simple, the Townshend Seismic Isolation Platter is a MUST HAVE for any serious analog audio system. Therefore it should not be a question of if you should get them for your system, but only when.