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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
128x128jadem6
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jadem6 OP
1,074 posts
 
Geoffkait, I have indeed worked with various weights on different locations in my room. I have four 15 pound ½” thick steel plates with a rubber mat attached to the bottom and little rubber round feet. These were made for an audio dealer and I bought them from him. One is on a wood chest; this was quite a significant change in tonality of the room. One sits on my SCD-1, one is in a back corner on a shelf above the heat register and the last on leans against a large picture window treated with Margo dots, the window plate helped focus. I have quite a number of Walker disks (Brass and lead) on various pieces of furniture. As crazy as it sounds I have heard it on many occasions when friends come over and move the disks not realizing they were where they were for a purpose. Lastly I have my Great Grandfather’s tool box from his days as a gas company mechanic. It is made of ash and walnut with brass screws. It sits next to my racks, and needed to be set on rubber feet and weighted with Walker… I have not tried cones (too tipsy) and have not used any other “official” products. I do know all this stuff matters (good and bad), and a lot of the locations for furniture will affect the soundstage if it ends up in a frequency node that reacts with the furniture.

The point here is do not be afraid to try moving things around, even a candlestick on a table will effect the resonance of the table differently in different locations on the table. As I said with the weights, I also can hear it if someone moved an object in the room; my furniture is purposely not fully square with the room. Breaking up slap echo is very easy with the furniture 5 degrees skewed to the opposing walls.

Bob P. I have no earphones, but an interesting thought.

Honest1, I can not explain the Lazy Boy issue either. It would seem to be a big issue, but it really is not. As for the reflecting surface, your assumption was correct. The Sonics were cleaner with the weights under my outer shirt. (We ware layers here in Minnesota, so I did end up with the weights under cotton; I just skipped saying so knowing the fun people would have with my very serious post about a completely absurd topic. I like your assumptions. The same philosophy runs with cables. If the cable is changing the low end, we hear the relative differences in the opposite end (high frequency) and of course the bass is the frequencies most actively affecting my floor structure.

Marakanetz, sadly I think you’re serious and I resent the implied comment. I represent no one. I’m a hobbyist and have no plans to change that. I do however enjoy sharing my experiences, and I would appreciate not being under suspicion of…

For all the rest of you guys, I clearly deserve the flack. Enjoy, but please try and experiment (only when alone of course) As to the rubber room, I prefer Bubble Wrap!
rcprince
3,073 posts
 
Bubble wrap? I'd have expected Sonex panels for you!

Enjoy your experimenting. You've got the right attitude for this hobby!
puremusic
226 posts
 
Hi JD,
Most of your observed improvements are consistent with a lowering of the noise floor. Perhaps it was the noise floor of the brain's circuitry that was lowered (not the noise floor of the electronic equipment). If you think about it, the brain has to process and deal with the subtle vibrations in your body while it deals with the musical sound waves at the same time. If you reduce the extraneous vibrations on the body, more of the brain's resources are available to process the music. Based on other experience, it makes sense: When we are more rested, our cognitive abilities are sharper and the music is more enjoyable. On the other hand, when there are distractions, our attention is divided. IMHO lowering the noise floor of the brain is another frontier for audiophiles to pursue.
Best Regards,
John
tarsando
578 posts
 
Ever gone to a concert in a building made of wood? Wittgentsein said that explanation comes to an end (someplace) and I believe the same is true of tweaking. Sounds like you're having fun, though.
tin_cup
81 posts
 
Try putting 4 by 4 wood under your chair....4 of them about 4 inches tall.....nice improvement! Also try mass loading on all your components and speakers.....two five pound weights on each component and three outdoors sand pebbles ceramic tiles on each speaker...size of the tiles 7 3/4 by 7 3/4 by 1/4 . Also try putting 20 oz. speaker magnuts on all your power cables...two of them on each power cable....big improvement now!
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