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How Good Is A Marble Slab at Deadening Vibration

I have a marbles slab that is approx. 42" X 16X 2". A left over insert from a coffee table. I would like to lay it on top of a plant stand table that is 50" X 18X 30" The slab weigh about 70 lbs. II think I have enough space laterally to position a Rega turntable, a Bel Canto line stage, and Rega Apollo CD player and a pair of Red Dragon monoblocks, that could easily be stack vertically if necessary.(Also could place them on the bottom shelf which has a slight V-shaped dip ...probably a run off channel. This would save me three feet of speaker cable on both channels is placed near the bottom)

The plant stand is made of wood and has fairly massive "L-shaped" legs. The table weight is about 40 pounds.

My thinking is that a marble slab should provide excellent isolation from vibration. The only drawback is the left side of table will only be a foot from the right speaker. So I would start the progression of components from right to left to increase the distance to the speaker in question. Would like opinions from members about the pros/cons of this set-up. Thanks, Jim
sunnyjim
cymbop
315 posts
 
Everybody is right so far.

And: if you rest that massive slab on some manner of damping footers -- and your wife likes the way it looks -- your stereo will sound better to you than it does now.
sounds_real_audio
1,013 posts
 
Why don't you try it and let us know your thoughts.
drmoles's avatar
drmoles
16 posts
 
Try Ginko Audio Platforms. In my experience , they do work.
csontos
1,311 posts
 
No. 'Decoupling' device, such as magnets or what I use which are soft fiber scratch pads about 3/4" thick under the feet of my gear. I cut them to about 2"X2" squares. They work very well. But I'm interested to know whether the platform would play a role when using these, if someone has experience.
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
Sunnyjim,
from my experience with marble I am with Geoffkait on this one - a thick slab of marble (which is 2" thick in your case) should be a good material to damp the vibrations. On its own marble (& granite) ring like crazy when struck (as Geoffkait indicated) so the key is not to suspend marble or granite by itself (for ex. use marble or granite as a shelf in an audio rack). you are doing the right thing by placing marble on top of a wooden surface (your plant table). this will prevent the marble from ringing. I suggest, further, that you place a 3mm cork sheet (you can buy a roll of cork from Staples & cut it to size with a scissors) in between your plant table wooden surface & the under-side of the marble slab. This will for sure deaden the marble (if there was even an outside chance that it would ring when placed on a wooden surface) & the cork is another fantastic material to deaden vibrations. I've used a marble tile on top of my CD player w/ a cork sheet in between - works great!
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