Another unusual project for the Diespeker team led to a unique way for one client to play vinyl.
Andrew Okocha is really into his turntables and was delighted to get hold of an EMT Series turntable, the type once used by the BBC. It had been refurbished in Germany and when it arrived, Andrew realised it was just a skeleton frame, which needed to be suspended in some sort of box to stop any rumbling and vibrations.
Generally, such boxes are made from wood, but Andrew had his eye on something different. “I liked the idea of granite or marble, something heavy, a pristine type of material,” he explains.
He got in contact with several firms around the country, but either they weren’t interested in the project because it was too small – or they wanted too large a sum to carry out the work. Andrew wasn’t sure what to try next – but fate stepped in.
Andrew and his wife enjoy going for regular walks and on one occasion they decided to visit an antiques store selling items including furniture and records – which was what attracted Andrew. The store happens to be in the vicinity of Diespeker and seeing our company signage, Andrew decided to take a chance and pay us a visit.
He met with our ever-helpful Foreman, David Batt and was taken aback to be told that Diespeker would be pleased to take on the job. First up was choosing the material. “I looked around and was confused by the choice of stone and colours. I made a decision – but then changed my mind, finally settling on a dark grey granite.”
The granite he plumped for was our GR010, black impala.
Andrew visited during the manufacturing process and enjoyed being involved with the mechanics of making the granite box. The turntable had to be suspended in the box with a 2” clearance, so the height of the box needed to be higher than the height of the turntable. The first design had ‘feet’ but looked too much like a table, so the next design had cut outs flush to the sides.
Delighted with the result, Andrew says the sound quality is really good. “It’s deathly quiet, absolutely no background noise. When you set the cartridge off, you hear nothing until the record starts playing.” Andrew was really pleased with the cost of the box, too, so much so that he’s thinking of commissioning a second stone box for another turntable.
Andrew uses the ‘granite’ turntable to play his treasured 33rpm jazz and swing records. “But I still have to use a wind up gramophone for my 78s!”
The Diespeker team is always pleased to discuss unusual projects like this as we can run them alongside our large commercial and residential work. Please contact our sales team for a chat!
