2. misc-audio
  3. 148161-115791

Does anyone use wood for vibration control?

What kind of wood have you found to be best?
bksherm
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 
Anyone who calls listening to music a "hobby" is engaging in a quite different endeavor than am I. Focusing on soundstaging is like watching a film for 3-D effects.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Getting back to Mpingo wood for just a second. I would have thought Tuners would be all over this thing like ducks on a June bug, jumping up and down at the mention of Mpingo wood or Mpingo discs. The Mpingo disc, African Rosewood + Gabon Ebony, and highly resonant, is a Tuner’s Delight. First it takes some considerable effort to find a place in the room where you get a Big Bang. Many of the suggested locations often don’t work or are overly subtle. This just seems like a Tuner’s dream. Once you get the hang of it there’ll be no stopping you. There are many locations in the room where a Mpingo disc will improve the sound. And what a sound!

But the best part for Tuners is when you do find a location that works you can tune the disc since it’s directional. Hel-loo! If you have it upside down it won’t work and if you don’t have the azimuthal (rotational) direction tuned in it’s effects won’t be as pronounced.

You can also play games with the soundstage with one or two Gabon ebony 12x1x1 stakes, or even rosewood, the kind they sell at hardwood stores. Just lean one or two ebony stakes up against the wall in various locations. A Tuner’s delight! 🤗
glupson
7,842 posts
 
"I would have no desire to be on an audio forum if I didn’t even have an in-room stereo to talk about and use daily to explore with."
That is understandable. People pick and choose how to divide their time and interests. Some like reading.

At the same time, many people, if not most of those, who watch basketball do not have basketball courts at home. Some can barely run a few steps, some play only on weekends, and some actually do have a court and practice often. They all comment on some really good game that happened in the city they have never been to.

Nothing wrong with theoretical discussion. It keeps "I did it" bragging at bay with a little bit colder and much less subjective approach.

Question is would having Mpingo wood floor on the basketball court influence the game and why.
michaelgreenaudio's avatar
michaelgreenaudio
1,019 posts
 

Hi Geoff

I like Michael, I think he’s witty and easy to watch, even though I didn’t watch this entire video. My writing room is kind of like his listening room "stuff all over the place". However even my writing room seems to be a little more organized then Michael’s listening room.

I see what you are saying about the LPs and CDs and immediately made my own listening judgement call as soon as Michael walked into his listening area. On a professional level it would be a disqualifier for me to take his critiquing of components and music seriously. I would classify Michael’s room more of a music collectors room than a listeners room. That’s not a slam on Michael, just a different part of the hobby than I am a part of. I will make this comment though, If I sat down and listened to both his system and your system (with exception of the body effect) I would bet that I would choose your system over Michael’s.

I know that I am on you Geoff about using your ear buds as a reference for in room listening and I hope you can understand why, it’s not in-room listening and I’m never trying to do anything but talk about real time, on going, in-room listening. However if you are making a comparison between your in-room listening and Michael’s I can totally understand why you would make some comments you make, you don’t have to be listening to see the potential problems Michael is living in the middle of.

Any comments Michael would make about soundstaging would score a zero among the level of listeners I deal with. At the same time there are many Stereophile type hobbyist who are collector/listeners and not stoundstage enthusiast just as there are many other off shoots of this hobby and industry. It’s truly a to each their own type of experience.

thanks for your post, it sheds a lot of light on Michael’s preferences and mostly for me that Michael is an entertaining and gifted magazine writer more than a soundstage expert.

Michael Green


Oh, I should also add, as a purist listener, CD cases and LPs should be no where near the listening room. That's just fact and if anyone has taken the time to remove them out of the area they will tell you the tremendous benefits to not having them around.

michaelgreenaudio's avatar
michaelgreenaudio
1,019 posts
 

"Anyone who calls listening to music a "hobby" is engaging in a quite different endeavor than am I. Focusing on soundstaging is like watching a film for 3-D effects."

Honestly I wasn’t aware of this so much before bdp24 but yes I now see clearly that we (you and I) belong to two different camps of the hobby, industry, happening, lifestyle or whatever it is that you or anyone wishes to call it.

I am most definitely a SoundStager and believe this is the heart and soul of playback. I also believe obtaining the real space of a recording is the proper way to hear it in it’s fullest regardless of any particular parts and pieces someone may want to extract from the recording. That said, from now on I will try to make note of this as much as I can when acknowledging you.

As I have said to you directly before I hope we can get to a place where you don’t feel upset that I refer the event by different names. I think you know by now I have done nothing else but music my entire life and would say I have embraced every inch of it. I’m happy for your excitement and passion for your type of listening and lifestyle, but please keep in mind that it has been my quest to live and study the whole with all of it’s variables and disciplines.

Just as I respect that Geoff is a "direct to ear" listener I respect you as a non-soundstage listener as I would respect Michael as a collector type of listener. Each has their own sensibilities and passions and are obviously driven by healthy egos. For myself I enjoy all the variables and explore every part is if it is part of a big universe without judgement of right or wrong but more choice to go wherever we wish. Personal taste is a beautiful thing but there also needs to be those who can take this all the way in any direction, stopping along the way to take in preferences but having the ability to move on to the next exit when it is desired.

Michael

More to discover