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Just noticed that way back near the beginning of this thread, Elizabeth, who is normally sensible and well informed offered the opinion that high quality racks make nearly no difference. That is definitely not so Elizabeth. It is as important for amps and digital components as it is for turntables. If you disagree, it is because it has not been demonstrated to you in your own system.
I recently started using a Starsound Apprentice rack beneath my transport on an Adona rack already, and the difference is easily noticeable. |
After years of this I have happily ended up with Sound Anchor stands under everything, that are spiked with either Eden Sound Bear Paws (speakers and component rack) or Audiopoints (amp stands and subwoofer). These provide very solid support and hard to beat build quality. |
Just joking, I love ya' :) |
Vibraplane platform, it will improve everything. |
Stands, vibration control,etc. are tuning devices. They may alter the sound, but whether for better or worse is entirely a matter of taste and what the system may need. I use several Symposium products and like what they do IN MY SYSTEM. I use Ultras under the amps (sitting on the floor between my speakers) and my preamp and Svelte Shelves under my speakers. However, they make little or no difference when I tried them under my CD player (I have been too lazy to experiment now that the CD player has been replaced by a music server).
When the Ultras were tried under an Audio Aero Capitole CD player in a dealer's system, the result was decisively negative--the sound became too lean and sterile sounding. This is all a matter on tuning, there is no "more" is better or "less" is better answer to what one should do. |
Most equipment works best on a solid and stable platform/foundation. That's the job of a good audio stand, keep components safe and an insurance policy against harmful vibrations, when needed. Matters most for a turntable, almost all the time, less for other devices that are not as sensitive to physical vibrations case by case. Each case is different.
Best practice is put your stuff on a solid foundation any way possible that works for you and be done with it. Tune all the other stuff for best sound rather than worrying about tweaking the stand for a particular sound, which is a little crazy. Turntables are a different story. These are very vibration sensitive and sound quality affected by external vibrations in most cases. Same thing with speakers but speakers are the source of vibrations including unwanted ones sometimes due to room acoustics, not the victim. Other things, vibration is less of an issue. Maybe with some CD players but not all if vibration is affecting ability to read CDs accurately. Still one off the last thing sI would worry about there. Many other more predictable ways to get teh digital sound you want than swapping one good stand for another.
My gear including turntable and excluding power amps sit on a very solid oak wood coffee table, $30 at used furniture store. Table sits on bottom level of house with solid concrete foundation covered by thin dense pad and carpet, as do speakers. Vibrations/resonances are a total non issue for the first time ever for me and I have been at this for well over 40 years. Even with gear on my upper level, turntable and speakers are the ones worth worrying about regarding stands and vibrations.
Go digital music server and headphones only and stands become a total non issue for sound quality. Probably also the case with most modern CD players as well.
If not for turntable, the stand alone would be mostly a non-issue for me. Amps sit on a solid but fairly light and mundane antique wood stool. Amp stand choice was determined much by aesthetics. Many things would work fine. Everything sounds quite good I would say as long as turntable is well isolated and speaker/room acoustic interactions are under control. Room acoustics have nothing to do with stands.
DEfinitely worry first about speakers and room acoustics and the right amp to drive the speakers!! That'll make or break any deal. Not much to worry about stand-wise otherwise most likely though if no turntable, other than appearance, though splitting hairs via a/b sound tests is always a possibility I suppose. Exact sound with solid stand A versus solid stand B might still make a difference, but at this point its way down on the list of priorities for good sound, in the really splitting hairs realm most likely. Not worth worrying about unless you are just inclined towards experimentation rather than listening. |
There's what, fifteen or twenty competent vibration isolation stands and platforms for audiophiles since ye olde Seismic Sink and Vibraplane, you know, Hacyonics, Ginko, Relaxa Magnetic levitation, air bladders, mechanical springs, Mana, Minus K, not to mention a plethora of Newport platforms, TMC isolation platforms, roller bearing assemblies, etc.? Has anyone ever considered a comprehensive comparison of these devices and writing up a review? That would be cool. |
Its been suggested. No takers. |
Mapman,
Love your posts, but this time I must respectfully disagree with one of your statements. I do not believe that stands, racks or platforms are always meant to "tweak the system for a particular sound".
Using Starsound as an example, because I use a couple of their products, the idea is to drain vibrations, and lead them away to ground. What you hear when that is done should be the actual sound of the supported component less the vibrations and the noise they cause. I wouldn't consider that tweaking the sound, but rather revealing it.
Your point about the importance of room acoustics is certainly true, but people who have not experimented with effective vibration draining devices are truly missing out on a cost effective (depending on the brand) sonic improvement. |
Rox,
YEs, I agree 100% on the purpose which is to enable peak performance of target gear, nothing more. |
