What's the best isolation system?

Steve,

My ideas on isolation? This will anger a lot of folks but here goes. Best: Concrete floor, rigid stand(s) with spikes, 3/4" MDF shelves. Second best: Wall mounted 3/4" MDF shelves on a load bearing wall. Turntables should be isolated from other equipment by having their own stand or shelf. The only thing one needs to worry about with this concept is airborne vibrations and that can be minimized by strategically placing the speakers in relation to the electronics.

I certainly believe that anti-vibration devices can work and are desirable for tubes and CDP's. I question the use of glass in thicknesses of less than 1/2".

I'll share a little trick I learned 30+ years ago to check vibrations and it's cheap. Buy one of the laser pointers and tape it to a tripod which is placed on the ground outside of an open window. Use double sided tape to attach a very small mirror to the item to be checked for the effects of vibration. The goal is to reflect the light to a surface as far away as possible. Watch the reflected beam of light with and without music and you will observe the vibrations.

As for glass, do this test on an exterior window as far away from the music as possible. You'll see instantly why glass is an audio no-no.

Bravo Lugnut. Another thing, which I actually do, is to move my turntable/phono preamp into a separate room on the ground floor (concrete) and run balanced lines from the phon pre to the preamp in the music room.

I have tried several things from Iso-Bearings to Vibropods and have had the best results with AQ Sobethane Feet under my turntable. On my CD players I use the Paulsen Platters which are no longer made bu are in breif a platter riding on apposing magnetic fields. These seemed to enhance the bass on my CD and DVD players

Symposium is the only way to go.

Yo Lugnut! I'm pretty much on the same page with you about concrete slab construction, spiked stands and 3/4" MDF, but will add aluminum cones work better than brass or stainless on concrete....I moved into the new old house a couple years ago and figured I would have a lot of trouble with the 3/8" glazed in place windows behind my system and that just has not been the case at all....As far as very sensitive items like transports (the clock) and turntables I really like an active air suspension, but these aren't cheap.....I'm sort of in the cone business as an outgrowth of the preamp business so I have had access to a machinist to make up various cones for me of aluminum, brass, stainless and combinations with Delrin, a machinable hard plastic....On concrete slabs aluminum or stainless/Delrin combination works best and on pier and beam flooring brass seems to be the material of choice....No set rules for any of this other than active air suspension which is the cat's meow....