pointy things

[shep]

I wonder if anyone else here has ever experimented with the following: this comes from a friend in the 80's who was well in advance of Peter Belt or anyone else for that matter. He discovered, quite by accident, in a work shop that made ceramics, "spacers" for keeping earthenware seperate in the kiln during the firing process. These come in various sizes, have three points down and one up and are made themselves of fired clay. Very sharp and hard and easily broken but cheap. He swore they were the best for vibration control and I used them for years until they all lost their points and then I ran out. Just a thought for you die-hard DIY'rs. I find all this stuff tiresome and vexing but I invariably get drawn into it. I have been using a variation of something I picked up from a topic on AC a while ago. Namely a combination of artistboard (paper sandwhitching a a layer of foam) and felt in between, under my CDP, which is perched on a light metal stand, coming from an old wash stand I think (see pics in gallery). In the old days I used a sandbox for my TT and either Magic Bricks (remember those?) or lead sheets or lead pigs (which were really hard to source). When the Peter Belt movement started I knew I was into real trouble, freaked out and abandoned the whole thing for years. I refuse to spend a penny on resonators or weird new-age objects like crystals or exotic cones sourced from Egyptian sarcophagus, but I confess I have unhealthy yearnings in this direction. I do however applaud DIY'rs who search out cheap and cheerful alternatives. 

[bacobits]

I do remember Peter Belt and all the crazy devices and claims.

I have a few things from Herbies I use and change out
according to the rack, floor situation and equipment
at the time. All work very well and add a bit of a different flavor to the sound. Herbies Supersonic Tube Dampeners on all tubes. Some equipment is more responsive to these changes.
I also have carbon graphite cones from the past that worked excellent on an Audible Ilusions M3 I used to have and a later MFA Magus 3B Pre. These were used on a Target shelf with Maple shelving.
Currently using the isolation vibration pads rubber/cork/rubber they work very well on my glass shelf rack.
None of these ever very expensive, there is no need to spend a lot.
What is nice is a lot of this can be DIY.
 
I don't know what any of this would do to ICE amps.
Do one piece of equipment at a time.
Let us know how you make out and any changes you hear.

I do know what you mean with "unhealthy yearnings" there always seems to be more there to be extracted from the system. I get bored too and can't leave well enough alone which most of the time translates to some kind of dollars involved. That IS the sickness.

D

[shep]

" do know what you mean with "unhealthy yearnings" there always seems to be more there to be extracted from the system. I get bored too and can't leave well enough alone which most of the time translates to some kind of dollars involved. That IS the sickness." Am
Amen to that. At present, because it came without feet, I am forced to us felt pads under the amp, which is sitting on the CDP, with some ESR paper underneath, just in case. Who knows...maybe ICE amps are immune...fat chance. He did use some ESR paper inside, judiciously, which might go some way to explain the vitually grainlessness. I have a feeling no one here as tried my pointy things! anybody got a set of 4 rubber feet lying around unused, I'm a taker. There are four small threaded holes in the bottom plate of the amp. It looks kind of foolish as is. Bad enough having no light!

[richidoo]

You could make your own ceramic footers, with a hammer and brick. No matter what the shape of the brick chunk it will have three points down and one point up, but different shapes will be more stable than others. Paint it with Krylon Teal metallic and voila, $500 audio tweaks.

Or get some small sorbothane hemispheres, to damp vibration much more efficiently than footers/rack/wood floor. If you have stone or concrete floor, you need some damping somewhere or it will ring forever.  Sorbothane sounds dead when not loaded properly, when the footers are too big like those Audioquest things.

http://www.sorbothane.com/standard_product_guide5.php

Maybe circles cut from sorbothane insoles would be cheaper and local buy. Stack the circles to make thicker and/or place weights (teal bricks) on top to load properly.

[richidoo]

Pic of sheps rig

Just ran across it in the gallery

[shep]

Voila! in this shot the amp is underneath the CDP. It's quite long actually and heavy. It's full of mysterious Cullen circuits now and is going thru various changes. I'm having more and more doubts about using solid core spkr wire but I haven't an alternative. I was kind of hoping there would be a group buy of Grover's, but that has gotten lost in the shuffle. Maybe I can sell my soul to the devil for some classy ones? (you didn't hear that nor did he)

[BobM]

I think there's a certain amount of science that can be followed when thinking about isolation and coupling. Of course, as soon as you think you have defined what "should" work by science, you will find something that you like better that can't be easily explained. 

But generally I've found the following by experimentation:
- something squishy under tubed components, to help isolate them from vibrations
- rollerblocks of some type under CD players (I use Mi Rollers because they are really easy to place)
- something to isolate unsuspended turntables. I use a maple block with squash balls under it (like a DIY Ginko Cloud)
- something a bit more substantial under suspended turntables, like cones under a maple shelf
- don't forget your power supplies and conditioners. You may be surprised that different footer materials definitely make a difference here. Tune to your liking, whether squishy or firm.

Enjoy,
Bob

[SteveB]

Had to do it 

How is that for vibration damping !

[richidoo]

Something squishy and something more substantial, just like BobM said...

[rollo]

 Ah is it better to isolate or drain , that is the question. Or both ? Isolate the TT, CDP or Transport. Drain those tubed amps and Pre's. Locate the resonance points of your gear first. how you ask. Ahg ha ! Its messy but affective. Try puttind some sand atop your CDp and after some time the sand will congregate at the resonance points. Now either apply some 3M damping sheets, Black hole pad or drain with brass cones. The most affective isolation devices so far are the Mapleshade Isoblocks between your plinth of the day.
  Another way of curing resonance is to use compressed wool felt [ Mc Master Carr.com F13 felt] at the trannies and under circuit boards.


charles 

[shep]

 
After a short time the sand will make its way into the cdp and there will be blessed silence 

[_Scotty_]

You can also put the sand in 1qt.ziplock bags and place this on top of the component and damp it as well as mass load it. I have also used fine lead shot to damp components,experimenting with the amount used to fine tune the results. Both the sand and the lead shot should be double bagged. I use sand or lead shot on top of components and roller ball isolation below. This combination has proven very effective on transports and CD/DVD players. ModSquad TIPTOES and rubber cork rubber HVAC isolation pads under preamps and power amps in combination with bags of sand or lead shot have been useful, improving the sound and damping resonances.
Scotty

[shep]

I was just kidding.