How do you deal with vibration?

Pbb vibration control in a component will mean that it will draw less current than one with improperly implemented vibration control or none at all. It all starts with self induced losses within the component, even at idle.This is what I believe and hope to document..Tom

Oy. The thing about this thread that's jumped out at me is that Twl has kept his big nose out of it! Actually, I thought he succumbed once, but I probably imagined it. ;->

The one component that impressed me is the Rack of Silence by Solid Tech. Heard a great system in a local shop here both with and without the ROS and can absolutely say that the difference was stunning. The price may be a bit stiff, but you owe it to yourself to hear this component. The name may sound like a torture device, but having one in your system is like removing many many veils and the background is definitely blacker. Heard it with a top of the line Clearaudio table, Nagra electronics and Verity speakers, the background was amazing but, unlike, digital, all the music was there. Unfortunately in audio you get what you pay for. Like for every other component more money will provide more music.

This has been very educational to this point.

As some one who has reached that stage of looking at vibration isolation as one of the next steps in the evolution of his system, I am very interested in the results of Theaudiotweak's experiment.

You can read the following about what we call PFM (Pure F****** Magic) or not it is your choice.

Electronics is based on theory. To my knowledge (Albeit a little outdated) it has no basis in fact. Take the skin affect of a conductor. One camp says below 20K there is no such thing the other says there is. Therefore I will use another area, capacitance. At extremely high frequencies a cavity filled with components and current has its own capacitance. In the IF section of some radar systems all you have to do is adjust the bolts on the cabinet for the final calibration. Also if you change the location of components on the circuit board the capacitance of the circuit changes. Let’s assume the same is true at lower frequencies. What happens to the capacitance of that cavity when vibration is induced? We aren't turning a bolt or a varister but inducing micro vibrations in the components is that enough to change the capacitance of the circuit (Thereby changing the frequency response) I honestly do not know. But remember this is theory therefore I believe it just may be possible.

A little story about PFM. There once was a spectrum analyzer with 200 MHz out of its reference oscillator instead of the required 100 MHz. To keep this story short the problem was a cracked base biasing resistor, not visible mind you but cracked all the same. Wish I could post a diagram of the circuit. All the DC voltages were correct and the 4 amplifiers operating correctly. In theory the amp circuits should not have worked at all. The moral is the resistor was turned into a capacitor allowing the circuit to operate properly except for the crystal oscillator. PFM.

There are many things in electronics that do not make any sense. Ask me I have had to troubleshoot some of them. Including the above.

Remember measurements don't always tell the whole story. Or some times it takes instruments that are highly sensitive and cost more than our audio systems.

So I guess I am in the vibration control camp and I haven't even gotten started yet. So down the road if I change camps I am apologizing now.

Theaudiotweak sez:

vibration control in a component will mean that it will draw less current than one with improperly implemented vibration control or none at all. It all starts with self induced losses within the component

It's interesting you think that. I have entertained an identical intuitive notion -- but haven't really researched the subject. I'd be VERY interested in your findings! Cheers