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Isolation of my chair, am I crazy???

Many of you know I am a tweaker, and often over the top. Well, I discovered something last night that was worthy of sharing, and I hope others might try this to help verify my sanity. Actually there are two issues at hand, first is isolation of the listening chair from the floor, and the second is brass weights on the shoulders.

Let me back up. I received a variety of Mapleshade brass footer and weight products for Christmas. I asked for them in that they were one of a small list of products I have not tried. As I was listening, I began touching furniture with and with out the weights to see vibration differences. I noticed my chair and therefore my shoulders were vibrating. I tried placing the 2 ½ pound weights on each shoulder. The sound clarified subtly…

OK, I looked a bit goofy sitting with weights on my shoulders, and yes my wife and son got a good chuckle, but…

Then I decided the chair was a far bigger issue than my shoulders, so I took four Aurios 1.2 isolation bearings and put them under the Lazy Boy. There was a marked improvement in clarity. I then tried with and without a number of times, the results were quite quantifiable. I discovered there was a small smear in the higher frequencies that was not previously perceptible.

A couple examples, the violin on Greencards “Weather and Water” and Natalie Merchant “The House Carpenter’s Daughter” (Both assume folk/ rock) had far greater definition. The separation of strings and thus notes was much better. It was much easier to feel the emotion of the interment and sense the resonance of the violins body. Vocals were clearer in the same fashion as the violin. The most profound sonic change was on Natalie’s fourth track. Near the end there are four or five tones that sound like a deep/rich church bell. Here the clarity and naturalness was far more significant. Before the tone was simply part of the presentation. With the chair on Aurios the tone was isolated, rich and dimensional. The rest is subtle stuff, but in one word I would say “natural” was the effect.

I’m writing this in hope of other people might experiment and share what they find. I assume this is more for those who have already addressed the major issues in isolation and have a very high degree of resolution, but it would be interesting to see what people find.

jd
jadem6
jadem6's avatar
jadem6 OP
1,074 posts
 
Double stuffed, half and half. Mmmmm.

Clearly this one inch could have an effect, but it was more in the height of the sound stage. When I put my speakers on Aurios, Black Diamond pucks and tungsten balls the tweeter raised about a half an inch from original. Now my relative height is a half the other way. Of course none of that really matters because my ear height changes far more if I'm reclined vs upright. The sonics do not change with the chair relining so I doubt that is the issue.

If you think about it, live music and/or the recording environment is most likely solid with a concrete floor. My house has wood joists and wood floor. There certainly would a great deal more vibration in my house than the venue the recording was made in. The point being, my ears must be vibrating along with my bones as the chair vibrates. Wouldn't it make sense that this vibration distorts the shortest wave frequency?

It certainly is an intriguing question.
unsound
7,341 posts
 
May I suggest balancing bowling balls on your shoulders?
musicdoc
320 posts
 
perhaps some sort of vibration damping for your skull? unwanted resonance of the tympanic bones would conceivably blur fine detail. this was possibly accomplished indirectly by the weights on the shoulders via the trapezius muscle and it's attachment to the base of the skull. judicious (and temporary!) application of dynamat (hmmmmmm, maybe not--that stuff is made from petroleum products), or better yet some type of "audio hat" containing a damping material such as lead shot (potentially toxic), sand, or the like may prove beneficial. something in the shape of a yarmulke (sp?) could channel unwanted vibrations up and out while still being aesthetically pleasing (not to mention warm to those such as myself who are inexorably balding). my $0.02
bignerd100
515 posts
 
I found a special hat that reduces skull vibrations.

It has a few very useful features:
-variable cranial damping
-independent Left/Right balance control
-special carbon dioxide infused damping weights
-adjustable on the fly
-user selectable interface modules

Here is the link:

http://engsoc.queensu.ca/events/Pictures/Cropped%20Beer%20Hat.JPG

You guys saw that one coming.
jmslaw
95 posts
 
Hmmmmm......... I'm now thinking about having Shun Mook discs surgically implanted in my tympanic membranes. Or maybe Mapleshade can carve me a 60-70 lb hat made out of solid maple that I can wear while listening. An even more effective solution would be to sit in a vat of damping fluid ( just up to my ears, of course. ) Guys, at some point we just have to sit back, relax, and enjoy the music :)
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