I have used vibrapods (like you, I am on a budget) and find them to be excellent. If you want to keep costs down and your equipment is not that heavy, I'd recommend the following: a vibrapod sandwich using "laminated glass", or security glass-it is very "dead" and in my opinion, much better sounding than MDF, very clean sounding without being tipped up in the high frequencies. By comparison MDF is slower and "muddy" in my opinion. The security glass does not "ring" like traditional glass will (I find that traditional glass is good too, but only if you get to about the half inch level, which starts to become pricey). So, even on your rack (I use a welded Target rack and still do this with great results), you want the proper vibrapods on the Target shelf, followed by the laminated glass shelf, followed by either the component, or more suitable vibrapods and then the component. Cheap and very effective. I'd avoid metal cones; in my opinion they sound impressive at first but very bright and irritating after any length of time.
Couple or Decouple CDP, DVD, VCR?
I built a threaded rod type rack for myself because I don't want to spend the money on a real rack right now. I used lock nuts which I think should help vibration slightly and used the Salamander MegaSpikes for stability on the carpet. What I really want to know is what kind of isolation device I should use to support the CDP, DVD, VCR, etc. I was reading the archives and there's mixed opinion on whether I should couple or decouple the devices. My understanding is if I had a good rack I would want to couple the vibration producing devices and decouple the rest. BUT, since I don't have a quality rack does that still hold true or would I be better off decoupling everything with Vibrapods or the like? I'm looking at the Vibrapods because I want to keep the costs down. I'll get a nice rack when I have a house. Thanks! leo.
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