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Are You Sorbothane Experienced?

I couldn't find any discussions on user experiences with sorbothane isolation feet, so decided to start one. I recently purchased a set of 4 40mm sorbothane feet for my Music Hall mmf-5 turntable. 
Setup was less than favourably a one-man affair, so it was a rather precarious endeavour.

One thing that adds to the difficulty of what I imagined would be an entirely straightforward installation, is the fact that the sorbothane feet easily distort under the slightest off-centre loading. That means you have to adjust them incessantly  at both top and bottom contact points until you miraculously have all 4 perfectly vertically loaded perpendicular to your turntable's factory feet as well as your shelf. In my case the shelf is by Salamander.

Once you've managed all this and justifiably rather pleased with yourself, guess what? Your turntable may or may not be level as it was prior to the installation. So, level the TT at the shelf rather than at the adjustable feet, as are standard on the MH, because adjusting the feet would upset those super squishy sorbothane isolation pucks. 

The listening verdict: I honestly can't say that I can hear any difference during before & after playback of Jimmy Cliff's Wonderful World, Beautiful People.

I'm curious to learn of your experiences, if any. Cheers!
avdesigns
terry9
2,341 posts
 
@dentdog 
Hello Dent. I used a sticky, jelly stuff known as 'MOONGEL Damper Pads'. It comes in thin strips about 1" x 1.5", and is mainly used to tune drum kits by changing the resonance patterns.

Pieces on the Tomahawk wand above the cartridge, and at several points along the wand, work wonders. A few pieces on the saddle also help. The sound becomes more focussed and precise, but at the expense of some sweetness. This can be corrected electronically by changing the dielectric on RIAA capacitors, especially if you are using teflon, or by a marginal increase in the RIAA values.

terry9
2,341 posts
 
AV, I'm glad to see that you're way ahead of me. Good for you!
avdesigns OP
29 posts
 
Terry9 - LOL FYI - The sorbothane isolation feet have now been decommissioned as they proved to be an exercise in folly. They effectively transformed my TT into a virtual leaning tower of Piza. So, it's back to a clean slate for me.
wolf_garcia
6,704 posts
 
I have a set of old heavy duty Sorbothane feet under my tube amp…these aren't as nearly squishy as Vibrapods which I use elsewhere. The residue is no biggie for me, and the heavier Vibrapods in use under my speakers work very well in decoupling them from my wood floor…highly recommended. I have some "real special" metal alloy cones under my preamp mostly because they keep air circulating under it, and because I discovered them in a box of old audio stuff and thought hey…those look pretty cool, and make me seem like I give a crap.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
We’re getting a good picture exactly why he had such bad luck with the fuse and most likely anything else he auditions in that thing he refers to as a system.
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