Vibration isolation or absorption?

Is vibration a two-way street?

So you have vibration from a speaker cabinet, but don't you also have vibration due to the sound waves bouncing around the room where the floor will vibrate and that vibration will transfer back into the speaker cabinet and also the component rack?

So maybe isolation is the answer?

For those of you wandering what the springs do, they suspend this speaker above the floor. He has the vibrations travel down through the springs in the springs convert vibrations into heat. The difference that they bring to a speaker is mainly in the base region. They separate the speaker from the floor so the sound that you hear are mainly just the ones produced by the speaker. You don’t get a secondary vibration from the floor and the walls which at higher listening levels makes the base less distorted and muddy. Mainly because you’ve got this buffer in between which creating the sound waves and the floor . It really does work, for some reason some people can’t imagine why it works but I promise you it does work. Maine saying that it does is cleaned up the base at higher listening levels. If you don’t like to crank up the volume then it’s not worth doing. 

@raysmtb1

I looked at your system and it appears you’re using the two channel McIntosh for one set of sneakers and monos for the other two. Have you ever tried biampin thing with the MC 275 for the mid/upper range drivers, and the monos for the bass.

You should provide details for the rest of your system. The rack you have is really nice that wood is awesome. Love the casters and they're carrying quite a load.

But, when the most expensive platform with the highest degree of damping was put under the CD player, the sound became too dry and analytical.  This was not just my conclusion, but everyone else thought the same, including the Symposium representative.  The idea that the "ideal" is the least amount of vibrational energy is not always the case and this goes with all components as well as room treatments. 

What this suggests is that the damping system had a flaw; perhaps something like the system was ineffective at a certain frequency.

ISOLATION IS THE NUMBER ONE MISCONCEPTION IN AUDIO

Springs, discs, pucks, squish balls, pads, cones, spheres, and all the materials have retailed in audio since the late 1980s.

All these devices are coupling products according to the empirical laws.

Isolation does not exist on Earth in the presence of gravity. Audiophiles are a small group of believers who insist it does.

How many believe a wood shelf isolates resonance? How many believe their equipment should float in space, free from all earthly vibrations? How many believe isolation is the goal leading to the holy grail of sound quality? 

Do you know electricity is the root cause of vibration?

DECOUPLING – AUDIO’S SECOND ULTIMATE MISCONCEPTION 

Coupling and decoupling are the most popular marketing strategies used today. Two names have taken the modern-day helm leaving many methods and theorems of vibration management behind. 

The only significant difference between the two is that coupling science is based on the laws of vibration, motion, and gravity and is accepted science.

Anyone can argue that absolute mechanical isolation and decoupling cannot exist in the presence of gravity.

Decoupling is a great advertising tool in the marketing gambit for repackaging and selling old stuff. 

The product designs and the packaging looks fancier today but still use coupling as their function regardless of storyboarding. The products sold long before the term ‘de-coupling’ hit the marketplace. The word decoupling has yet to gain scientific proof other than the Sound Industry’s love for marketing.

SOUND IS VIBRATION 

Killing vibration is stupidity. Eliminating it is impossible. Fearing it makes for sales expansion. Using it as a tool to improve sound reproduction makes more sense. 

We should rethink our minimalist understanding of vibration and realize we live in a world where everything vibrates! 

Thank you for your time. 

Robert Maicks

Sound Engineer, Vibration Management Consultant