Footers/Shelf Material

I've been fooling around with various material as well, I'm having a piece of granite made to size for use under my turntable, mostly because I already have a large piece of 1" thick granite when I had my kitchen re-done this past summer (chunk left over when they cut out the opening for my sink). My Oracle Delphi's three feet may make using footers a little difficult, but sounds like it's worth the effort. Have you tried marine-grade plywood? I found it made a noticable improvement under my CDP, softening the sound just a bit and making the digital "experience" a little more musical. Easy enough to paint to suit your tastes should you decide it makes any noticable improvements. On a related note, my local dealer gave me a Cambridge Audio isolation platform I haven't got around to trying yet, it's a metal platform (same box as they use for their outboard DAC I believe) and five round black balls that go under the platform. I intend on using this platform in my office system, under my Oracle Alexandria turntable. I'll play with this for a bit and leave a post as to the outcome.

Redkiwi: What is the URL of the Parts Connection? I am trying out the Mapleshade Surefoot brass cones with my various electronics (DAC, CD player, amp) and have yet to get a good sound out of them. I am using them in combination with platforms of MDF, Persimmon (the cabinet itself) and Maple (my good cutting board that I said that I would not donate to the system). I am using Vibrapods under the platforms and the Persimmon direct to the cones. So far I am loosing most of the LF bloom and they are tilting the HF's up and out of balance. I will contact Pierre at Mapleshade (after he gets a breather) and see if I am doing something wrong. I will also try them under my speakers. The Bel Canto DAC is so light and unbalanced (extremely light at the end without the power supply) that it may end up sounding better on a solid shelf after all, it has so far. I will also be receiving an SET amp next week and need to figure out something for it. Vibrapods do work well with tube gear and the E-A-R's would be intersting to try in between the Persimmon and the tube amp (without a platform).

Decay, When you talk to Pierre, ask him to send you some iso blocks to put under maple. My experience with mdf was not a positive one. I am getting excellent results with the brass feet under components with the brass feet sitting on the maple with isoblocks under maple. This will raise the height about 7" which may not work in close quarters.

Hi Brulee: I do not have clearence for the Mapleshade footers. However I did find out what was destroying the sound this morning in the daylight. The heavy power cord to my player/transport had wedged itself against the wall and was not hanging freely. I freed it up and am now getting a much better sound from the Persimmon/Vibrapod/Maple/Surefoot sandwich. As usual, I spoke too soon and will now play around with the Surefeet instead of writing them off so soon. This is another reason that I am considering the Mapleshade power cord as the chunky PC's seem to muck up my isolation components considerably in the close quarters setup that I have. I only have a 3" space behind the "loaded" (full of CD's, business papers, etc.) Tansu cabinet which is far too heavy (300 lbs at least) to move in and out from the wall. If I end up killing the SS amp in the living room I will then have 12" of vertical space to play with (inside the cabinet) in regard to the player and DAC as the SET will be placed on the top outside of the cabinet. My wife does not like the SS amp out in the open and neither do I to be honest. The tube amp is more interesting looking (even more so than the X amp that I have) and would look very nice on the 200 year old cabinet. Our place is really very casual and fun and not that "nice", I am just picky about it and find the look of most electronics in the living room to be too cold for my taste. Which model of the brass feet are you using, mine are the least expensive model and I have two sets so that I can check them out under the speakers as well. I would like to try the "things" that Redkiwi found under the DAC and the new tube amp as they are "dirt" cheap and I trust Red's judgement which I do not find to be predudiced by "cost", the same goes with Sam and Carl any many others at this site (you included) in regard to giving a straight evaluation of a product, unlike many pro reviews. Sorry for the rambling, I have been up most of the night.

for those interested in granite platforms, you should check out scientific or high-tech industrial suppliers. 2-4" thick very flat granite platforms are frequntly used in air-suspension systems for various applications (e.g., precision measurement). a few years ago, i was able to find some of these slabs, aporox. 24"x30"x2" for about $30.00 each. they are very heavy and not polished to the degree you would expect in a kitchen counter. i have sold these since in favor of zoethecus stands. the sandwich materials in the z-slab shelves sound best with my equipment placed on black diamond racing cones. my equipment all is on the "heavy" side. the cd transport, for example, weighs about 50#. i've yet to find any pod-type products that work with such weighy stuff. at ces earlier this week, i saw some really neat-looking and sonically dead shelving material at the billy baggs booth. it is constructed of 3 layers of safety glass, each about 3/8" thick. the "middle" layer is shattered and then bonded to an unbroken plate on either side. the shattering is what gives the material its acuostically neutral property. they are rated to hold up to 500# when used on the metal stands for which they are designed. cool, but i would guess a virtually impossible diy project.