Equipment Rack

Hello folkfreak,

That information was provided by our newest member who is heavily involved with seismic sciences and I believe was posted by another company associate.

The studies of seismic activity are new to our company. When establishing our technical model we addressed limiting low frequency rumble via shear waves, reflective angles and relied more on the laws of gravity and motion regarding inaudible frequency.

We have always stated and agreed energy can and will travel up into the Sistrum Platform™ despite the geometry and material science, however with the majority of energy traveling down the conductor is greater the minute energy making its way upward would not affect sound quality and to the best of our knowledge it does not. The Sistrum Platform accepts and transfers energy from ‘all’ sources and is in a constant state of motion so we never became too concerned with regards to inaudible frequencies.  

The greater concern was airborne resonance. There is little known, written, studied or discussed as to the effects of airborne energy within the sound room and more importantly how it constantly  bombards component chassis and metal conduits via a wide range of frequencies both audible and inaudible.

Reviewing the industry from a racking manufacturer’s standpoint, information concerning the managing of airborne resonance is all but nonexistent but we have noticed a tremendous amount more information on the sub-harmonic factors. The immediate question was simply why? Adopting vibration management to musical reproduction systems and listening environments is all about airborne resonance.

Our belief is that airborne resonance has greater disruptive factors limiting component operational efficiency and definitely affecting room environments as the acoustic sciences will easily back this statement was the major concern in comparison to sub harmonics.

We do not know everything, who does? We have individuals involved in our company who provide information to us based on their engineering or science specialty. Example: If you want to discuss a snare drum stand which is a catch and hold type of resonance device or the effects of mechanical grounding a grand piano then I am your guy. I am not the person who would have the resource information you have requested so please bear with us as we should have something for you in short order.

Thank you for your patience,

Robert

Star Sound

Robert -- thanks for your response. I get what you are saying about Airborne resonance and am personally getting very good results with the Marigo Mystery Feet F8 Extreme to control this effect.

My main question was regarding the other issue that of ELF or lower vibrations from seismic, traffic and construction. Having seen the immediate and profound impact controlling this has on my speakers I was hoping to find a solution I could easily apply to my equipment stands. I guess I’ll have to explore some Townshend pods to replace the GrandPrix Apex footers under my Monaco stands and see if that helps

ps If you look at the Townshend materials you can quickly understand that the issue with ELF vibration is not the audibility of the seismic activity itself but on the effect it has on the relative geometry of the speaker/listener and stability of the speaker, so an indirect effect

answer, a lot . The impact of mounting my Magico Q3s on Townshend Seismic podia was profound. The quality of the bass response became much more natural, sounding exactly like the live unforced bass I heard in a concert just this last weekend

This link provides more background on the sources and effects of this insidious vibration, don't underestimate what it is doing to your system nor make the false assumption that because you are on a concrete slab a long way from a main road you are not still subject to the effect of micro earthquakes

I am familiar with the Townsend stuff.  There are no in situ measurements in that link per say.  It will be interesting to see what Starsound's new seismologist has to say about that topology. 

Try here for in-situ measurements, Townshend do the demo in place by jumping on the floor around the speakers

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/townshend-audio-seismic-podium/

Hello folkfreak,

It appears you are heavily vested in vibration management and we honor you for that.

The only advice I can personally provide is stick with a single technology or methodology. If the Townshend products are providing you the greater satisfaction then shoot for replacing your current rack with one of theirs.

Modifying other designs, mixing and matching technologies, theorems and products related to vibration management usually does not end well or becomes never-ending particularly when it comes to your wallet; unless you are the type of listener who really enjoys ongoing experimentation and we also have respect for the hobbyists working through the discovery process.

Thanks for the uptick on the Townshend materials. Although in agreement with the philosophy behind their products and have little doubt they do provide a positive listening result, I do have a major problem with the testing methodology comparing a dollar’s worth of generic speaker spikes to a few thousand dollars worth of speaker stand. Add to that the methods of generating floor borne excitement via stomping on the floor and tapping on a speaker which does not usually take place within a listening environment has us a bit befuddled. This display is a strong sales and marketing tool but is too one sided with too many unknowns and variables to qualify or quantify as a meaningful scientific test. Would love to compare our Sistrum Rhythm Platforms™ which are direct coupled to the flooring in order to balance the financial outlays between the two devices but also see how the seismic reactions differ when our added mass and geometry come into play and of course hear the difference in sound performance.

Obviously I am not the best advisor when it comes to other products or combining techniques but we are definitely always up to personal auditions involving your equipment and listening room should you ever have the desire.

Hope this helps a bit,

Robert