Nobsound springs - load range

After hearing the benefits of the Nobsounds in my system, I am now an advocate of good or proper isolation for both speakers and components. The Nobsounds may not be the best product in the market but they certainly have the potential of improving the sound quality of the system when appropriately installed under components. For the price there are no complaints.

Anyone who is having problem with the system sounding bright, hard or digital should give these a try before they change something else in the system to correct the issues.

Most people wind up with a lot of springs left over. They fit perfectly into a 1/4" hole. This makes it real easy to DIY extra ones. Simply drill 1/4" holes in some wood, MDF, acrylic, etc and put em together. Experiment to get the holes the right depth, maybe use some hot glue, you could do really light components with just one or two springs per pod. Another option, even easier, add weight. I have used a 5lb dive weight on my CDP for years.

All of audio is trial and error. Test and evaluate, tweak and evaluate some more. This is no different. Anyone things a system is plug and play, sorry. This one thing more than anything else will hold you back.

Corollary: learn to listen, don't waste time measuring. 

Time spent writing down kg and measuring compression is time that could have been spent listening, which is the only way you get anywhere. The sooner you figure this out the faster you go.

Most people wind up with a lot of springs left over. They fit perfectly into a 1/4" hole. This makes it real easy to DIY extra ones. Simply drill 1/4" holes in some wood, MDF, acrylic, etc and put em together.

Good suggestion. I entertained the idea of making some using the leftover springs earlier. Unfortunately I have poor DIY skills and don't have the necessary tools to do so.  Also, the different looks of the footers may affect the aesthetics if the components are on the same rack. Will see how it goes.

I agree the only way is to listen with a lot of trial and error.

Folks, an update. I’ll cut to the chase.

Please put some effort in the set up of the Nobsounds as they have proven to be effective, only when properly set up. As mentioned earlier, no shortcuts.

I can confirm that the footers have brought an impact to the system. After getting to the optimized set up of the Nobsound on the power amp, I removed them and listened again. The bass lost definition and sounded smeared. There was bass resonance. Next, percussion sounded soft, subdued and smeared, lacking energy and sparkle.

Now, the interesting part. I reinstalled the Nobsounds but failed to achieve the previous performance. Long story short. Some footers have a larger gap while some show a smaller gap. After some adjustments it’s all glory again. Lesson learned - try to get a same compression for all footers below the component.

The diagram below shows the 3 footers under the amp. As the load distribution of the amp is unequal(transformer is located on the right), all footers have different number of springs.

Notice the footer at the rear is not at the centre but moved slightly to the right. The placement of this footer was painstakingly adjusted several times to ensure an even compression for all 3 footers.

The diagram below shows the transformer on the right which contributed to the heavier weight where more springs are required to compensate.

All of audio is trial and error. Test and evaluate, tweak and evaluate some more. This is no different. Anyone things a system is plug and play, sorry. This one thing more than anything else will hold you back.

On 2nd thought, in this context I presume this trial and error only applies to the Nobsound since they can be run in many configurations, unlike isolation products from other manufacturers. With the Isoacoustics Orea, one can only switch between 3 and 4 footers under a component, that’s about it I guess. In other words, the Oreas can be considered as plonk and play. The Oreas either work or they don’t. If the Oreas don’t work, one cannot do any changes to make them work. With the Nobsounds, if they don’t work, one can change the spring configuration to make them work.

The setting up with Nobsound is also a lot more finicky since adjustments are required with unequal weight distribution of the component. If the springs of the Nobsounds are not adjusted, the component will sit lopsided. With the Oreas (or other isolators), leveling isn’t an issue as the height of each footer is fixed, unlike the Oreas where the height will vary with weight.

I presume the Townshend Seismic Pods are also rather straightforward in their set up without much effort required, perhaps with leveling adjustments they are pretty much plug and play? Assumption on my part.