Are You Sorbothane Experienced?


I couldn't find any discussions on user experiences with sorbothane isolation feet, so decided to start one. I recently purchased a set of 4 40mm sorbothane feet for my Music Hall mmf-5 turntable. 
Setup was less than favourably a one-man affair, so it was a rather precarious endeavour.

One thing that adds to the difficulty of what I imagined would be an entirely straightforward installation, is the fact that the sorbothane feet easily distort under the slightest off-centre loading. That means you have to adjust them incessantly  at both top and bottom contact points until you miraculously have all 4 perfectly vertically loaded perpendicular to your turntable's factory feet as well as your shelf. In my case the shelf is by Salamander.

Once you've managed all this and justifiably rather pleased with yourself, guess what? Your turntable may or may not be level as it was prior to the installation. So, level the TT at the shelf rather than at the adjustable feet, as are standard on the MH, because adjusting the feet would upset those super squishy sorbothane isolation pucks. 

The listening verdict: I honestly can't say that I can hear any difference during before & after playback of Jimmy Cliff's Wonderful World, Beautiful People.

I'm curious to learn of your experiences, if any. Cheers!
avdesigns

Showing 1 response by old_scribe

I did hundreds of tests a few years ago that included sorbothane. I was inspired to try Sorbothane by Chris Orchard's positive experiences designing the excellent, but long gone, Rivelin Eclipse turntable (loved by malcolm Steward). Here are some of the results:
http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/vibra_iso_pt1_e.html
http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/vibra_iso_pt2_e.html
http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/vibra_iso_pt3_e.html
http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/vibra_iso_pt4_e.html
http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/vibra_iso_pt6_e.html
I don't test sorbo specifically in these tests as my sorbo sheets were not an audio product. The unnamed devices in the test were RDC cones and Deflex blobs, which they did not want reviewing; RDC were comprehensively beaten by PolyChrystal and Deflex blobs were slightly behind Isonodes. My findings were mixed for sorbothane, useful as a big sheet (reduced horizontal compliance, but excellent damping) and as a sheet under a brick on top of a component (but not as good as Isonodes in same place). See picture at top of this article to see how far you can go
http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/aaaa5_e.html