Rest well this night...

...for tomorrow shall be a day of tweakery!

By coincidence, tomorrow shall see the arrival not only of WM's Trichord powerblock 500, but also my long-awaited rack frame. The rack may not be ready to go immediately as I have to paint it, but depends what time it's ready and how long the paint takes to dry.

Should be interesting...

 

The rack is here, and is in process of being painted. First coat of primer has gone on. I may finish painting it today, but it will need drying time, plus I may not be around tomorrow, so that could be waiting to sunday to set up.

 

Have you mentioned the frame here before ? is it clone of a ....."I can't bring myself to mention the name of the frame" frame.

 

I've mentioned it a few times. It's not a copy of anything really. The frame is welded steel to my design, Shelves are 30mm granite, suspended on inner tubes (Seismic sink style shelves basically, but a lot heavier). It's nothing desperately original though. I will put pics up once it is set up and everything.

 

Got back from Tone's place (where once again his system dragged mine throught the dirt. Repeatedly.) and applied the overcoats to the rack, which I should hopefully be able to set up this evening. I'll probably not set the trichord up until then either because It needs somewhere to live within reach of the components, plus I have to clear the space and do the supper in the meantime...

Further reports to come...

 

Issac, look forward to your rack report, I feel you should do a build feature in the DIY section for those who, wish to have a go WM

 

Well, my work here is done.



Project Tonne Control is complete. Total weight is "Lots", in the region of 75kg without the hifi. The three components in there add up to around 27kg or so (with the powerblock accounting for nearly half that).

As you may be able to see, each shelf is suspended on an inner tube. You can not see that the legs are sand-filled, and with the shelves in place the whole rack is completely dead acoustically. You also can not see the Soundcare Superspike feet, which are recessed in the front legs, and exposed on the smaller diameter back legs. From the top the shape of the frame is a trapezium, with 100mm between the back legs, 500mm between the front legs, and a front-back depth of 400mm.

Also note, sitting on its own suspended granite shelf at the bottom, the Trichord Powerblock 500, that half of this forum was lined up to buy.

 

Looks good Iassc, looks like it's plugged in though, and...............WM

 

I've noticed that I need to turn the volume control on the amp about 1 "o-clock" further for the same volume as before now. Not a bad thing... now 10 o-clock is loud, rather than 9....

I can't really report on the sound because parents have gone to bed, so I can't crank it, but I think there's more separation and clarity. Perhaps somewhat smoother. At the mo the trichord is plugged into a 4-way board because even the longer lead doesn't reach the mains socket. I will have to get a 2m eupen or something to sort that. However, the sound will also have been affected by the rack (previously the amp sat on the CD, which sat on one piece of granite atop an inner tube on the desk). I'll play with different air pressures and stuff as well. Sunday will be the day of play, as tomorrow I'm off visiting a relative.

 

Edit, replaced pic with a better one.

 

Nice effort. Good to see you are interested in supports. Have you tried anything else? :0)

 

Good question.

 

Now I've had a chance to listen to things for a bit, and differences are quite apparent. Everything is clearer, more separated, and a bit bouncier. So far it suggests a worthwhile improvement, but I shall experiment further tomorrow, when I have plenty of time to do so.

 

Today's playtime was somewhat curtailed, but a few things are clear, and I managed to perform yet more tweakery.

CD player mods performed today include the addition of a copper plate in the base of the chassis, removal of the feet (blu-tack now attaching it to the granite) and three small granite samples blu-tacked to the top. I had to do something, because the transport was making the casework sing. I will damp it properly once I have time, money, etc...

Omiga interconnects... So far, all I can say is that they are performing awesomely well. Bye Bye GWS.

 

Where did you source the copper Isaac - and what was the damage to your wallet?

 

The piece of copper I got was £12, and large enough to perform a few other forthcoming mods to the CD and amp, but I am very reliably informed that scrap yards have it very cheaply.

 

This may be a stupid question ... but what does a copper plate attached to the bottom of your CD player acheieve? Does it strengthen the base? Reduce vibrations? Reduce RFI?

Just curious. I can see the benefit of better isolation, but - things like copper plates really confuse me