Wood blocks underneath components?? snake oil?

Hartwerger,

Sorry for the delay of my response but I just hit the thread again and saw your post. What blew me away was the dramatic change in my systems sound. I first tried the Large SoundPosts under my Cary SLI-80 and was imediately taken back by the change in tonality.

Strings were suddenly more detailed, the bass went deeper and was cleaner, and the treble was more detailed but still had this sweetness to it. Not to mention, the soundstage now went way back behind the speakers. Also, things were more quiet. I could play my system louder yet talk over it with easy. Things were much calmer and accurate. Almost hard to explain.

Being so pleased with my purchase. I ordered a second set for my CD Player at the time. A XA777ES. Results were similiar to the amp but it really made the CD player sound more Analog. The soundstage also just grew. I really wish I had taken some notes to better describe it.

I know use a DAC and a Transport and use them under both. If you were to listen to my setup with the SoundPosts and without. It is cleary an audible difference. I will say that these vibration treatments really make as much as a difference as changing cables in my setup if not more.

Being a hack guitarist and being familiar with tone woods, this product's theory makes sense to me. Hearing a guitar made of Brazilian Rosewood being played versus let's say a Saple Guitar is just huge. Different woods sound different with vibration and posses characteristics.

I believe that Monument Reference has a Money Back Guarantee but you would have to check their Web Page. Give them a try and see for yourself. They are really an amazing product. No BS, No Snake Oil..

Respectfully,

Chris

Let's see if I've got this right -

1) Vibration induced into a component's chassis can be heard through the system in some form, and it's a bad thing.

2) Wooden blocks modify the frequency depending on the type of wood used, which will induce a chassis vibration at a frequency different than the original. (How could this be good if it was bad in #1?)

3) People don't like Sorbothane because it deadens the transfer of vibration into the chassis. (Ummm, isn't our goal to be closest to the original signal, and isn’t vibration bad?)

4) So, what I got from this is that if you want to change the vibration characteristics of your component to result in a different type of distortion or noise, then you should try different types of wood underneath.

You want to try a cheap and effective method of resonance control? Cut up old mouse pads and put underneath the cabinets. Orders of magnitude less vibration into a component’s chassis.

To Sonfun's point, hockey pucks have been used for this in the past, at much less expense. J10 documented this in Stereophile back in 2001 in his Fine Tunes column. And remember, the NHL cryoes all pucks prior to gametime!

The unignorable manifestation of this phenomena, using woods used as tuning devices, became highly apparent to me when I replaced my equipment rack. The very same rig, when placed on my new rack, sounds very different (and not in a good way) than my original rack sounded. I had to completely revise all of my platforms, footers, pods, cones, etc. in order to attain the sonic signature that I prefer. I still prefer the sound of my older rack but it was too small and way too overloaded for all my components.

Mike VansEvers offers an entire tuning kit, which is comprised of different woods fabricated into different shapes. The blocks are placed in various locations underneath components, &/or sometimes atop of or alongside of components (not so much for mass loading as) for resonance tuning.

Of course you may also place full size platforms made from different woods &/or other composite materials underneath of and atop of your componentry, which also accomplishes tuning adjustments. Anyone can easily discern the differences in sonic signature. Those who remain in denial may not have an adequate level of equipment or cabling quality, or perhaps listening skills may simply be deficient.

I've found that pine -- yes, pine -- makes a huge difference in the spatial presentation of my system. In fact, I recently took out the wall (non load -bearing) adjacent to my listening seat so that I could erect a pine tree I cut down. Occasionally it rustles, but the sonic trade-off is well worth it.