help on isolation/absorption/coupling

Hi, I agree with all the above comments. To give you a background I have experience using different kinds of accessories including brass cones, Black Diamond Racing, Sorbothane, vibrapods and spikes for speakers. Having reviewed the articles above and extensive surfing I can conclude that a lot depends on your own equipment and there are a lot of misleading claims out there.
However I do believe that Black Diamond Racing, air isolation (Townshend, Vibraplane & Brightstar) and a new product called the Vistek MIB are the most effective.
Let me elaborate on the last. There are at present four reviews concerning the above and three of them are found in www.mediaaccess.com. The last is found as a sidetopic in Robert Deutsch review of the Wavelength amp in Stereophile May 2001. If you read into each review with a critical eye
all of them are enthusiastic about these items. I think most reviews to some extend are not objective to avoid offending manufacturers. However read the above articles and see whether you can detect the reviewers geniune praise
and the sound scientific basis of these accessories.
As for me I am convinced. The netsite also compared MIB's with an air isolation platform. Have fun!

Thank you everyone for your helpful answers.

My experience in this area is limited, but clear: the use of a Neuance isolation platform under my CDP resulted in considerably better coherence, and integration of top octave info, WITHOUT the lower-freq rhythmic compromise of air bladders or sorbothane; the success is sufficient to allow my continued use of very revealing interconnects on most good recordings
(although I'm still seeking a les-revealing cable for too-bright CDs). I had almost given up on Redbook! Good luck.
Ernie

don't make things more complex or expensive than they must be. if you have a cheap rack (non filled support beams, glass shelves, etc), use an inner tube b/w your shelf & your component (kids bike 12" works great). this is to remove floor borne vibration from the equation. now what remains is internal vibration from the component. heavy weights on the top or damping sheets inside the chassis works well, some cones as feet work well. try & see. by & large, the floor borne are more difficult / more prominent, that is, unless you have a great rack...and few people do.
rhyno