http://forums.avguide.com/viewtopic.php?t=3588Please see the link above for diagrams and further explanations about AIR-BORNE and STRUCTURE-BORNE sound propagation.
Unfortunately, some posters without architectural, structural or acoustic qualifications presume to post fallacies.
If the brackets and bolts are sufficiently sized to accommodate the loads imposed, there will be no ' material fatigue' over time just as there is none in properly designed floor or roof fixing brackets and bolts.
Insulation placed in stud wall construction will NOT prevent sound from traveling between rooms. At best, it will REDUCE the sound but at only certain frequencies. Those below 200 Hz will effectively pass straight through the insulation.
It is the de-coupling of the wall-mounted shelves that (as shown in my explanations) is the salient benefit.
A properly executed wall-mounted shelf will NEVER ' do more harm than good' .
The only harm I can see is ill-informed uneducated pontifications posing as scientific fact.