At last, some clear progress. The record player is clearly critical. A combination of better feet (Cerapucs) and better power cord (Gutwire) seems to be what the doctor ordered. My wife agrees. The effect is as if the artist comes closer, I can hear more of the recording. Very promising, and quite unexpected.
Improving a stone rack
Hi all, I have a large stone rack for my system, in beautiful granite, which works great for stability, but maybe not so good for other aspects of the sound. I wonder if it contributes to some treble ringing and harshness. I want to improve the sound, thinking of felt damping on the wall behind the rack, some form of cloth to cover the reflective surfaces of the shelves, and adhesive rubber type mats on the bottom of the stone shelves. Is this the way to go? Experience based advice is very welcome. My rack weighs a ton. It is not easy to compare to a wood or composite rack. I need advice on how to counter the sound problems of stone or similar polished surface shelf racks. I want to try this, before I consider a new rack or shelf arrangement.
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With Sidsel Endresen and Bugge Wesseltoft: Try, on their Out here album, 2 x LP at 45 rpm, it is like vocalist Endresen is here in my room. On other less good recordings, like Jefferson Airplane: Wooden ships, from Volunteers, and Doors: Riders on the storm, from LA Woman, again from my best (45 rpm) versions, the same effect is there, so even if I can also hear the recording defects, in fact better than before, in the overall sound, they are reduced. |
Three sets of Nobsound springs have arrived, so I am testing them under various components. They need to be tuned, so I am taking out some of the seven springs in each foot below the lighter components, so they 'sag' down appropriately. The jury is out. These things take time. It may be, that they work better under my lighter components, like the Teac dac streamer and the Hanss turntable speed control, than the heavier ones like the Aesthetix Io power supplies. Not sure yet. So far, no "wow" type of sound change, but maybe a little bit here and there. Plusses and minuses. Anyway, for a low cost, this is an interesting experiment. Granite stability plus spring type floating of the component. Maybe with a cost in terms of less precise bass but somewhat better mid tone and 3d soundstage? We shall see. |
@o_holter I use 3 not 4. I found they worked best at 1/3 to 1/2 compression. I also found that they worked best on turntable > tubed phono amps > tube power supply > speakers. Not so much on tube power amps. Try with/without the rubber protectors - i.e. straight-up aluminum. They should touch the chassis NOT the existing feet, and rest on existing surface only. |
Yes, good advice. I have them adjusted to a third to half compression. I use three feet under the lighter components (Teac, Hanss) but the Io power supplies need four feet to avoid cabinet stretching I think. I will soon try them under my MA1 amps, three feet should be enough. And yes, of course, directly from the chassis, not below the existing feet. Adjusting feet position to get the best balanced load from the component. |
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