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Do equipment stands have an impact on electronics?

Mechanical grounding or isolation from vibration has been a hot topic as of late.  Many know from experience that footers, stands and other vibration technologies impact things that vibrate a lot like speakers, subs or even listening rooms (my recent experience with an "Energy room").  The question is does it have merit when it comes to electronics and if so why?  Are there plausible explanations for their effect on electronics or suggested measurement paradigms to document such an effect?
agear
agear OP
1,362 posts
 
I agree 100%.  I have had good results with tubed gear in particular.  I had a fire breathing dragon of a SET amp in a previous system, and I noted that the room stayed cooler (which the stand manufacturer, Starsound Technologies confirmed in their own experiments).

Some people also claim some capacitors can be microphonic or at least their is a theoretical piezoelectrical relationship between vibration and electrical performance, but I am not an engineer and have no idea of the veracity of such claims.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
I've always found that stands with speakers on them must have zero back and forward motion, as the drivers move this way.
Any back and forward motion of the stand will be lost energy being projected into the room, being waisted by the drivers instead trying to make the stand move back and forward, even in unmeasurable amounts.
You loose micro detail and screw up your imaging.

Cheers George
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
they're not part of signal path.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
czarivey
3,278 posts
10-03-2016 11:55am
they’re not part of signal path.

The wall is not part of the signal path, either. Yet....

The bus passing by is not part of the signal path, either. Yet....
erik_squires
16,895 posts
 
agear,

I think the state of our socialized knowledge is something like this:

  1. There are plausible reasons why vibration reduction could work in solid state gear. A) Microphonics in the components, or B) You are actually hearing the preamp/DAC, etc. mechanically vibrate.
  2. There are known issues with tubes and things that move like turntables and speakers.
  3. There is almost no known electrical or acoustical measurements of vibration control being needed, or improving solid state gear in the audio/home environment.
  4. As far as I know, the only "evidence" is from listener impressions. This doesn't make it false, it just means we have not progressed from subjective to objective yet. I hope that comes in the future.
@georgelofi Point about being 100% sure your speakers are not moving in 3D space is right on. Not only must you isolate the vibrations of the cabinet from any other surfaces such as the floor, you have to ensure the cabinet doesn’t rock in response to the woofer movement, causing a dopler like effect to muddy the sound.

Best,


Erik
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