Vibration isolation or absorption?

@audiopoint

I read your eloquent post. And I guess I am confused. I am not the brightest person so forgive me.

You seem to be taking a negative view on isolation and absorption merchandise sold by audio enthusiasts. And then in your final section you say that vibration management tools makes sense as part of the sound reproduction process.

Can you please clarify what you’re saying and provide examples of how someone would improvement to eliminate vibrations that are detrimental too good sound reproduction, which I’m sure exist somewhere.

Maybe another way to look at this, is to find ways to better manage sound dispersion throughout the room as well as minimizing vibrations that interfere with component performance, which is a more abstract concept I think. It is really easy to understand why you’d want to minimize external vibrations from a record Player as Jumping rope next to a record player likely interferes with a record being played, adding cushioning on the feet of a record player to prevent this seems like a good idea. Further, my subwoofer cabinet directly vibrates my floor which causes vibration noise from things on my shelf, an aluminum window frame, loose knickknacks, but if I put a squishy isolator disc thing between the feet of the subwoofer and the wooden floor it tends to absorb the sub cabinet vibrations and improve dispersion of pressure amplitudes more evenly throughout the room which is ideal for a sub.

Thank you

For me, Vibrapod work realy well under my speakers, on my suspended floor.          (speakers are just a little wobbly, but it is OK).  I also use Vibrapod with their Cone, with great success under my components.  Very good upgrade for the price.

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. 

EAR makes damping compounds for damping the hulls of submarines (military application). 3M has a line of damping compounds as do a number of other companies- and some of these are used in cars to make them quieter inside. 

We used damping compounds in our preamps. Their effect is measurable and audible. My LP mastering lathe used adjustable points and a vibration damping platform, made about 1950.

But just on account of the fact that there are large businesses that make damping compounds, we can know that the post of the above quote is dubious. Killing vibration isn't stupid...🙄

@audiopoint , i.e., Robert Maicks, is the long-time spokesperson (propriator?) of Live~Vibe Audio (that some may remember as Star-Sound Technologies), which sells primarily points (aka spikes), coupling discs, and Sistrum platforms to support speakers and other audio equipment. 

Cutting to the chase:

"Audio Points function as high-speed brass conductive gateways for resonance and unfavorable noise to flow out and away from the component or loudspeaker" 

"The high-speed exit of detrimental resonance caused by vibrations establishes greater “operational efficiency” within the component or loudspeaker per the laws of Coulomb friction and Coulomb damping."

Many audiophiles use and support their well-constructed products.  If encouraged, Robert will cheerfully go on ad-infinitum about the science behind their points or, you can look up his posts on this forum, and/or go to their website where you will find plenty to read.  You will also find an unwavering belief in their theory, without room for debate.  Mostly a case of Believe It or Not!

Interesting feedback on Spikes. 

https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/speaker-spike-misconceptions/