Do equipment stands have an impact on electronics?

Hello dlcockrum, regards to your post dated 11-04-2016 8:50pm, requesting opinions on Solid Tech Testing pdf file:

First and foremost, we have some concerns about this so called “independent” testing.

Solid-Tech states: ”The proof is below, 88,48% reduction at 20Hz. Have you ever seen an independently conducted vibration measurement from any other audio-isolator manufacturer?”

Sounds really impressive, but our question is how can this be considered “independent” testing? And therefore how does this test data and these claims hold any merit? We have reviewed dozens of formal third party test documents and this document has very little in common with any our company has peer reviewed over the last dozen years.

The initial problem is that this test document does not properly define the test scenarios nor does it even list the third party “independent” agency or university that conducted the testing. You pay big money for testing and the right to back the results with the facilities credentials. Typically such results will be presented for publication (by the manufacturer of the product or technology) and would clearly include the identifying information about the independent testing party, as well as their industry specific associations and accreditations.

Example: NETA (The InterNational Electrical Testing Association) or ICSA Labs who test the built-in security functions in smart phones and tablets.

Any reputable test facility or university is going to be a member of one or many of these organizations that set the industry standard for product testing and verification.

Next is a more fundamental problem of the testing itself. Beyond being poorly designed and defined, the testing data is simply incomplete.

Where is the control? What is the dependent variable? How would the object or shelf be read without Solid-Tech product in place? 

Taking a measurement from the floor and the shelf is a “measurement”. Comparing two comparable scenarios where the tester changes one dependent variable and analyzes the results is “a test”. 88% reduction means nothing if you do not compare it to some second configuration. For all we know one could get the same “measurement” by placing the same equipment on the rack specified without the isolation pads or with a peanut butter sandwich… 88% reduction might be the normal. With the information provided in this “test”, you can’t argue with us. We simply do not know. You need to take TWO measurements and then analyze the difference (delta).

In our opinion, someone took the time to make this look like it is supposed to be a formal “independent” test – room temperature, equipment used, type of flooring?, etc. – but there is no information about any testing Control or constraints.

These “independent” test results have not one fingerprint of a professional controlled third party test. In fact, what is to keep any company (even Star Sound) from putting together in-house tests to prove the  efficiency/effectiveness of any device or furthermore, what is stopping the manufacturer from tweaking the test parameters until they got just the desired results… and then post it on their website?

This is why they call it “independent THIRD party testing”. True unbiased controlled test scenarios. In my opinion, what Solid-Tech has posted on their website is nothing more than Creative-Marketing designed to woo any non-engineer into thinking “WOW, this is great! And look it really works!! I need this!” … Creative Marketing.

Now onto the technology; this product is a damping system attempting to isolate noise that is coming from the floor, rather than the source which is the sound, voice coil and the cone of the speaker system - our choice of focus. It appears that they put the speakers or system in a room with a 70-80 db sound source and measure the movement of the speakers or objects used as a stand in for the speaker. 70-80 db is fairly loud and this seems to be shown at all frequencies.  

The 20 Hz geophone sees data up to about 150 hz with a central frequency of 20 hz. They are saying that the energy comes from the sound pressure they have created from the loudspeakers. The geophone is a low pass filter as it does not react well to frequencies above about 160 Hz. The same can be said about the 70 hz and 150 hz geophones. These instruments are band pass filters where the response curve is a max at 70 or 150 hz, so again, they are just various band pass filters that show the response of the speaker to an outside compressive wave.  

A more applicable test might be to record single notes (we prefer cellos) in a studio then play them through a speaker resting on Audio Points™, then repeat on another product (say MD springs) and finally the Solid Tech feet. ‘C’ scale four octaves with 6 seconds per note recording should provide enough information for any ear to hear the difference in footer systems.

In comparison, Audio Points remove an interfering polarization of shear created by the speakers. Please note, our technology and approach has nothing to do with movement of the room or compressive waves (sound) in the room so including them in this test would provide a different functioning product to compare with the two isolation spring based products.

You could add RTA charted frequency curves to the test which will assist in showing what each design is doing to the sound. No guessing what the Real Time Analyzer measurement really accomplishes as all these tests are “highly subjective” at best. You are measuring more for what sounds you will hear from the same speaker on the different feet.

Star Sound is less concerned about the deadening of the speaker relative to floor noise as our products reduce floor noise and reduce resonance as it forms in real time within and on the surface of the loudspeaker or component via rapid energy transfer to ground.

Our concern is more about the amount of resonance that continues to build up over time, layering and propagating on all smooth surfaces on and within the loudspeaker. This detrimental resonance prohibits driver functionality, signal and speed, speaker dispersion patterns and driver time alignment affecting overall “operational efficiency” of the speaker system. Isolation damped footers do not take these elements of functionality or resonance build up into account.

http://starsoundaudio.com/CMS/uploads/vibration-and-coulomb-friction-2013_001.pdf

Not to challenge this company's testing methods alone, there are others far more creative, some with videos, charts, mechanical displays demonstrating how their products’ function based on their methodologies and theorems where any engineering team could easily prove their efforts to be nothing more than Creative Marketing tools designed to increase sales; especially when there are no results from independent or third party testing being presented. Please note: Star Sound has absolutely nothing against any business using creative marketing tactics to fuel sales.

Star Sound invested heavily in third party testing because our technology adapts, is scalable and expand in other industries so it is worth the capital investment.

Our comments here are based on our experiences involving product and technology testing.

Thank you for your time,

Star Sound