Couple things- all things heard cannot be measured, and all things measured cannot be heard. That doesn’t mean to ignore seismographs, etc, but it is not the be all and end all.
MC is absolutely right about vibrations coming from the components or speakers themselves. That’s why vibration platforms under amps, and other components in addition to speakers work so surprisingly well. I was amazed at how something called roller blocks under my phono stage improved the sound. They drain internal noise and isolate components. Under speakers, platforms drain internal noise, so regardless of how dead your tile is, there is still distortion inside the speaker cabinet. It seems to make everything sound clearer. You may think you lose bass, but it is distortion, and what is left is real.
if you are in the US, I recommend you speak with Peter at Symposium Acoustics. He’s been creating solutions since 1992. Roller blocks, platforms, racks, etc. He doesn’t advertise, and goes by word of mouth. You can talk to him live and he loves this stuff.
He is also refreshingly honest. When I was doing my initial isolation work on my turntable, he told me his iso platform would not address my turntable isolation issues because it only weighs 10 pounds without putting counterweights on top of my plinth, which was impossible. So I went with a Townshend platform that did the trick with their lightest pods under their platform. It worked great. When I went next to my speakers, draining the noise worked best with symposium Segue platforms. You can add roller blocks under them if you want, but once again Peter was so honest-by saying I may not want to elevate the tweeters an inch+ and just go with the Segues. The Segues are the same height as the spikes I removed from my speakers.
Next was the phono stage, then my amp, and the only thing left is my power conditioner, but I need one thing that doesn’t move when I touch it for when I am organizing records. Everything floats, so when I see that my OCD tendencies make me nervous. Conditioner is on top of Herbie’s Tenderfeet, which do a little, but nothing like pods or roller blocks.
I also agree with MC about not worrying about every little thing in terms of what to do when. Every time I do something, it sounds better. I am amazed. No stereo salesmen ever mention this stuff, and it is very impactful.
Peter says in his experience, believe it or not, the biggest improvement he’s seen is with CD players! Too bad I don’t use one, but if I would have kept mine and used his products, I might not have disconnected it. No disrespect to John at Townshend, but he is not the designer of the products, and when I did have the opportunity to talk to Max Townshend, it was night and day. It is not easy, especially with them being on the other side of the pond for me. He is nice and responsive, but is very salesy and tends to exaggerate a bit. Max and Peter are very scientific and set expectations very modestlly, which makes the improvements all the more surprising. Peter will take the time to help you. He even answered a question I had about my turntable mat even though he never pursued a solution for that (he thought about it at one time, but was too busy).
