Vibration Theory - Isolate or Drain?

I use OHAUS brass weights on top of all 4 players in my system. The weights are 20g(2),50g(1),100g(1). For what ever reason the brass weights work best in my system on the front right(3 players) and front left(1 player) of the units. One odd finding is that on all 4 players they work best on the front opposite side of the units power cord. Example: 3 of my players have power cords on the back left of the unit. On those players the brass weights sound best on the front right. It is just the opposite with the one player that has the power cord on the back right of the player. The brass weight sounds best on the front left. Don't know if this just a coincidence. But it is consistent with all my players. I know what some of you are thinking, what would happen if my power cord was dead center in the back of my unit, would it go both ways?

Your tiny electronic vibrations in your player likely isn't going to be in a frequency you can hear, but I doubt that would convince you. The science behind coupling is to make the entire system as heavy as possible -- with more mass, the resonant frequency lowers. This should actually be harmful on your audio rack unless your rack is weighed down with a hundred pounds of sand (think metal speaker stands) if the resonant frequency is within audible range.

Decoupling -- viscoelastic material such as sorbothane actually absorbs some of these vibrations and turn them into heat. This is mechanical engineering 101, for more info, look up the "spring-dashpot" model.

I think in the medical, HVAC, etc. industries where vibration must be stopped to reduce noise or because of sensitive equipment, decoupling is most likely to be used. Coupling will pass vibrations onto other components where it will be harder to control; the idea is the control vibrations at the source, and that means using springs and hydraulic shocks in the worst cases to turn as much vibration into heat as possible.

The problem with coupling is it works both ways, regardless of the direction of the spike. Draining vibrations could just as well introduce external vibrations into the system, such as from the woofer, road noise...

Rakuennow, Please don't confuse audio with mechanical engineering stuff. Audio is about listening, not reading! :-)

Audio is really a black magic, all about subjective listening to your components in your home where the results often defy either generic logic or physics. But that's not only OK, but often fun.

Cio52,I have a rega planer 3 with a lot of upgrades on the mapleshape brass footers and maple platform.Do you think my table is worth doing the nano mounts to,what table do you have?