recomendations for cd isolation

what does everyone think/use to isolate their cd player ?
i have a choice and would like some pointers
at the moment it just sits atop a soundstyle av rack glass shelf
i don't have loads of money to throw at it by the way so no silly ideas

 

I wouldn't throw any money at it at all. In my experience isolation (beyond not putting it on top of the washing machine on spin cycle) makes no difference at all to CDPs. Your existing soundstyle glass shelf will be absolutely fine.

That's my experience, others may differ.

Michael.

 

These are brilliant . They're only available from Germany now, though. I tried them out of curiosity, and was amazed what a difference they made to my Audiolab CD player. There was a much more detailed sound, better ambiance and the notes seemed "longer"! - you could hear a note, for example on a plucked guitar string, die away rather than just stop. They make a difference to amplification as well.

 

I found a siesmic sink makes a worthwhile improvement. I had footfall problems with my CDp being a very springy floor, the sink sorted it out.

 

Just use a set of sorbothane feet here,as it gives some isolation from kids etc thumping the rack as they go past.

 

Slab of granite and an inner tube. Cheap, heavy, isolating.

 

Main thing is to make sure it's the right way up.

-- Ian

 

I would try and keep it off glass. Just stuff a cheapo wooden chopping board underneath it.

 

What happened, did it skip? Your floors must be even more bouncy than mine!

Michael.

 

Yep, and high volumes made it skip aswell. Although, i think the Jupiter is very sensitive to it, and dirty CD's play it up aswell.
The sink helped a lot, and with a decent rack the problem has vanished.
Hopeing to replace floorboards soon, and brace joists.

 

i found the sink robbed my cd5 of some life whilst improving the more hi-fi aspects of detail and soundstage. eventually i put it under my nait 5 which helped it a lot.
i currently use rdc cones under my dac and they seem to work well - not massive improvements but small bits of detail that you didn't notice before are now more apparent without killing the life, you have to be really anal about listening to notice though.
also tried some carbon fibre isolators (cross shaped carbon fibre on a brass spike) these seem to make everything i;ve tried so far sound a bit flat in my system. nordost pulsar points had a similar effect.
i use spikes and sorbothane on my speakers. racks are a pair of alphason glass ones so nothing special.
cheers

julian.

 

try a 12" inner tube - not fully blown up, but so the CDP sits about 1cm above the platform that its based on....

its what i use and it cost less than a fiver...!

 

interesting replies. with my old cyrus cd player i used 4 spiked feet and all the base dissapeared so i used the spike shoes under the spiked feet and all the base returned only better more focused and deeper it also removed some smearing of treble as well
but i sold them with the cyrus cd so i was going to try somthing new as the mf cd is a lot bigger

 

I read this with great interest, as I have always gone for rigid (spikes and platforms) isolation route.

I concluded that with inflatable, spring loaded or opposing magnets you get an element of bounce. I will try and explain;

The platter on a Gyrodec goes up and down (bouncing), in turn the tone arm goes up and down with it. As the platter starts to come down, the tone arm stays up for a moment, therefore not applying the correct load onto the cartridge. To the other extreme, when the platter rises the tone arm is still coming down adding more load to the cartridge. The reason the tone arm is slightly behind is because it is not critically damped.

Anyone follow ? or have I made a complete pigs ear of this !

I will attempt to go on; With rigid isolation, nothing really gets up any speed therefore the loading on the cartridge should be roughly constant.

The same should follow for CD player, but obviously there are less mass-able parts inside a CD player.

My CD player is mounted on a rigid spiked isolation platform, on a rigid spiked shelf mounted to a load bearing wall, approx 5’ off the ground !

Not sure if it is overkill, but it does sound damn good, and it does not break the bank.

S/H Target shelf from eBay £30
Paving slab cut to shape from Homebase £5
Cup of tea for your Dad while he fits it £1
Improvement on sound Priceless !

Is it worth trying a Seismic ? what are £1,500 or more ?

 

Don't bounce the platter while playing a record would be the answer to that one.

-- Ian

 

I have tried many forms of isolation and found none really convincing except for the roller ball. These work really well under cd players and speakers.

On suspended floors especially i have found they are essential to prevent mechanical feedback from speakers , especially through the floor, which destroys sound quality and imaging through interaction with each other and through the rack to the cd player.

These provide isolation at around 18hz so little above this is going to pass. If you put your hand an a speaker stand before and after you can feel that all vibration has gone. This really improves speaker performance, especially the sub-bass as this enters the room instead of the floor. You can feel the the floor is less active under your feet. The top hi-end speaker manufacturers are building them into exotic speakers.

These work like seismic bearings the component rocks imperceptibly on the balls. For some reason these also additional benefit on components with motors that revolve. the theory is to do with the cancellation of centripetal/centrifugal forces which degrade the transport system. For example a cd player becomes more detailed and forceful sounding.

It costs virtually nothing to try this. Cut the handles off 3 soup spoons and set them in a bed of blue tack under the player, in a triangle equally spaced from the centre of gravity. Place a marble in each one and your player should float gently if you stamp on the floor or touch it.

It is a little more tricky under speakers as it requires a hard surface on top of the marbles. However you can hear a significant difference without this.

I recently moved my equipment to another room and did not re-instate the rollers for several months. When i did it confirmed to me again that this really works.

 

Masterbase

I'm using this brilliant stuff:

Masterbase



Here you see how Masterbase is used underneath a VPI Scout TT
(not mine, unfortunately)



It works a treat under any device. TT's, CDP's,amps, speakers.
It makes the bass more tight/fast, mids are more open, soundstage is getting a little more space/depth.

Here's an adres with more (distributor) information:

http://dynamic-solutions.nl/buitenland/

regards,
Alco

 

Isn't the term 'Rigid Isolation' an oxymoron? How can you possibly rigidly isolate something?

 

"I wouldn't throw any money at it at all. In my experience isolation (beyond not putting it on top of the washing machine on spin cycle) makes no difference at all to CDPs. Your existing soundstyle glass shelf will be absolutely fine.

Michealab you have some very odd opinions, what the hell are you listening too?

 

I have similar experience with RDC cones under my DAC - it adds clarity and separation without any negative effects. Sorbothane and related soft feet are a clear no-no IMHO, it affects bass and dynamics in a very negative way. Vibrapodes and vibracones - I have a whole bag of them - unexpectedly acentuate treble in my system and do not improve anything at all. All in all I found that 99 per cent of inexpensive isolation devices change the sound rather than improve it, with RDC as one notable exception in my system.