Isolation........

[earl of sodbury]

barty wrote:

i have recently sat my cd player on granite and squash balls/castor cups ( thanks earl ) and not only does it look good the system sounds better. now going to sit my amps on them as well

I did notice the difference much more readily with my Cambridge kit - I suspect it's the casework at the root of it, but it's the CDP that benefits by far the most.

churz, eofs

 

[MartinC]

chezi61 wrote:

Wow that is one seriously shiny floor - looks great

. The finish on that looks better than most speakers!!!

The ultra-cheap alternative to using squash balls is bubble wrap, preferably the large bubble type. Well cheap if you have some lying around anyway.

Using three cones to suport something is good for stability* but they don't in general isolate. The cones that do do so by virtue of converting vibrational energy to heat; down to the material they are made of rather than having anything to do with being conical.

*by which I mean the supported structure can't rock (vibrate) like something supported on four feet not all exactly in the same plane.

 

[Good Vibes]

Various opinions on the merits of supports and feet/spikes under equipment.

I have just purchased a mint second-hand Elite Rock turntable, includes the wooden support case it sits in (not a seismic sink). I am thinking of putting a marble board underneath, and possibly sorbothane feet as well (either under the deck, or under the marble). Is it gonna be better, or as some people claim, will it affect the dynamics too much? My problem is I have carpets which sit on wooden floors, and my three year old boy loves running up and down the length of the room all day!

I even have a one inch thick rubber sponge tile used in childrens play areasI could add to the equation, if that would help with further damping support!!!

IfI did use sorbothane feet under the deck or marble, should I place only three underneath, or go with four for thebest stability results?

Thanks

Mark

 

[MartinC]

Good Vibes wrote:

IfI did use sorbothane feet under the deck or marble, should I place only three underneath, or go with four for thebest stability results?

I'd use four. The micro-rocking type stability argument doesn't really apply to complient feet like sorbothane. I've no experience with turntables though, and there are lots of different opinions on what sort of support is best for these...

 

[chezi61]

For TT a wall shelf is the best consideration.

I've always experienced problems when walking near TT no matter what I've done.

Wooden floorboards or concrete floor with laminate flooring.

Try here AK has one of these and it looks good. I just bought 2nd hand apollo shelf , but gonna try and make one at work out of aluminium .

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Stands-Unique-Transition-SE-Wall-Support_W0QQitemZ5841280148QQcategoryZ3283QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

chezi.

 

[matty]

the sorbathane feet are designed to stop vibrations gettting to and from whatever its isolating, i know that under my DVD player they have stopped it making lots of noise, so it nothing else its good for that!

 

[mosfet]

I am thinking of putting a marble board underneath, and possibly sorbothane feet as well (either under the deck, or under the marble).

If you are going to use Sorbothane feet Mark I’d suggest these go underneath the turntable rather than underneath a marble slab and turntable. There will be a loading at which the Sorbothane will compress and cease to be as effective – sometimes this maximum loading is given by the manufacturer.

My problem is I have carpets which sit on wooden floors, and my three year old boy loves running up and down the length of the room all day!

I doubt Sorbothane will work to isolate a turntable from the footfall of an energetic three year old! Does the Elite turntable have a suspended sub-chassis of any sort? Does the platter feel bouncy? If not I think you would have more success by using some Dunlop yellow dot squash balls and a marble platform – large sized wooden curtain rings can be used to locate the squash balls (or see page 1 of this thread).

Aim for a platform that feels slightly bouncy - this is important. Do this by varying the weight of the marble platform or the type of squash ball used.

 

[Good Vibes]

Mosfet,

I'll follow your advice and go for the squash balls under the Asda marble board, might also place the sorbothane feet under the deck as well for good measure!!!

What do you think, are adding the sorbothane feet under the decka little bit too much overkill, and will that dampen the sound too much?

 

[roll_with_it]

hi guys, you've got me thinking about isolating my gear now.

I have thought about the suqash ball method, but... have you thought about this? - say if your amp is far heavier on one side, will the squash balls on that side not be more compressed, causing the amp to lean on a very slight angle? I thought the idea was to get your kit perfectly level? Or am I just talking shite? Be honest.

 

[earl of sodbury]

roll_with_it wrote:

hi guys, you've got me thinking about isolating my gear now.I have thought about the suqash ball method, but... have you thought about this? - say if your amp is far heavier on one side, will the squash balls on that side not be more compressed, causing the amp to lean on a very slight angle? I thought the idea was to get your kit perfectly level? Or am I just talking shite? Be honest.

Doesn't seem to happen that way - the Cambridge amp I had, had all the weight on one side, but no lopsided platform was there.

It's also moot that having you kit perfectly level is important - the usual concensus (it's one of those topics that rears its head regularly on hifi fora...

) is that apart from TTs, level boxes are unimportant.

The idea of isolation platforms is to try to isolate gear from vibrations transmitted through the surfaces they stand on - using squash balls gives a degree of visco-elastic decoupling, the heavy stone platforms provide inertial resistance.

I find this very good for some sources, notably CDP, but of negligible help with amps etc.

churz, eofs

 

[mosfet]

say if your amp is far heavier on one side, will the squash balls on that side not be more compressed, causing the amp to lean on a very slight angle?

Possibly – depends where the transformer inside the amplifier is located and also the compliance (‘squishiness’) of the squash balls used.

Fortunately electricity nor electrical components do not know which way is up so an amplifier need not be absolutely level.

 

[MartinC]

When I used to use bubble wrap sandwiched between MDF to provide some isolation under components I did get the slightly off level problem mentined above. I now use this stuff instead of bubble wrap which doesn't have the problem:

http://www.studiospares.com/pd_406670_NEOPRENE%2049x12mm%20mtr%20STICKYBACKED.htm

The 'problem' for an amp would be a purely aesthetic one though, you're amp wouln't sound any different at a 45 degree angle.

 

[mosfet]

I use the exact same neoprene strip for de-coupling my loudspeakers (Tannoy studio monitors) from their stands Martin. Also useful if you want to try adding some absorption around a tweeter faceplate to reduce high frequency diffraction effects.

 

[meninblack]

Cyrus just needs a nice solid flat surface IME. Those cast alloy cases are very un-resonant, and the squishy little rubber feet seem to work well.

 

[Wingless Garuda]

chezi, you da man !

The doors look nice (maybe beech?) and the floor looks awesome - what is it? Do you have an army of servants to keep it sooo shiny?

 

[Mark LJ]

earl of sodbury wrote:

... so what you want is:1 stone chopping board from either Asda or Argos - about 12 quid. Pause toeyeball the bling in Lizzie Duke section - raw class!

4 whole (not halved or chopped) squash balls from your localEmprio Chavmani (sports shop)

4 castor cups from a vast, depressing, soulless Church of Mammon (DIY superstore)

Pop yer squash balls in yer castor cups, top with yer stone slab, and there yer have it: yer actual bargain DIY isolation platform - not available in Burberry

God knows what the Chav theme's all about, probably senility... :Not Sure:

Excellent crack - did my shopping for all of the above this morning and, apart from a bit of a wait in JJB while some fat lassies bought Englad tops, got it all set up. I should perhaps have looked at the colour of the bits I was buying though as I now have a granite board supported by bright blue squash balls sitting in particularly naff light beige castor cups.

It sounds nice though.

 

[earl of sodbury]

Mark LJ wrote:

Excellent crack - did my shopping for all of the above this morning and, apart from a bit of a wait in JJB while some fat lassies bought Englad tops, got it all set up. I should perhaps have looked at the colour of the bits I was buying though as I now have a granite board supported by bright blue squash balls sitting in particularly naff light beige castor cups.It sounds nice though.

Glad it's working for you, you can spend a helluva lot more to no better effect

 

[Chumpy]

Apart from having some acceptable 'base' (e.g. slate/wobbly wood/steel sheeting/Torlyte/oak-pine-birch plank/nice granite-marble etc) sometimes even plastic bottle-tops to your suiting under e.g. 4 equipment-item 'feet' can assist.

 

[Guest]

earl that avatar makes me cry with laughter every time i see it.

 

[earl of sodbury]

rudolph hucker wrote:

earl that avatar makes me cry with laughter every time i see it.

Glad to be of service...