To couple or decouple? That is the question.

I would guess that most buildings are pretty well coupled to earth, otherwise they'd fall down. Yet, you have feel an earthquake or even a nearby moving train through them. This would definitely add 'information' to the component you are trying to drain vibration from because coupling is a two-way street, not a mechanical diode. (Some buildings are floated, mounted on rollers, etc. to deal with vibration, like Frank Lloyd Wright's earthquake-resistant Imperial Hotel in Japan.)

No easy answer would be my response and my stereo has been extensively experimented upon since I first owned a Linn turntable, with its footfall problem, 26 years ago.

I would guess that most buildings are pretty well coupled to earth, otherwise they'd fall down. Yet, you have feel an earthquake or even a nearby moving train through them. This would definitely add 'information' to the component you are trying to drain vibration from because coupling is a two-way street, not a mechanical diode. (Some buildings are floated, mounted on rollers, etc. to deal with vibration, like Frank Lloyd Wright's earthquake-resistant Imperial Hotel in Japan.)

No easy answer would be my response and my stereo has been extensively experimented upon since I first owned a Linn turntable, with its footfall problem, 26 years ago.

Man, here we go again. Coupling is the way to go. It can be achieved fairly inexpensively. Decoupling or isolating, as it's well known, is impossible to achieve. The isolating principles alone, store the nasty airborne resonances, and inherent resonances of the electronics. If you want to get tons of info about this goto audiopoints.com's website. There's enough white paper to get you intoxicated with the idea of coupling. Then call Robert and he will set you free. Tom, the audiotweak will be on the 'gon shortly, I'm sure, to put in, his eloquent sense. My entire system, including my Plateau Speaker Cables, are coupled to mother earth. peace, warren

I love to "couple" but quite often she's not around *sigh*

I feel there is more mystical mumbo-jumbo and outright BS surrounding this issue than just about any other in the high end - and that almost no one talking about this stuff either knows what's really going on or is rigorously intent on finding out. I don't claim to know either, except to say that if audiophiles were actually seriously bothered by the effects of vibration, and serious about doing something about it, they would be taking much more decisive and drastic steps than simply playing around with various toys they place their components on top of.

Personally, I don't buy 95% of the claims made for most of these products, and am not particularly bothered by whatever slight effects are present in my system for not having spent a small fortune trying to make myself feel better about it. The one fairly significant thing I think can be done, most audiophiles - myself included - won't consider for practical reasons, which is moving your turntable completely out of the listening room. Other than the area of turntables generally, I am convinced that almost all the rest of it is largely marketing. The best thing you can do for your system in most cases is to install it on a foundational ground floor if available. Beyond that, the differences made by various kinds of supports, racks, shelves, etc. are not only quite small, but more importantly, almost wholly subjective. In other words, you 'pick your poison' without ever really 'eliminating' or 'controlling' whatever effects of resonance do exist - you're just mildly shuffling them around.