Shelf Material

Only the Townshend are available in this part of the world, and they are not light compared with a light rigid shelf. I hear them as slowing things up. I am not familiar with the 855 so it is difficult to comment further on the problem you are experiencing. Currently, I use a very light and rigid chip-board shelf under my transport - the sort that is small chips of wood glued together and which includes a lot of air. It is much lighter and more rigid than particle board. It is clad with a very hard surface of compressed wood and so cones and spikes make no impression on it. I then use BDR #4 cones under the transport. In general I find that the right cone depends on the shelf being used, and that this combination works quite well. However, the reason for this post is that, although the result is fine, it is still a trade-off. It is definitely still more resonant than using a bladder product, but I prefer its more accurate pacing.

Hi Redkiwi. I just went through a similar situation in my own system. The sound that I found worked best for me was suggested by a turntable manufacturer. There is a food grade solid hard rock Maple butcher block shelf, that is factory fitted and glued. In the USA, McMaster Carr supplies this and is available in two and a half inch thick material. This comes in both 24" and 36" depth, and is available in a variety of lengths. I ordered mine in 6 foot, and had a local woodworker rip and sand this into the shelves for my system. I also had him laminate the front and top surfaces with gray Formica. The Formica seems to have no affect on the sound, it merely provided the finish I wanted. Please post your results, especially if you choose to try the suggestions provided by Caterham1700. I would like to know if it is worth considering starting over on my own project.

I have not heard it mentioned so far, and I have not tried yet, but maple butcher block is supposed to work great. I have tried the sandboxes, homemade and bought and the seismic sinks too, as well as a lot of diffrent footers. Hidiously expensive and heavy, though in terms of the improvment brought out a great deal is the Vibraplane. It is hands down the best isolation device I have ever used. It is sort of similar to the seismic sink exept that it has seperate chambers so that the air can move freely between the foot and the storage chanber, it also weighs 150lbs. The improvment it brings out is undeniably huge. You can order them factory direct from Sounds of Silence, Steve is a great guy to work with.

I'm currently using 1/2 thick glass slabs with either BDR cones or Vibrapods. I'm very satisfied with the combination, however, nothing is perfect and I don't believe any single material works in every situation. Consider this -- the best shelf material may be no material at all. Instead of placing components on a shelf, have the equipment suspended by small diameter cables. The energy storage capabilites of the suspending cables is practically zero, hence they should have negligible negative effect on the sound of the component. This method will work only if the suspended component has an extremely rigid case. A few years back a product like this was manufactured (can't remember by who), but I never had any first hand experience with it, but the concept does sound intriguing.

Interesting post Onhwy61. I have never thought of hanging/suspending components other than speakers (which I have done in the past with good results. I am in a postition to try this on my CD source and amplifier(s) that are in an enclosed piece of furniture with a cap or top that would support the cables. I would have to make holes in the top shelf to allow the support cables to run through to the bottom shelf, but other than proper alignment I do not see this as a problem. I am in the process of making templates for the top shelf (which with this feature would require two shelves - top and bottem) and may include this feature in the design. Guess that I would still use Vibrapods between the shelf and the gear. Has anyone "hung" their equipment, and is this a sound idea?