Hi MMD'rs, I have had some interesting feedback regarding my posting
about the loss of bass from my Polyphon since it was relocated, and
some have asked for more information.

The room in question is roughly 20' x 20'.  The walls and ceiling
have been studded with timber, the spaces are filled with Rockwool
fibre insulation (other brands are available), boarded with plasterboard
and skimmed with plaster.  Occupying most of the rear wall is the roll
cabinet and the opposite end of the room has glass French doors and
windows.  One side wall is mostly taken up with my piano (Steinway
Model B Duo-Art grand) and the sofa is on the opposite wall.  Other
'toys' are scattered about the room.

To eliminate the possibility of a fault with the Polyphon itself,
I tried it back to its original location and there it sounded really
good but, if I can, I would like to house it in the new room, as
another music box has taken its place.

Electronic amplification is not an option and nor is "knocking the
whole thing down and starting again".  As an experiment, I stood the
Poly on a marble slab and that helped a little and I like the idea of
Nicholas Simons' plinth; I'll give that a try but I'm now convinced
that it's the walls sucking up the sound like a sponge.

On a recent trip to Miami I had the great pleasure of meeting the
Milhous brothers and spent some memorable time "drooling" over their
collection.  Interestingly, I noticed that they had placed a sheet of
(what looked like) marble behind their Polyphon; I wonder, did they
have the same problem?

Any thoughts?

Steve Greatrex
Plymouth (UK)