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VR4 JR and VIBRAPODS... Good or bad match up?

Hello,

Having recently stumbled upon the advantages of isolation devices for components, I ventured to the VIBRAPOD website... even made a call to them... they pointed out there were some mentions of their use with previous VR speakers. the Vibrapod rep said I could even use them to replace the rubber points separating the top and bottom modules! Amazing!

Isolate speakers? I thought. No. Join them to the floor, that's what everyone I talk to says...

So how about it? Anyone use Vibrapods or the like with a positive outcome on their speakers? I sure would like to find the outcome of how this has helped or hindered others.... and to what effect.
blindjim
driver's avatar
driver
750 posts
 
I have a set of VR4GenIII's & use Herbie's Footers between the modules. I started out w/5 on ea. side but went to 7, as it helped stabilize the heavy side. 4 are along the heavy side, one in the middle & 2 on the other side. I'm also using one-piece SS spikes through the carpet to the wood floor & this combination works very well in my setup.

The Herbies Footers helped clean up the top module freqs while the spikes helped tighten the bass.
hdm
1,063 posts
 
I actually use the Herbie's under my DVD player with excellent results, but also use vibrapods under full range floorstanding speakers (with laminated or "security" glass between the carpet and the pods, which the speakers sit on) with excellent results. Please note, however, that this setup is all sitting on a hardwood over wood subfloor suspended floor. If you do searches at Audioasylum, for example, you will actually find a great number of audiophiles who prefer isolating as opposed to coupling with respect to speakers on suspended floors, and I am certainly one of them. I used to have the speakers spiked to the floor and isolating with vibrapods is a huge improvement. If you are on a concrete floor, things may be very different; the only way you can find out is to experiment. You may up utilizing both systems (isolation and coupling) as Driver has to obtain the best results, but it is certainly not surprising to me the isolating the high fequency module from the low frequency one has positve results with the VR4's. And in the overall scheme of things, experimenting with pods or Herbies footers is relatively inexpensive compared with most aspects of this hobby even if the results are less than satisfactory for you.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jgiacalo
446 posts
 
I've used vibrapods on my VR4JRs and while they sounded OK spikes were significantly better. However, I have a suspended wood floor with a thick carpet and did not feel that the supplied spikes from VS were adequate -- the first ones bent easily and the steel replacement spikes, while adequate were nothing special; especially since I've read that brass is superior to steel at dissapating vibrational energy as well as anchoring the speakers. I ended up buying inexpensive aftermarket brass spikes. Since they did not penetrate the carpet very well, for each speaker I put 6 #5 Vibrapods on the carpeted floor, placed a maple cutting board (@ $15 at Bed, Bath and Beyond)on top of the Vibrapods and the brass-spiked VR4JRs on top of that. This achieved isolation from the resiliant floor while still offering a firm base to anchor the VR4JRs. The resulting sound is outstanding. Don't forget to load each VR4JR with 40-50 lbs of lead shot which you can get at a gun shop for about $15/25lbs.

I havent tried V-pods between the lower and upper units but it sounds worth experimenting.

One tweak which also improves on an already fantastic speaker is to apply Walker SST electrical contact enhancer to each of the terminals of the bass, mid and tweeter driver terminals. You have to inscrew the speaker drivers to do this - you'll have to get the specialized screwdriver at an auto parts store - but it brings a significant improvement in transparency and speed.
bignerd100
515 posts
 
The VSA rep put some ceramic pucks under the VR4SR's and it made a surprising improvement. THe shot inside the speaker will make a bigger difference though.
larryken
537 posts
 
Spikes are for carpet piercing and iso pads for all else...I'm using Quest for Sound Iso Pads....have used Nordost Pulsar point and vibrapods
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