Vibration Theory - Isolate or Drain?

Rakuennow, Please don't confuse audio with mechanical engineering stuff. Audio is about listening, not reading! :-)

Audio is really a black magic, all about subjective listening to your components in your home where the results often defy either generic logic or physics. But that's not only OK, but often fun.

Cio52,I have a rega planer 3 with a lot of upgrades on the mapleshape brass footers and maple platform.Do you think my table is worth doing the nano mounts to,what table do you have?

Rakuennow -In my experience, cones "drain" in one direction. Try putting "spikes" or cones upside down under a Turntable as I described above if you doubt it. My guess is that ball bearings isolate better as opposed to "draining". If the cones drain the vibration into a platform, chances are the materials will absorb at least some of the vibration. It would take a carefully engineered rack to transmit all that vibration to other shelves. Also, I believe most people will respect the weight limits of the rack they choose to use.
Thanks for the reminder that viscoelastic materials turn mechanical energy into heat. Good to know.
In audio, one of the sources of vibration is the very thing you are generating- the sound. This poses problems that are unique in application.
Even if you doubt the significance of vibration control for most components, you must see the benefits for analog equipment.

CD players are also mechanical devices as they depend on reading a moving disc so vibration will have an effect on them. Note the effort by some of the top players to deal with vibration by floating the components on the chassis. I have my TT and CD on roller bearings and the rest on the Star Sound cones. The thing to bear in mind is that ALL of these things "work", i.e. change the sound. Which is best varies from system to system and owner to owner. And from time to time, I have changed my mind about which I prefer more than once.

Stanwall, I think you hit the nail on the head when you say 'works' means changing the sound. Good point!

I notice one fella sez he likes his phono cartridges when they are not torqued too on the headshell very tightly. Obviously he likes the sound of a little bit of added resonance. Some folks seem to like tubes that are slightly micro phonic which will also convey some extra noise.

So IMHO, it is not so much about what eliminates the effect of resonances in your systems but how you can alter the resonances and tune your system to get your preferred sonics.

Works for me.