Weights for Tuning Enclosure Vibrations

Have not tried the Mapleshade heavyhats, but use the Walker damping discs on several components.

What I find is the Walker is a tweak, and I suspect the other items listed here fall into the same category.

These can improve what is already there, but unlikely to alter the sound drastically. This is not a fix for a bad problem, but rather refinement of an already good ( excellent? ) sounding system.

In other words, if you have a bad tonal balance problem or distortion issue with the system, don't look to these tweaks for salvation.

I do have an opinion pertaining to materials. The Walker is constructed of brass and lead and is NON magnetic. This is not a small issue in my opinion. Any damping material that disrupts or reflects the magnetic field surrounding components have a sizable effect on sound.

I myself object to the sound of this magnetic disruption on good components, but am keenly aware of many who are the opposite (I.E.: VPI Magic Bricks).

As for placement, there are specific instructions from Lloyd Walker for placement on his turntable. For use on electronic components it is trial and error. Some components will immediately benefit where others are not effected at all. Strangely, this within the SAME SYSTEM.

I do find benefit with both my Callisto (tube) line stage and Io (tube) phono stage by placing the Walker discs pretty much in a triangle on the chassis cage (top). This arrangement is two on the left side (faceplate and rear arrangement) with the third centered, just in from the outside right hand edge.

The effect is due to dampening the ring of the perforated cage and reduction in the microphonics of both the chassis and tubes. Walker also offers a leather disc that may be placed between the disc and the audio chassis. This provides additional damping in the high frequencies and can be helpful on some components.

Don't let this make you crazy. If you experiment with it let your feelings go and just listen to the music. Don't try to place and remove the discs in and out of the system every five minutes. Put them in a place where tapping on the component sounds like the effect is nice, then listen for a few days ( RELAXED ). Then remove them and listen again, and try not to expect anything either way.

Which ever provides the best results, go with it. If you hear no difference, save your money and don't buy any of them.

Nice reply,Albert! --And Sam; where ya been??

Thanks for the info Albert......for the last 6-9 months or so I have been busy with headphone acquisitions, got Headroom Max amp plus Senn 600, Sony 3000, Grado 325 headphones.....time to get back to the main rig upgrading,
I think my Bel Canto Dac 1.1 needs version 2 upgrade,he,he.

I know a local Agon member with very high end system and he uses those Mpingo discs made of some exotic ebony wood on all his gear, also last year in Listener mag there was an issue about tweaks and they said those discs work also, has me wondering if there is anything to this vibration tuning.
Albert the review with the Mpingo discs mentions the triangle formation on speakers, if you can believe that.
Just to make it more confusing, Mpingo discs are directional
and can be rotated as well as moved. All this is hard for me to believe, but I have never tried them in my system.

I think I will order a couple sets of Mapleshade brass heavyhats as they are only $27 per set of three. Guy from Mapleshade said he used all kinds of weights of various materials and the brass sounds best, plus it is not aesthetically objectionable.

Megasam, for $27.00 you cannot possibly go wrong, and I agree with Guy about the material. Brass is non magnetic and nearly as free of resonance as lead.

As for the Mpingo, I have not tried them, but witnessed a demo at CES some years ago where the discs were moved from the "good" spot to a "bad" spot. The results were amazing, although I have absolutely no explanation for it.

Maybe these Mpingo guys are just super tweaks and play until they make something work.

Albert:
Your is a very brief rule of thumb for any tweak!!!! I do follow same reasoning for many things I do try in my system, as always be aware about how sound changes, different is not necessarily better let your ears and your taste be the judge
Luis

Super DH (diamond hard) Cones on speakers and equipment are quite startling, Golden Sound Acoustic discs have many uses, not only in room corners - e.g., TV chassis, windows. I think everything's's relative; we have found lead is not very good, in fact terrible, in many cases, brass is better but not as good as some other materials - the NASA grade ceramic of DH Cones to name one, depends on where you are at, so to speak, it would stick with materials that are very hard as opposed to soft or pliant.