Magnetic isolation

tbg
5,221 posts
06-28-2016 9:18pm
I had these long ago from SONY. Remember that like pole isolation acts just like a spring. I like neither.

Virtually all advanced isolation devices employ springs in one form or another, including LIGO, the project that detected gravity waves from a black hole last year. Trust me if there was something better than springs LIGO would have used it. Of course there are at least a few reasons why audiophiles don't get good results with certain things. 

Exactly, Geoff. Furthermore, the stronger (dense) the magnetic field (push) between deck and environment, the better sound quality. In other words, the stronger the magnetic spring, the better isolation and thus sound quality, Stronger magnetic push gives better mechanical stability, IME.  

harold-not-the-barrel
295 posts
06-29-2016 5:30am
Exactly, Geoff. Furthermore, the stronger (dense) the magnetic field (push) between deck and environment, the better sound quality. In other words, the stronger the magnetic spring, the better isolation and thus sound quality, Stronger magnetic push gives better mechanical stability, IME.

Most likely the magnets' strength should be matched to the mass of the component, like springs. Ergo, stronger stiffer springs do not equate with better isolation. Not by a long shot. The strength I.e., stiffness of the spring is selected based on load. Not to mention that very strong magnets are actually less stable than weaker ones as they will have a greater tendency to slide uncontrollably in the horizontal direction which is their wont. 

Sure, magnet´s strength should match to component´s mass. The heavier component, the stronger magnet is beneficial for better sound quality. But springs are not like magnets actually. All springs have mechanical contact whereas magnets don´t. That´s why magnetic isolation is better than mechanical. Furthermore, in practice all opposing magnets are unstable (horizontally), even very thin/small ones. Just try to move close two "weak" little opposing magnets together, they become slippery like ice.

As for springy turntables like ORACLE. I always liked soft suspension with my DELPHI mk II over stiff suspension mk IV. Actually with stiffer springs with the same arm and cart mk IV sounded awful, in my system decades ago. I sold my mk IV and said goodbye to stiff spring TTs.

In sonics springs act/work differently than magnets, IME.

Nobody hates beating a dead horse more than I do but it's not really a sound quality issue. It's simply whether or not the opposing magents are powerful enough to separate from each other under the specified load. There is no sonic benefit to making the separate more than say 1/3". i think you'd agree that more powerful magnetic fields than necessary are probably not a good idea in the vicinity of things like CD lasers, low output cartridges, tonearm wire, etc. speaking for myself I abhor magnetic fields in general and for that reason, with respect to the whole mag lev thing, I'm out.