Best material for an isolation platform?


I have an extra set of IsoAcoustics Gaia 2 isolation feet sitting around...I'm going build a platform for my integrated amp or transport. I have an oak shelf that would fit well 18x20x1.75. I could just as easily use MDF. Does the oak have any sonic drawbacks?
 Any thoughts?
larseand

Showing 2 responses by millercarbon

Experiment with these and you will find all your wood species have their own characteristic sound. Partly this is due to shape and construction. A thin solid plank will have more character than the same wood cut into strips and laminated together into something thick like a cutting board.  

What I mean by character, is sonic signature. Each type of wood has its own distinctive sound. 

We do not in general want this. We want all our components to be neutral. Where things depart from neutral however they can be pleasant or unpleasant. You may find you prefer the sound of certain woods. There is a reason for example why Stradivarius violins are made from the wood of a particular tree growing high in a certain mountain forest. It sounds better. 

I did a lot of this and decided the reason MDF is so common, it is not necessarily "better" but it is a lot more benign and neutral than just about anything else. The best by far and still the champ for this is the BDR Source Shelf. Stiff, dense, highly damped and incredibly neutral. Equally incredibly expensive. But worth it. For a shelf. Must be used with Townshend Pods above and/or below, or else you get the ringing. Which you will get with all these woods too. It is only a question of how much and what type. 

Put it all together, I would go with whatever you think will look the best. Because ultimately the material will matter much less than whether or not you follow it up with Pods. The Gaia you have and so cost zero, if you put those under the shelf and use Pods between the shelf and the component then you would really have something.