Ceramic insulator cone under phono stage shocker!


I have used small ceramic insulator cones underneath my phono stage for quite some time.
Previous phono was a Gold note ph10 and it did not make ANY audible difference I could detect which way up the cones were so I had left them cone upwards.

When I changed my phono to a Manley Chinook I just left the cones same way.
This afternoon I decided to flip them over so cone down just to see.

I honestly could not and cannot believe the difference!
I may have lost a smidge of low bass but everywhere else is improved in spades.
Much more detail, resolution, air, imaging, dynamics.
Just completely shocking how much better a small change has made.

But I am perplexed why such a huge change on the Chinook where I noted nothing on the ph10?

Any theories here?
uberwaltz

Showing 9 responses by bdp24

Both, or either, depending on frequency. Decouplers above resonance, couplers at and below. A mechanical low-pass filter.
Recording engineer Barry Diament has each of his 6' tall Magnepan 3.7i's on a 24" x 24" pieces of plywood, under which he put a set of three roller bearings.
Plus @uberwaltz, even if a rack is isolated from the floor, the rack itself (and it's shelves) may be a source of vibration, feeding into a turntable, digital player, and/or tubes. Isolating each component is still a good idea.

The last thing I won was a full-expense paid trip for two to Austin, after my ticket stub at a Junior Brown show at The Lava Lounge in L.A. was pulled out of the lottery hat. Air fare, two nights at the historic Driskill Hotel in Downtown Austin (there’s a tribute to Asleep At The Wheel in the lobby), a rental car, and per diem for food & drink. Also in line at the show was Stephen Stills, who did a double-take when he saw me (at the time I looked an awful lot like Buffalo Springfield-era Neil Young. I occasionally got asked for his autograph ;-).

Anyway, I’ve been intending to try the Machina Dynamica New Dark Matter, but as it wasn’t one of the offered choices, I’ll try the Flying Saucers For Windows. Geoff, send ’em to the same place you sent me both your Spring models. By the way, fellers, you really should try the MD Springs yourself. The Best Buy in Hi-Fi isolation!

Why, with a set of Machina Dynamica Super Stiff Springs, of course. Which I myself have just received .
tep, shoot an email to John at selecthi-fi on ebay. He'll give you "best price" on all things Townshend.
@three_easy_payments, look into the Townshend Audio Seismic Corners, which are designed to be used under the four legs of a stand, to decouple it from the floor.