Here, just for Pyschicanimal is part 2 of the saga of the “posh” feet.
The ideal for a turntable, arm and cartridge is to turn those minute wiggles in the groove into an exact electrical facsimile. That goal has been pursued through the years by some of the greatest minds in science. It makes you wonder if they had turned their talents to something along the lines of research into cancer or crop disease then the world would not be in the terrible state it is in today. Quite often a discovery in one sphere has implications and uses in something completely different. Sorbothane springs to mind.
What the hell is he on about now? Vibration, that’s what! It has been the bugbear of turntable designers since the record was invented. First there is the vibration leading to extraneous signals entering the system and then finding there way into the signal leaving the arm and secondly there are vibration losses, wiggles in the grove that are swamped and lost before they even get to being electrical signals. These new feet have been designed to eliminate the first kind of vibration but as a bonus seem to have a lessening effect on the second type of vibration as well. How can this be and what do I base my conclusions on?
My ears and a few amateur (and quite comical) experiments. I have already mentioned that my system is not ideally placed being on a suspended wooden floor on a smart but not inert rack. I managed to cajole my wife and son into dancing to some Chopin waltzes whilst I listened and made notes. I also recorded the results onto a mini disc. There were three sets of feet (stock, sonic domes and the isonoes). Each set was tried and recorded and the result listened back through headphones.
1 Stock feet – this caused much hilarity as the needle kept popping out of the groove causing my son to step on my wife’s feet leading to several sessions
with the foot spa and threats to sue me.
2. Sonic domes – much improved. My wife enjoyed the dance and even invited me to trot the light fantastic with her.
3. Isonoe feet – the music flowed and my wife and son stopped dancing to listen.
The listening to the three waltzes recorded onto mini disc via headphones.
1. Stock fee - as imagined, unlistenable
2. Sonic domes – good but you could still hear the footfalls.
3. Isonoe feet – nothing but the music.
Last session was just me, headphones and Joan Armatrading “Show Some Emotion” and “Willow”.
1 Stock feet – good steady and all you would expect of a KAB Broadcast Standard.
2 Sonic domes – all the good points of the stock feet with just a little more feeling and presence. The hairs on my arm were standing up.
3 Isonoe feet – Joan was standing in front of me and singing just for me. Goosebumps and shivers down my spine. A quite wonderful experience. It was not one of those never to repeated moments when everything was just right. This has proved to be consistent with all my listening. It is quite possible that I wanted to hear the improvement because I had just spent all that money and it was psychological effect but I don’t think so as that sort of thrill usually wears off after a few days. This is a continuing love story. I can not imagine going back to stock feet again.
Recommended – you betcha!!
The ideal for a turntable, arm and cartridge is to turn those minute wiggles in the groove into an exact electrical facsimile. That goal has been pursued through the years by some of the greatest minds in science. It makes you wonder if they had turned their talents to something along the lines of research into cancer or crop disease then the world would not be in the terrible state it is in today. Quite often a discovery in one sphere has implications and uses in something completely different. Sorbothane springs to mind.
What the hell is he on about now? Vibration, that’s what! It has been the bugbear of turntable designers since the record was invented. First there is the vibration leading to extraneous signals entering the system and then finding there way into the signal leaving the arm and secondly there are vibration losses, wiggles in the grove that are swamped and lost before they even get to being electrical signals. These new feet have been designed to eliminate the first kind of vibration but as a bonus seem to have a lessening effect on the second type of vibration as well. How can this be and what do I base my conclusions on?
My ears and a few amateur (and quite comical) experiments. I have already mentioned that my system is not ideally placed being on a suspended wooden floor on a smart but not inert rack. I managed to cajole my wife and son into dancing to some Chopin waltzes whilst I listened and made notes. I also recorded the results onto a mini disc. There were three sets of feet (stock, sonic domes and the isonoes). Each set was tried and recorded and the result listened back through headphones.
1 Stock feet – this caused much hilarity as the needle kept popping out of the groove causing my son to step on my wife’s feet leading to several sessions
with the foot spa and threats to sue me.
2. Sonic domes – much improved. My wife enjoyed the dance and even invited me to trot the light fantastic with her.
3. Isonoe feet – the music flowed and my wife and son stopped dancing to listen.
The listening to the three waltzes recorded onto mini disc via headphones.
1. Stock fee - as imagined, unlistenable
2. Sonic domes – good but you could still hear the footfalls.
3. Isonoe feet – nothing but the music.
Last session was just me, headphones and Joan Armatrading “Show Some Emotion” and “Willow”.
1 Stock feet – good steady and all you would expect of a KAB Broadcast Standard.
2 Sonic domes – all the good points of the stock feet with just a little more feeling and presence. The hairs on my arm were standing up.
3 Isonoe feet – Joan was standing in front of me and singing just for me. Goosebumps and shivers down my spine. A quite wonderful experience. It was not one of those never to repeated moments when everything was just right. This has proved to be consistent with all my listening. It is quite possible that I wanted to hear the improvement because I had just spent all that money and it was psychological effect but I don’t think so as that sort of thrill usually wears off after a few days. This is a continuing love story. I can not imagine going back to stock feet again.
Recommended – you betcha!!