Best building material for vibration free shelving

@lowrider57 - a couple of weeks ago I had feet that had a layer of sorbothane between them and the amp and they seemed to isolate the amp from the shelf quite well.

Then a fellow DIYer pointed out that the feet were not allowing internal vibrations from the transformer or airborn vibrations that might vibrate the cabinet, from being "drained" from the amp - he suggested I try brass cones or wood cones without any "cushion" material between them and the amp.

Take a look at this site on drainage and isolation
http://www.symposiumusa.com/tech1.html

I now have wood feet under the amp and the improvement in sound changed the mind of this old skeptic :-)

I’m now having brass and bronze cones made to see how they change the sound.

I did try steel ball bearing feet, but the result was far too harse and bright and the image was pushed far in the distance - the wood cones are a little  more forward.

I have also used glass marbles mounted in a steel washer and the effect is a little brighter and more detailed than the wood, but no where near as harsh as the steel ball bearings

I’ll kjeep you posted as to how the brass/bronze cones turn out

Hope you find this useful - Steve

If different types of wood and metal, not to mention polymers and various shapes have such a profound effect on SQ, one has to wonder why multi-thousand dollar amps and pre-amps don't come from the manufacturer with better isolation? 

And why don't critics pan them when they don't.

Seems fundamental. 

I mean, other than providing a firm level surface, why should I have to spend time, money and effort trying to make a $5000 component sound right.................unless that's where the fun is...............

@williewonka , I don't believe Sorbethane or rubber should ever touch the component or footer. It may be used as a layer between a platform or plinth and the shelf.

I'm familiar with that link and I'm a believer. Geoffkait has also provided many comments on the benefit of draining vibration, (Yes our Geoff really does know physics).
I took his advice a while back and ordered DH cones. I'm using them under my PWT transport and the sound is more open and detailed with no harshness. BDR Racing cones sounded harsh. 

So, I'm now sold on isolating all my components in this manner.
 

Yes Steve, keep me posted.

What kind of steel ball bearing feet did you use? You’ve got me worried since I ordered some footers today on a close-out...
https://edensoundaudio.com/shop/terrastone-roller-bearing/

Maybe I should have stayed with cones.

@lowrider57  - many years ago when I first started looking into isolating my components I "created" my own low tech version of a foot using a steel washer and a hardened steel ball bearing - see...
http://image99.net/blog/files/0915f27ce41639dc6e4bf13bff2cbcbb-24.html

My thoughts were - I figured cone  anchors the component to the shelf, even if the small protective disks were used to prevent the spike digging into the shelf - whereas the ball is less prone to digging in.

It did a great job of isolating the component from the shelf, but a lousy job of draining vibration from the component, because of the sorbothane

Since I now use a piece of granite under the component, using  cone would have less tendency to dig in.
 
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I started looking into "draining" and I thought - what if I remove the sorbothane and just used the washer/ball "foot" attached directly to the case of the component.

It does drain - e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g!

The resulting image was presented so far back behind the wall (i.e. behind the speakers ) it resulted in lower volume. I had to crank the amp to 1 o'clock (normally between 8 and 10 o/clock.) to bring the image back into the listening room But it was very detailed and crystal clear, it just sounded very far off. It also sounded quite "harsh" or "Brittle"

I found the wood cones have the same clarity and a warmer, but the image is more forward and as a result the listening level is back between  8-10 

I have also tried the washer with a glass marble - this is very much better than the steel ball - it does not have the harshness or image issues

The Terrastone looks as though the ball is either steel, brass or ceramic  (from the images on the web) - not sure what the body is made of though and cannot find any details - could be an alloy of some kind?

I've heard aluminum cones are very much like wood, but I have not tried any to date

Maplegate uses brass - like the Bear Paw,

I now have a guy turning some cones from brass and bronze in different sizes - fiigured I would give them a try, see which material provides the best sound.

Hope that helps - Steve