What is vibration isolation for?

Pbb, I am coming into this discussion a bit late, but do I understand you are saying that any device placed under amps or other electronics have no audible affect?

If so, you have either never conducted an experiment or your system is in dire need of improvement. There is no question as to the benefit of isolation.

Certainly some equipment benefits more than others, and there are a few rare pieces that are best left alone. But to say that ALL equipment is NEVER improved with ANY isolation device is just wrong.

Neither is cost the controlling factor in this truth. There are devices that cost $6.00 which offer tremendous benefit, and some which cost $200.00 that are great benefit.

Your suggestion that money somehow attaches the user to the device has completely failed in my case. My preamp retails for more than $10,000.00 and is isolated by $10.00 devices.

My $30,000.00 speakers work best with $55.00 isolation devices, yet my stock Sony SACD player has Symposium Roller blocks which cost several hundred dollars.

Each device chosen for it performance benefit, dismissing cost all together as a factor.

price? Who even looks at the price? No true audiophile considers anything but the sonic improvements as long as there's food on the table & a roof over one's head :-)

After reading Pbb's thread I couldn't help but think of the old tale 'The Emperor's New Clothes'. I think that pretty much sums it up.

Albertporter, back to my original point. Anything UNDER the component is not isolation. Isolation would mean putting the components in another room - away from the air movement caused by the speakers. I don't care what you put under your electronics - as long as the bass is pounding on the chassis like a tin drum, aint no rack gonna fix that problem.

Neubilder, things under the chassis are isolation if they help reduce the effect of outside forces effecting performance.

A rubber foot under a preamp can alter the resonant frequency of both the preamp and the shelf it is resting on. The shelf and preamp may both be vibrated by the same bass pounding (your description), but as long as the foot reduces or alters the frequency of the vibration, there will (likely) be a change in sound.

I will not argue that all changes are good. Some rooms, shelves, equipment chassis (etc.) benefit from a certain isolation device or foot, and not another.

There are other ways to effect or isolate the equipment, such as shelf materials that block magnetic energy or RF. There are damping sheets that may be applied directly to the chassis, inside or out that reduce the ring of the materials it is attached to.

Some prefer the sound of equipment with a weight applied to the chassis. There are many ways to pull that off, some expensive and some for free. Again, this changes the resonance of the chassis and or the material it is sitting on.

My point is that there is a change, and all of the ways I have listed may make a sonic difference. Some will be perceived as good, some trade off and some as bad. The whole point of discussing tweaks like these are so others may experiment and find what works for them. I never dismiss any idea until I have put it to the test.