Wood blocks underneath components?? snake oil?

Well, this thread prompted me to try a bit of experimentation. I bought a bit of good quality mahogany and mpingo (african backwood) 1"x1" stock. My reasoning being that these woods are about as sonically dissimilar as any pairing. Mahogany is mellow & woody, Mpingo is so dense it sounds almost like a ceramic when you click two blocks together. I cut several sets of blocks in the small size, golden ratio size Cardas offers. When these are inserted under my cd transport & dac, they most obviously shift the tonal emphasis of the sound, more so than I expected. Mpingo, used exclusively, imparts a definite treble emphasis. I'd say that I like the transport sans blocks, on it's own feet but supported by a thick maple platform. A mixture of two mahogany blocks & one mpingo block under the dac does sound a little bit better that stock footers. Skeptics may scoff, but there is a definite tuning effect possible with wood footers.

Yep Photon46, exactly why all the shelves my gear rests on is solid Maple butcher block 2.5" thick.

I have not tested all the possibilities but Maple is excellent.

I put this point, but nowone responded, so I will ask again. Maybe nobody has any opinion on this, but a cardinal point as I understand it, of Cardas products, is the use of the Golden Section as I learnt about it, or Golden Proportion as I believe it is also called. As I eluded to, the idea has been around for centuries and has strong advocates. So, is it relevant in considering the Ayre blocks, made by Cardas I believe

David12, I wonder to what degree the golden section ratio really contributes to the effectiveness of wood footers. It certainly makes for good ad copy but it's application may be psuedo-science in this case? The golden ratio certainly crops up over and over again in nature's design and in the works of artists, but does this have any relevance in this case? Just because it's aesthetically pleasing doesn't mean it contributes to functionality. Look at a marimba, the ultimate example of tuned wooden blocks, no golden ratio at work there. When I cut the blocks I experimented with, I made one set very carefully to maintain the golden section proportions as exactly as my shop would allow. I deliberately made another with the longest length deviating from this ratio (shorter.) I can't hear any difference, but then maybe my ears aren't golden enough and my system isn't revealing enough.

Yes. Snake oil. Cheap snake oil (in this case, free), but snake oil nonetheless.

Personally, I put my components on the properly engineered feet they came with. Well, except for my satellite receiver. That, I must admit, I balance on top of my favorite house plant (only lightly watered), with a rubber band on the left rear corner, wrapped around a very special Brasilian rosewood #2 pencil. No varnish or paint on the pencil, naturally, but rather lightly oiled and hand-rubbed for the best resonance control. The olfactory presentation of the receiver is much improved when following this procedure.

Okay, all kidding aside, shouldn't the feet and chassis be engineered properly for resonance control to begin with? Makes sense to me....