recomendations for cd isolation

I like Seismic sinks under certain CD players, make you own from a couple of sheets of wood and an innertube as a cheap option to see if you like the effect.

 

Absolutely nothing, which has the advantage of not costing loads of money

 

lol,...yes as 'SPXY' just identified, 'MICHEALAB' does indeed have an interesting point of view.
During or stint as a distributor we came across two products that really did outperform everything else the market has to offer.
1. Stillpoints - these are an interesting 'cone' type product that uses ceramic ball bearings. Check out the Stillpoints web site www.stillpoints.com
2. Silent Running Audio (SRA) - this company makes isolation platforms that are custom made to the equipment being placed on it. They do have an entry level platform that comes in three generic sizes, but companies like Tenor, Lumley and Manley all uses SRA platforms at shows like CES and T.H.E Show every year in Las Vegas for their reference tube amps and source equipment. SRA also do a superb equipment rack called the CRAZ but this is expensive.
SRA can be found at: http://www.silentrunningaudio.com/home.htm
Read the technical specs and the design application data, this is not BS, their products really work.
Once again the only way to challenge people who think isolation does not work is to try it yourself and then see how the noise floor drops and how much more information is revealed.

 

Of all the isolation items I've tried, Symposium roller blocks/Seimic sinks/Stillpoints are easily the most identifiable that have an impact on the sound.
We also use stillpoints for NON audio applications at work also

 

Side Note: Stillpoints are used for lab equipment in situations where minute measurements need to be taken. The Stillpoints literature will identify all other applications weher there isolation supports are used as well as in the audio sector.
(We were going to be their UK distributor but we are no longer in the business).

 

Thanks LE, we know & have been using SP for well over a year, source in the US though

 

My own preference for an inexpensive isolation method is to use the doorstop-superball method (as used on the bass speakers in the link but inverted).

This was originally proposed by Mark Gdovin, a contributor to Stereophile.

 

Steve, how do you find that on speakers? Does it work well, or better with components?

When I get my horn monoliths, they are going to be a heavy 2-man lift.

I was thinking of putting them on big paving slabs, but with ''something?!'' between the pavers and the floor. Its as much about protecting the laminate floor as it is in creating a good match between the two.

My first thought was big blobs of bluetac, but do you think superballs might be better?Ive also had reasonable success with 2p's covered in felt. A squishy/hard combination!


Sorry for the thread hi-jack.


Chris

 

Chris,

I'd be slightly concerned that the balls might break apart under the load take the load. IIRC from my childhood superballs are tend to break up if placed under too much stress.

 

I use seismik sinks under my CD and amp (the one under the amp is a special as the amp is very heavy). They work and they look good.

 

Robbo's right. You could use the doorstop/superballs for heavy speakers but you'd need more than four to spread the load and stop them breaking up.

I find that results vary using the system with speakers as opposed to equipment. It depends on the speakers and the floor. At the moment I'm using spikes with my full-range floorstanders and doorstop/superballs with my downfiring bass speakers.

With heavy speakers on heavy paving slabs, try using just doorstops under the slabs. The advantage of this is that any Homebase type doorstops can be used. I have had trouble sourcing doorstops that are suitable for superballs. I'm currently using Belgium doorstops that I buy in Germany.

On a superball discussion that I was involved in on a US forum, we ended up discussing which superballs were most effective. The translucent ones were considered best and, it was claimed, they bounce for longer than the plain or splurghy-coloured ones. My own tests didn't show this. The translucent superballs look cool though.

 

'they bounce higher'

Love it!!!

Theres nothing better than twatting a superball off a concrete object as hard as you can!

 

Music Why? What are you listening to?

Michael.

 

I once used Foculpods to isolate a Laserdisc player from vibrational feedback from my sub, spikes made no difference.

 

Atacama statistage-£40 and works a treat-doesnt add anything, just tightens the whole sound up. They have 4 focul pods as feet. Nordorst pulsar points are ok, not as good as statistage-the most notable effect is more pronounced treble and leaner bass. I have a statistage under both amp and cdp and the pulsar points under my amp too as further isolation.

i wouldnt buy the pulsar points but i got em free wiv HFC subscription

Ultra

 

My Meridian sits on top of my 551 amp which just sits on a small square light oak table from Habitat.

I used to use the following - Taget Steel rack, paving slab, Mission isoplat and Sorbothane feet. I then tried it without all that crap and it still sounded the same. Looks a helluva lot better now too.

Never regretted it! My PC now sits on the Isoplat as the plastic cup feet make it slide easily on carpet. The AudioQuest Sorbos are chucked in a drawer somewhere. The target rack was given away and the slab went in the foundations of my dads shed.

 

sounds like a good time to mention the those £12 ARGOS SLABS once again most cost effective solution ive come across .

 

My vote would go for Dunlop squash balls since they have a very low coefficient of restitution (they don't bounce much). A low coefficient means more kinetic energy (vibration) is lost as elastic energy and heat thus offering a degree of structural isolation.

I'm not sure why Superballs have found favour (not questioning their use) but from an engineering point of view it's a very bad choice because they behave in precisely the opposite manner – hence very little isolation.

 

In our old house we had wooden, suspended floors so I used squash balls under the turntable to stop the stylus jumping when the kids were dancing. Now we have a concrete floor I prefer the sound of superballs.

I have no idea why they work. However, this is an extract from the email correspondence that I had with Mark Gdovin, the 'inventor' of superballs for hi-fi (and microsopes):

"What I have found, Steve, is, as ruled by physics, a "conservation of energy". Until some wise-cracker disproves Einstein and Newton, we're stuck.

Yet, in the world of vibration, which is, after all, the same as sound, you can "cancel out" with opposite polarity forces. You can do these things.
What I have found, in my cursory study of molecular chemistry, is if you can
"turn" a vibration orthoganally, that is, turn it ninety degrees, it pretty
much does the trick. That is what the super balls do. That is, in many
ways, what Sorbothane does. Indeed, that is what the anti-static mats do.
Turn it inward and make it bounce against itself. By theory, half of all
incidence will be 180 degrees out of phase with all reflection and, by
nature, be dissipated or, "cancelled out". Of course, the energy has to go
somewhere. So, according to theory at least, it is converted to heat. But
not enough to worry about."

I don't know if this makes much sense but I hope you find it of interest.

 

I'm using Michelin... but I may try bridge stone though, much better structural isolation and "potenza" for your kit...

The yankees are odd... they really behave in the opposite manner... playing football with the hands... crazy stuff!