CD player vibration control ..................

Rotarius-
I agree that rigid materials do not provide damping. Rigid materials will transmit vibrations and at best change the frequency of the transmitted vibrations.

Flip flops are typically made of "elastomeric" materials
and are CHEAP.

Gosthouse, the real trick is to determine how much your isolator has to compress for a particular weight it carries and you have to prevent horizontal front-to-back or side-to-side movement. An enclosed air bladder may provide real amd measurable vibration control. All I can say to everyone on here is make sure the seller supplies you with measured data to substantiate the claims as it can be done easily and without a lot of expense.

Rotarius, most manufacturers do provide data on their websites - though generally not in quantifiable terms. Some Agoner's systems are so sensitive that even slipping a piece of paper under an oem footer will produce a detectable difference - if the listener has sensitive ears. There are also the suggestibility and predisposition factors. So, even if measured data was presented online it would provide very little information that could be directly applied to one's own system. That's why A/Bing in your own system is the ultimate test.

Having said that, anyone interested in learning about isolation, damping or draining of unwanted energy can visit the websites at Symposium, Silent Running, Townsend, MIB, Halcyonics...whatever...to help determine which approach might be the most effective - or pertinent - in improving the sonics of your chain. Be advised that there are many imitators in the marketplace who will attempt to play off a successful device by altering the structure or resource material in an attempt to circumvent a protected design (or to spend as little $ as possible in the mfr'ing process!). Further, I doubt that many DIY isolation devices - if any at all - will be as efficacious as those whose manufacturers have been trumpeted here on Agon. Despite claims to the contrary, you will get what you pay for with these tweaks - but you have to hear them in your system (employed in the fashion for which they were designed) before you can draw any serious conclusion.

Islandear, I totally agree with what you are saying, you cannot quantify the sonic changes with these products. However, you can very easily quantify if X product can indeed damp or dissipate vibration. You may not like the sonic result of a properly damped component. However, if a manufacturer tells you his product kills unwanted vibration, I want to know how. Where is the proof that a brass cone can "drain" vibration? That would certainly be very interesting to me.

Rotarius, I could round up specific or anecdotal material to answer your question but I wouldn't be doing you any favors. I recommend you visit as many sites as you can to garner the information you desire. I can tell you that Symposium and HRS both address - to a lesser or greater extent - their engineering and manufacturing philosophies. Both describe or define basic acoustic law, i.e., basic physics. Most mfr's will tell you what energy dissipation issues their products will address, but rarely do they tell you "how," other than in the most basic language. Obviously, you can google a lot of information regarding airborne or structure-borne vibration. But the best technical/copy writer will not be able to impart to you the true value of any isolation device as well as practical experience will. Systems can be similar but sonically dissimilar so that drawing an mutual conclusion is, essentially, foolhardy.