Yes, vibrapods do work But first try lifting all wires, cords, power supplies and conditoners off the floor. Stryafoam is ideal for this. This is cheap and works. Use bubble wrap to isolate wires from power cords....then you can start tuning in ernest. All the market devices will effect the sound of your system in your room so it is hard to say "best". You may have to "borrow" things to try but your biggest tweak is the room itself. How does the room "sound"? Good luck and happy listening. Bluenose |
I keep an arsenal of isolation tweaks handy. All isolation
tweaks produce different tonal shifts as well as variable
effectiveness in producing an enhanced musical sound.
I like bearing isolation for some applications and have Aurios MIB, Symposium Rollerblock, and Daruma II in my collection. Can be very effective under CDP, but also expensive and sometimes difficult/impossible to set-up because of cables being used.
Vibrapods/Air Bladders are very inexpensive and usually
easy to set-up. Good place to start, good for bright/lean sounding systems that need a richer sound. Go buy some
vibrapods or 12 inch bicycle innertubes and give it a try,
only cost you a few dollars.
I don't care for cones, but many people use them, they
are cheap and may be helpful if you have warm sound and are looking to acheive tighter/leaner more detailed sound.
Also available are aftermarket shelfs/platforms that are designed to control vibration, Symposium, Nueance etc.
usually you need to directly couple your gear to shelf
to get benefit.
Vibrations do affect sound, the most dramatic demonstration
is to properly set-up bearing isolation device under CDP,
you will be suprised what will be revealed in your favorite recordings. |
Just a couple of general comments to add to this thread. There are two broad approaches to handling vibration: isolation, and control/absorption. Isolation techniques include things like cones and spikes (when you want to either anchor the item, or keep it from introducing vibration into the system), whereas control/absorption through the use of sorbotane, Vibrapods, NAVCOM, springs (turntable suspensions) etc., reduces the amount of energy being picked up by a component. Both methods are effective, but have essentially different approaches. Often, you will need a combination of both to eliminate the majority of vibrational energy. |
dude, do it cheap. cut tennis balls in half and mount your components on them, then, unless you need to keep the top panel clear, put a concrete slab (approx. 8x12 inches) on top. see if it improves the sound. if not then you can spend the bigger bucks on fancy materials.
worked for me. |
I'm about to throw away three 12.5" bike inner tubes filled with mineral oil, since I've found something I think beats them and is hugely easier. Make a shallow tray, say, 20" x 15", with sides 2" high. The bottom should be hard. Make a plywood sheet 19" x 14", and nine small marbles and three broccoli rubber bands. On the bottom, place three marbles each within the three rubber bands and locate these in an equilateral triangle on the bottom of the tray. Place the plywood sheet on top and your component on it. Variations are possible, but the general idea should have come across. |
someone over at the atma-sphere users site suggested using butcher blocks for absorption devices. 'cheap' too. i think they'd be especially good used under a turntable with cones. check this site out:
http://www.butcherblockfurniture.com/catalog.htm
i've been told they'll cut to spec. i'm calling tomorrow. if enough of us call asking about the potential absorption characteristics of these butcher blocks when used in an audiophile context they're going to start hanging up on us so be careful ;-) |
Kubla, Are they throwing in a set of steak knives with each purchase? If so write me down for two. |
sorry glen, the steak knives come with the morrison elad. |
Kubla: Before spending $80-$100 or so on butcher's block and X amount on cone points talk to Ken at Neuance about setting up a shelf/platform specifically for your turntable. He's a vinyl guy himself and the Neuance did wonders for the CAL that I use as a CD transport. I have played around with Maple and cones for a year now and the Neuance sounds much better in my application. The shelves that I had made are custom (with eight sides, not counting the top and bottom) and were only $165 each. |
thanks for that dekay. it's hard enough to explain some of this crap to my friends. butcher blocks under all my gear just might have been the end. what i'd really love is one of those turntable isolations Randy at optimal enchantment had under the oracle. the sandbox. can't be hard to make one of those. right?? |
So far my vibration experiments have been:
1- mass loading
2- mass loading +inner tubes
3- inner tubes +MDF shelving
4- inner tube sandwiched between MDF panels
5- inner tube + MDF + steel balls underneath
6- inner tube + MDF + brass cones
I´ll skip 3-4 additional combinations of the above
11- Got rid of the inner tubes and concentrated on brass cones variations....
12 The latest and so far best results have been achieved through use of large heavy (40-50 lb) MDF made silica sand filled box as base, a resting hard plate on top of the sand and brass cones.
In my set up I have no rack (I´m learning on vibration before attempting one.... so my source, preamp and amp are resting on tile floor with the above mentioned support.
I Haven´t tried soft type approach yet.
I have found that investing time experimenting with vibration is a high return activity.
Don´t expect good results to jump at you, have patience and you´ll be rewarded!!
Could provide more details but I would like not to be lengthy in this post
Best to all
Luis |
I like the Walker Valid Points... but before you spend a lot of money, you might try some of the low cost tweaks listed in the forum. Resonance control can be time consuming, but also rewarding, as you learn what works and what does not in your setup. Good luck. |
Cheap is the way to go: just got a used marble cutting board over 5/8" thick for $15. Free bicycle inner tube under it and it makes a wonderful TT base! |
Over the past 3 months I've been trying out a bunch-o-iso-tweaks. Currently I have a Neuance shelf under my transport, Mapleshade Surefoot Cones under my integrated, Black Diamond Racing #4 Cones under my subwoofer amp and MapleShade HeavyHat weights on my transport, DAC and amp.
I'm waiting for the Neuance shelf to settle-in, but am already enjoying the extra spaciousness. I don't know if the MapleShade Cones are making a difference, but they sure look cool. So do the HeavyHats.
I have a BrightStar Little Rock IsoPlatform that's not being used right now. It just seemed to deaden and over-dampen the sound of any component I placed it on. Black Diamond Racing #3 Cones and Pucks succeeded in removing nasties and warming up my system components, but always sacrificed air and transparency so they're benched for the moment. I have yet to remove those goofy looking Mapleshade IsoPods from their packaging, but eventually I'll try them out.
Any other suggestions out there? I'm happy with my gear, but am always looking for some neato goodies to try out. |
Check my post "FORGET EXPENSIVE GEL ABSORBERS" right above your post. |
Gunbei: Yes, try and arrange all of the cords and cables so that they do not touch the shelves and/or the rack (or anything else except the signal contact point for that matter, as much as possible). I use cotton ribbon to suspend extra lengths of IC/speaker cables between the components and where the PC's all meet at the power conditioner on the bottom shelf of the rack I prop them up (off of the shelf and rack) with Pods/cones (anything available) and do not let them touch the walls or the floor. I will eventually hang the PC's from the ribbon as well, but have not gotten around to it yet. The vibration from the components is being sent through the shelves and rack to the floor and I feel that it is wise to introduce as little of this vibration as possible back into the cabling at any given point. An easy way is to tie the ribbon from one side rail (the ones that do not support the upturned spikes) of the rack to another (underneath the shelf and do not tie the ribbon tightly around the supports, but do so loosly), then use another piece of ribbon suspended from that length to secure/lift the cables. The amount of vibration being transmitted through the double ribbon system would have to be minute and the whole contraption is not that visible as the shelves will help hide the madness going on under there. The worst thing that I have noticed is bunching a PC up against a wall (like behind the rack) as this will defeat a lot of what you are trying to achieve with isolation components. I use the cotton ribbon because we had it on hand, but it would seem to be more damped than a round cord in this application (and it's pretty:-). |
That's right, I forgot about your funky closet Dekay! I'm lucky, my interconnects don't interfere with anything, but my power cords and speaker cables are a complete mess. I've been thinking about a similar solution like yours. When I get my room all squared away, I'll have a better idea of what's possible.
Maybe I'll stick the Monster HTS2000 on top of the BrightStar and put on the bottom of my rack. Heck it's not doing any good right now.
Dekay. The Neuance shelf is pretty cool looking. :) |
And I was thinking I´m going over the fence with my ears....Dekay I have had the same experience with PC touching walls
Gunbei do try the HTS on the Bightstar I think you´ll notice more definition in your soundstage
As for the floor vibration, guess what, I took the boxes mentioned in my previous post and just added underneath the inner tubes that were lying around doing nothing, surprise surprise another improvement!!
Now I´m thinking on something for my floorstanding speakers.... (to add on top of the Audio Points) |
