component cones/spikes vs. rubber

I've found the Sort Kones to be more effective than even my Goldmund Cones, and I always thought the Goldmunds, given that they're a 20+ year old product, were as good as it got. I could clearly hear/lose emphasis, in particular, in a Nancy Wilson song, "Free Again." With the older Goldmunds, you could hear the bitterness when she sings,"lucky, LUCKY me...." She was, clearly, being sarcastic. With other feet, the punctuation, or "accent" if you will, was greatly dimished. I did find this to be tweeter dependent also, though. It was most obvious on a setup I did for a friend in California, where I sold him my old Mirage 490s,which have a titanium tweeter. Not so much so on other speakers, no matter that they were 5x as expensive as the Mirages ($600 back in 1990).
With the Sort Kones, much -- but not all -- of that sarcasm is back, but the speaker in the system now is the Nola Elite Plus, with the tweeters upgraded to the better, Alnico-equpped magnets.
In any case, if you DO get the Sort Kones, do NOT put them with their wider side under the equipment. Put the wider side on the platform: it allows the upper frequencies to "breathe" correctly and the ambience of the recording environment to appear. I had them upside down, with the "pointed edge" (not really pointed)on the platform, and kept wondering what happened to the fluidity of the low level detail. I then went back to Nordost's site (no instructions come WITH the Sort Kones) and read that they recommend the wider part be on the platform, not the component. A significant difference, sonically.
By the way, I think they're worth their price. I have the first three levels (one set each) of the Aluminum Steel, Aluminum Ceramic, and the Bronze and the difference is noticeable (the price is, too) and significant. However, one thing about these and ANY other footer: there is a spot where the vibrate correctly, and there are other spots where they will suppress certain frquencies. You MUST experiment. I have Walker's Brass thing-a-ma-jigs on top of the Nolas. If they're off AT ALL, they whole immediacy of the upper midrange/lower treble goes south, with the result that the 3D of your system crashes, ambience retrieval is retrieved OUT of your system, and the depth layering....well, FORGET depth layering. It was many months before I realized this. The same for Tube Traps. It's a pain, but it's the law of...what...physics? Or is that psychics?

Moon Gel is the answer. It is a product used by drummers and available in the big box music stores and on line. Cost about $6, so you have little to lose. Check it out. I use the product on speakers that are on book shelves.

I don't have any experience beyond the Nordost Sort Kones that I recently purchased and put under my CD player, but I can pass along a story the owner of the audio store told me. You can take it or leave it.

He was helping a friend optimize a system that was getting some vibration related feedback though the turntable. They discussed several isolation ideas to keep the vibrations from the speakers from getting into the turntable. In the end, they used a set of Sort Kones and it was "cured." They were surprised that they worked in that situation, but very happy with the results. They use them under just about everything in the store.

My Star Sound rack is mounted on large cones, uses steel supports filled with very small steel bearings and the components rest on other steel cones. The whole thing is designed to couple strongly to the floor and transfer vibrations from the component to the floor by a direct route. This seems to work as there is a noticeable reduction in high frequency noise, things sound softer but clearer. But other paths work as well, my other rack is a VPI TNT stand and on this I have found FIM roller bearings to be very effective, as well as between my speakers and my Skylan stands. Dealer disclaimer, I sell [theoretically] the things mentioned but use them only as examples, as mentioned above there is no single way that suits everyone, they ALL sound different.

How does a vibration get out of a system without vibrating the system on its way?

I found that Aurios 1.1 work great with a 2"or 3" maple wood base.
They usually cost around $150.00 or less. Bang for the buck.
I did used these under all my tube gear.

Today
Now have moved over to Finite Cerapucks and Cerabase
$375.00 and up per set.

Stringreen
has it right you got to get 3 or 4 different choices and listen to what U like, as they should all have a different tonal sound.

That is one thing I learned in Audio, you can't go 100% by someone else review, as your system and your room will probably not be the same. read , read and read, audiogon forum...Hope this helps.
Good Luck
P

They all sound different....not better or worse. Also the materials that they are crafted from affects the overall performance. Brass sounds different than steel, etc. You have to hear it in place in your system to determine what is best for you.

"DING" the winner is, Mechans, If you use Spikes, or better, pointed brass Footers, you will have a path for vibrations to leave the componant.
If you use soft rubber pucks, or similar, no vibrations will get into your componant, BUT the one`s you have will never get out, either.

If you use heavy spikes into a massive board it will effectively dampen vibration which I find sounds best with my all tube amplification.

Because tubes can be sensitive to vibration induced micro phonics I isolate all of my tubed components with absorbent supports. Some folks like this (subtle) micro phonic effect. Some don't. Your choice.

Do you want to couple or isolate? They will both work but give different results. I use a mixture of cones and roller bearings myself but preferences here will be system and taste dependent.