Is it best to isolate??

Spaz

Thanks for the tip on the granite.

All my equipment is removed from the speakers into an adjacent room. Meaning, lengthy speaker cables are used.

I've found that combinations of or with, wood and compliant materials keep the color in the music. Don't dry it out, over emphasize portions of it, nor make it too soft or listless sounding.

All spinning gear resides on one rack, while processors, preamp, and amps reside on another or on their own stands.

I like Mahogany & Ebony wood blocks as footer or as shelves/platforms. Also cups with large Ebony balls yield super results... in my own circumstance.

I prefer Bright Star Nodes over pods or other sorts of compliant soft rubbery junk.

Given all the comments from others here about isolating components, especially spinning ones, results will indeed vary, and therre's more than one way to achieve a better end.... otherwise everone would say the same thing wouldn't they?

I use the Nimbus couplers and spacers from HRS under my ARC CD7 and think they do a great job in reducing airborne and floor based vibrations. I found that my bass tightened up somewhat, and the resolution as well as image focus tightened up a bit. If you have an HRS dealer locally I would ask for some loaners to test out.
http://www.avisolation.com/nimbus.html

... another option

Isolation devices black ravioli product of the year 2009 tweaks Enjoy the music magazine:

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/0509/aachapter115.htm