In my engineering degree we studied the effect of machinery vibrations on adjacent machinery and how it effected its performance, it can be very significant working with precision machinery, hifi needs to be ridiculously precise. Speakers are essentially the same, they vibrate, transfer those to the floor and therefor to the other speaker(s) and equipment. Isolation is thus necessary as is mass loading or inversely mass elimination. Wharfedale made a product called Aerolam to produce extremely lightweight speakers for just this reason. I have tried spikes, mass loading, isolation and dampening but have never found substantially differences, possibly because it is a multi dimensional problem. For instance if you use springs or dampers they let the speakers move, even minutely this can well produce a doppler effect to which our hearing is extremely sensitive. Thus allowing them to move may 'solve' one issue merely to introduce another?
In praise of isolation.
Isolation as in components, not personal.
(although, that’s not necessarily bad either)
There has been much praise, and discussion on the forum with regards to spring isolation.
Well, all this praise, caused me to look into how to approach this for myself.
I like to try things before I pass judgment on an idea.
The whole coupling/decoupling thing has been of interest to me for a while.
I get the desire to couple (yeah, I know,,,) as it plants the gear firmly in the ground, and if the base is heavy enough and made of a material that absorbs vibrations, you should be golden.
Then there is the problem of 7.83hz. Nope, not audible, but that doesn’t matter. Anyone who has used a test record to check for tonearm resonance can see quite clearly how an 8hz frequency can make the tonearm shake like a belly dancers belly.
So, decoupling. Springs made logical sense. Except, there was the problem of vintage turntables with their springy/bouncy top plates/platters. That just didn’t seem right.
I made an isolation platform and put springs underneath it. Figured out the proper spring rate and ordered 4 springs to support the 90lbs sitting above them.
It’s crazy the clear and obvious difference it made. For the nominal price of $100 for the 4 industrial springs, the sonic improvements were off the charts! When coupling, and making changes to the materials used under the TT, and the types of feet used, there was a difference with the clarity of the highs, their brightness and with the bottom end being muddy or lacking depth.
With the springs however, the whole presentation opened up. Everything sounded better, clearer and more defined. Faster, less shrill and I could go on.
Not only am I divorced, but I’m a firm believer in decoupling.
(see what I did there?)
Damned 7.83hz…
(although, that’s not necessarily bad either)
There has been much praise, and discussion on the forum with regards to spring isolation.
Well, all this praise, caused me to look into how to approach this for myself.
I like to try things before I pass judgment on an idea.
The whole coupling/decoupling thing has been of interest to me for a while.
I get the desire to couple (yeah, I know,,,) as it plants the gear firmly in the ground, and if the base is heavy enough and made of a material that absorbs vibrations, you should be golden.
Then there is the problem of 7.83hz. Nope, not audible, but that doesn’t matter. Anyone who has used a test record to check for tonearm resonance can see quite clearly how an 8hz frequency can make the tonearm shake like a belly dancers belly.
So, decoupling. Springs made logical sense. Except, there was the problem of vintage turntables with their springy/bouncy top plates/platters. That just didn’t seem right.
I made an isolation platform and put springs underneath it. Figured out the proper spring rate and ordered 4 springs to support the 90lbs sitting above them.
It’s crazy the clear and obvious difference it made. For the nominal price of $100 for the 4 industrial springs, the sonic improvements were off the charts! When coupling, and making changes to the materials used under the TT, and the types of feet used, there was a difference with the clarity of the highs, their brightness and with the bottom end being muddy or lacking depth.
With the springs however, the whole presentation opened up. Everything sounded better, clearer and more defined. Faster, less shrill and I could go on.
Not only am I divorced, but I’m a firm believer in decoupling.
(see what I did there?)
Damned 7.83hz…
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- 49 posts total
- 49 posts total