Audio racks

As for sand boxes used for vibration control, I built a few many years ago. I was impressed at first, but over time the sand settled to a hard mass which ended the vibration control. I did try raking the sand, please do not make fun of me, but what a mess.

Yeah that is a misconception that hangs around so stubborn even when clearly explained it just won’t go away. Vibration control is not about isolation. Vibration control has to do with the proportional combination of mass, damping, and stiffness. The sand does not need to be loose at all to do its job. Sand packed as tight and solid as a brick still is actually better vibration control than freshly raked loose sand simply because the loose sand is softer and softer loses details. Pretty sure if you scroll up you will see where I said that already. Its just a tough concept to get across somehow.

Oh and by the way thanks for bringing it up there’s a couple more reasons to mix in a little oil. Very small amount, just barely enough to coat the grains. Eliminates dust, adds a little surface tension that pretty much puts an end to the stuff going everywhere, adds a little viscosity and lubrication that eliminates the problem of it packing down hard. I’ve got some under my turntable, and phono stage, and in my shop, been 15 years at least, consistency hasn’t hardly changed a bit. Also if you read what I wrote its not just the sand but the shape, size and material of the pad that sits on top of the sand that the component ultimately rests on that determines a lot of the control. The sand can be thought of as a stable platform on which to rest that pad or plate. That again is why its called vibration control not isolation. Or you could call it tuning if you prefer. But then you get into the whole michaelgreenaudio vague to the verge of mysticism schtick. Lets not go there.

jred writes:

@millercarbon

Valid points. I use mid century low rise coffee tables and low height nightstands to hold my equipment. Real wood. Ahhh the golden days.

Anyways. What isolation or padding would you recommend for components?

I tried dozens of different materials, shapes, constructions, and products before settling on BDR as the best. By far. Very likely still is, but only if you can find them used as they are no longer made since the man behind it all DJ Casser died some years ago. Cones, Shelf, Those Things, etc all highly recommended- if you can find them.

Isolation incidentally is a misnomer. I did a demo one time for a friend to show him how much difference Cones make. Only instead of stopping the music like usual I let the player play while I lifted it on and off the Cones. When I asked if he heard the difference he said yes, "as soon as you picked it up!" What's funny about that is its way more isolated with me holding it than sitting on Cones or anything else. So "isolation" is BS. Everything vibrates. Every wire, capacitor, you name it, send a music signal through it its gonna start vibrating. Isolation is a Macguffin. Its much more useful to think in terms of vibration control.

Wood is good but keep in mind all my testing shows all components pick up, to some degree or other, the sonic signature of whatever they are placed on. People like the sound of wood- there's a reason its used in so many musical instruments after all - but it does color the sound. The different wood types (oak, pine, cocobolo, etc) each have their own sonic signature. Construction can be used to try and ameliorate this and get the best of both worlds- thicker and laminated works pretty good.

Anything soft or floaty will help lower the noise floor, blacker background, etc, but at the cost of dynamics and fine detail. This is part of the reason why just about anything you put under a component will improve the sound- just about anything is better than the crap rubber feet so many makers use. 

This is all very general info, which is just what you need in order to understand what is going on and why different things affect performance the way they do. Its all a complex blend of different materials stiffness, mass, and inherent vibration damping characteristics, in which shape plays a role as well.

Sorry, but the old BDR is so much better than anything else that all I can do is say either buy that, or throw a dart (but threads like this are chock full of dart throwers already), or go and listen. 

Or DIY. Frankly the best answer for an awful lot of people is gonna be the tried and true sand box. Doesn't have to be a box even, its the idea- packed sand, mixed with a little oil to keep it nice and tidy, effectively kills vibration. More adds mass, which is great for turntables but with a lot of other components you can do just fine with three CD sized and 1" deep. Then you put something hard on top to set your component on. The beauty of this is its modular- you can easily experiment with the top being different materials like wood, MDF, acrylic, etc. 

If it sounds like a lot of work well yeah, I guess so. But just imagine how much you can learn about vibration control this way.

Which I don't have to imagine at all. Because I did it. That's how I know.

Its a safe bet nobody has tried more than a few. The best rack btw is no rack, and the rack matters less than the Cones and Shelf each component sits on anyway. 

Wood is not sonically the best material as it imparts its own characteristic sound. But then everything else does too. At least the sound wood imparts, people tend to like. So if its solid and efficiently designed and you like the look, just get it. The Cones and Shelf you use under each component have a much greater impact on the sound anyway.