Isolation vs. Absorbtion

Whew. I have been trumpeting it, I must admit. It is a bit of a relief that you agree, Jadem6. I had tried almost everything I could lay my hands on without importing things myself - MDF, particle board, concrete, glass, laminated glass, marble, corian, granite, sandstone, soap stone etc. I had tried bladders, seismic sinks, sorbothane, mass-loading, elastomers, sand and shot. I had tried more cones and pods than I care to remember. But I felt, that each was just changing the sound, not eliminating the effects of vibration. I cannot say Ken's Neuance shelves are the only product to do this, but finally I found something that worked. The approach is in the light/rigid/damped school, which always results in speed and detail, but usually results in resonant peaks. Not so with the Neuance shelves. You get fast, detailed and neutral. Somehow the vibration effects, that all other things I tried just shifted around, have been substantially removed.

Hey guys/gals: I will be ordering the Neuance shelves next week as soon as I make up a shelf template and get it in the mail. I had the Studio Tech rack that I purchased from Audio Advisor mig welded into a one piece unit by my auto mechanic. It already comes with upturned brass spikes for all of the shelves as well as brass spikes for the floor. I gave up on making my own rack when I saw this one on sale and realized that this (the welds) was all that it needed. I am on a pretty tight budget for the equipment move, but saved enough on the rack to start off with two of the Neuance shelves. My brass cones will be going on either the mini system or the micro wave oven, I haven't decided yet.

I have been using different materials under components for years along with different footers. I seem to like a bit of what each material had to offer but none pleased 100%. I got hold of Caterham 1700 and ordered a Neuance Beta. I told Caterham that I was going to use brass cones. I changed my mind and ordered a Mana Mini table. Caterham said he would have to trim the Beta so it would fit the Mana mini table. He did not charge me and even paid shipping. I have been using this combination for two weeks. Redkiwi has said what I would say but much better. IMO this combo does it all. This is one of the best investments I have made in audio. I have spent $1000s on a piece of gear that could not deliver like the Neuance and Mana. I have not heard other shelves as I have always made my own. I have no desire to hear other shelving. I was always of the opinion that thick, heavy shelves and materials was the way to go. No light weight whimpy stuff. I was wrong. Dead quite, dynamic, and that I can't stop tapping my feet is what this combo delivered. Have not seperated the Beta from the Mana. All listening was with the Mana. I had this combo on a piece of granite. Another improvement came when I took this combo off the granite and spiked it to the concrete floor. I gotta get more of this stuff for my other components.