Best current footers for preamps?

audioman58
527 posts
06-11-2016 11:31pm
If You can afford it this is one of Technologies Best !!
You have heard of Mag Lev Magnetic energy to Levitate.
I just may buy one for my Vacuum tube pre amplifier
Check this out, http://www.higherfi.com/hf/shelf1.htm

mag lev is sort of interesting but the nature of the beast is that you can never get
the top plate completely free and clear of the bottom plate. The interface between two opposing magnets in a mag lev system is extremely "slippery" such that the top plate will slide over and locate itself against a stop post, providing a path for vibration to the component on the top plate. Still, I like mag lev stands and they're light years ahead of a lot of things. It’s easy enough to build your own mag lev iso platform with neodymium magents and short hollow tubes.

cheers

My brother has had 2 in his system for several months now.
One for his dac,thd other his DHT tube preamp.
We compared to my other per items and his still points.
This Maglev aRe  far better then anything out there.the low level detail and separation noticeably better,as well as soundstage image depth.
The only limitation is the 55-60 lb max weight. They may make for bigger amps 
Now possibly.

audioman58
528 posts
06-12-2016 11:18am
"My brother has had 2 in his system for several months now.
One for his dac,thd other his DHT tube preamp.
We compared to my other per items and his still points.
This Maglev aRe far better then anything out there.the low level detail and separation noticeably better,as well as soundstage image depth.
The only limitation is the 55-60 lb max weight. They may make for bigger amps
Now possibly."

just a comment that it might have been a bit of a stretch to say that "this Maglev are far better than anything out there." For example, did you compare the Maglev in question to say, Vibraplane or Minus K or the Townshend iso stand, you know iso stands that are well documented? Having built Maglev devices myself I have an appreciation for what they can and cannot do. I also have designed sub Hertz airspring iso stands and many other types of iso platforms.

Cheers,

GK, Machina Dynamica

audioman58, a long time ago I had Sony likepole magnet feet and later a platform from Italy much like what you are talking about. 

Such devices behave just like springs.The Sonys were best as they did not slide to one side. They were about the size of the Stillpoints Ultra Fives.

I don't like spring isolators.

tbg
5,214 posts
06-12-2016 5:42pm
"audioman58, a long time ago I had Sony likepole magnet feet and later a platform from Italy much like what you are talking about.

Such devices behave just like springs.The Sonys were best as they did not slide to one side. They were about the size of the Stillpoints Ultra Fives.

I don’t like spring isolators."

i appears there’s a lot of folks who disagree on the dodgy subject of springs and isolation. You know, the thousands of Vibraplane users, not to mention Minus K, Townshends iso stands, in fact almost all iso platforms are spring based in one form or another. As well as the many university labs who employ bungee cords or similar springs for isolation. Even the project to detect gravity waves LIGO employs spring based iso systems. Of course, it’s always possible to implement these systems incorrectly or ineffectively. C’est la vie. Isolation is part science, part art. In the special case of maglev devices it’s not that they act like springs, it’s that there is no physical pathway for vibrations to get to the component. It's levitation. As I said earlier the slippery interface of opposing magnets results in a small pathway where the top plate, by necessity, comes in contact with one of the stops.

Geoff Kait
machina dynamica