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Tweak worth 100X It's price - Vibrapods

While I WAS not a big beleiver in the "tweaks" of audio to a any appreciable extent, I must rave about the performance recieved form these littel rubber pods. I purchase a few a couple months ago to place under my electronics and I was extremely happy with the result from the pods in combination with soem MDF particle board placed under the equipment pods combination. Rather than go into extreme use of adjectives regarding the improvement that was expereinced, just let me say that EVERYTHING opend up and became better. I thought my system sounded good but this little, cheap tweak was eye (ear?) opening.

I was extrememly happy with the imrovement to my electronics and then I thought - Why not the speakers also? I bought and installed pods for each speaker and
installed them. This was "as big" if not a bigger improvememnt to overall sound. I was experiencing some bass control problems around the real low end. These problems were now gone along with all the other distortion that I was experiencing and really not even knowing it or knowing it and blaming it on "room colorations".

You have just got to try these things. At $6.00 a pop you can't go wrong. Plus you can get a discount for quantity purchases usually. You will need a minimum of 4 per compopnent. $24.00 bucks that will make your system sound like you just put $2,400.00 into it.

I am a personal user and this is not an ad but I got my pods, along with a plethora of help from CJAudio/Video through this (AudiogoN) site. (www.cjsaudvid.com) Craig will take good care of you.

Feel free to email me (mackpat@apk.net) if you have any questions / comments.

I can also send you a picture of the stands i built for the speakers to incorporate the pods / and the Legacy supplied spikes if interested.

Relevant System Info:

Processor: Aragon Soundstage
Amp: Aragon 8008BB
Speakers: Legacy Classics.
CD: Denon 5 disc carousel.
Interconnects: HT ProSilway II (Pre - Amp)
Monster Coax Digital (II) (CD- Pre)
mackpat
morphsci
7 posts
 
I always remove the original component feet so that I have more options for vibrapod placement. You should experiment with placement. I also agree that placement under speakers can lead to either improvement or degradation. I use a sheet of sorbothane to couple my speakers to their spiked stands. To me that sounds better that the vibrapods in my system.
bozo's avatar
bozo
93 posts
 
The BDR #3&4 cones with the puck. You can couple them together with all-thread nipple. Vast improvement over just the cone. I usually have three under a component with two facing the same direction. Plus they help stabilize the equipment with a larger contact area. If you can afford it a BDR board with the cones on both sides is great. I had a local carpenter/kitchen specialist sandwich 3MDF boards together and this works well under a TT. I also agree that mass loading a cd and preamp helps for vibration control. However if you overload to much the unit, it can dull the overall sound. I use multiple zip lock bags with sand to evaluate which is best. If you can find the VPI wood blocks they also make good mass loaders for amps. If not use a brick/lead shot(in a bag or tupperware)
subaruguru
1,374 posts
 
Vibrapods under speakers?!
C'mon...isn't the whole point to ELIMINATE speaker-movement by coupling to the room rigidly?
Last thing I want is a wiggling midrange or tweeter.
Sure, these 'pods are great to isolate electronics and maybe transports from utside vibration, so they can float independently, but that's NOT what you want your speakers to do! ...IMNSHO
sean
6,231 posts
 
Ernie, i agree and disagree. There are folks using Pods between the woofer and mid / tweeter section on VR-4's, supposedly with very good results. I could see how isolating the two sections MIGHT offer some benefit. Then again, i would think that sorbothane would work even better. Only problem is that it is WAY more expensive.

My Father has Pods in an MDF sandwich ( carpet / mdf / pods / mdf / speaker ) and has been having better results with bass definition and lack of boom. This may be due to the fact that his speakers have a downloaded woofer though. Doing this ( somewhat ) changes the loading characteristics that the driver sees. Only problem is that i've noticed that the speakers tend to lean and / or twist after a while, probably from vibrating itself off of the center of the platform. I'm sure that this affects the imaging, etc... Need to find another way to attack this problem. Sean
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hdm
1,056 posts
 
Sean: interesting on your Dad's speakers. I also have speakers with a downloaded (or is that uploaded) woofer, and have had excellent results with vibrapods (my speakers are floorstanders that weigh about 45 lbs. each). I have a suspended wood floor with a low pile berber carpet. Here's a suggestion for your Dad: have him buy two pieces of laminated or security glass (very dead and does not ring-two pieces will cost him about $40 max) slightly larger than the footprint of his speakers then go: carpet/glass/pods/speakers. I have had no twisting or leaning issues this way and the speaker will also be less raised off the floor than with his MDF sandwich. For what it's worth, I use a one number higher pod at the front corners of the speakers than I do at the back as most of the weight internally is closer to the front of the speaker.
Ernie: here's a cheap ($25) experiment for you. Play a piece of music at relatively high levels with your speakers spiked. Place your hand on the top of the speaker cabinet. Take the spikes off and put the proper pods under the speakers. Play the same piece of music at the same level/put your hand on top of the speaker cabinet. Presto: Much less vibration! You can bet your life if the cabinet is vibrating, all the drivers are too. In my setup definitely sounds better too.
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