Does anyone use wood for vibration control?

The entire building is vibrating. So, even if there were a material that didn’t vibrate much the component on the rack or platform would still be vibrating, right long with the entire building. Thus, the theory that wood is no good because it vibrates doesn’t hold water. The trick, gentle readers, is to decouple (isolate) the component from the building AND use very hard cone materials, I.e., not wood or carbon fiber or even brass, underneath both the component and the iso device to allow “residual vibration” to rapidly exit stage left. Cryogenically treated heat tempered steel would be a good place to start.

Check out Mapleshade’s VCS Vibration control systems and racks. I find them very effective. I use their 4" thick maple VCS under my turntable and it made a very big improvement. Also have a 2" under my amp. I’m sold. But it is a system. You need to use the whole system with the brass feet and ISO Blocks to get the full effect. You can use them without the brass feet and it's quite good but better with them. Sure wood vibrates but it also will absorb and dissipate energy when used correctly. And yes it needs to be thick. 3/4 shelving is not thick enough. The thicker the better. Maple seems to be the best. Just try to get a 4" thick slab of maple to resonate like a thin shelf does. Metal, stone and glass ring and do not absorb or really dissipate energy like thick wood, instead they reflect the energy back into the components. Sure nothing is perfect but we have to set our equipment on something.

Its probably true that wood vibrates.  Some less than others though, and purpleheart perhaps less than others.  And it may be that the resonance of wood is easier to live with than of other materials.  An excellent material for damping is something that Marigo is now fabricating. This is what they use for their IT platforms, i.e., isothermal platforms.  Not super cheap, but under my  upper range open speaker baffles they are extremely effective.  I believe Marigo suggests using this material for components is just as effective.

Yeah, right, tried it all. Wood doesn’t control vibration- wood vibrates! Its why musical instruments are built out of it, after all!

The thicker the better works because thicker vibrates less and at a higher frequency. So saying you like thicker better is saying you like the sound of wood- only you would like a little less of it. Which ultimately is why the industry long ago went to MDF- its got all the workability benefits of wood without the characteristic sonic signature of individual wood species.

This is a subject I dove deep into and figured out a very long time ago. Its tough because like I already said there’s a lot of supposedly knowledgeable people recommending pine, birch, coco bolo, whatever. Sounds great until you actually try it. Even worse there’s people spreading outright nonsense, like carbon fiber is soft. Yeah, that’s why they build F1 cars, airplanes and spacecraft out of it, nothing maintains precise geometry like a soft funky frame. Just beyond stupid. No offense to anyone.

Purpleheart and African Padauk are both excellent.  Both about equally hard and dense and heavy which I believe is key.  I have two inch thick bases which also is important.  The thicker the wood the better.  For small components like macmini, modem, power supply, tube traps etc I use even thicker (3 inch thick)  smaller blocks of wood of the needed size that were meant for wood turning or carving from EBay.  

Interestingly enough, Ayre supply their latest integrated amp, the EX8 , with 3 Myrtle wood blocks .
And they are quite clear in the manual that the unit WILL benefit from them.
Also of interest about Ayre, I rang them to ask what size fuse rating on my old Ayre ax7e as I wanted to buy a SR Blue fuse for it. They were extremely enthusiastic about aftermarket fuses and acknowledged it would be of benefit.
How about that, an amp manufacturer who is actually on board with tweaks!

Some DIY sub builders swear by 13-ply Baltic Birch.

I’ve had excellent results with maple and Mpingo discs which are Gabon ebony and African rosewood. But I agree with the previous post that wood can be tricky to work with. The reason you don’t see any cones made of wood with a couple notable exceptions is that wood is relatively soft and will therefore store more energy. Thickness is an issue when using wood for support as thicker boards will resist bending forces better than thinner boards. Note: thank goodness there are no more carbon fiber cones. No offense to anyone. Just commenting on the material, too soft and too funky sounding.

I tried wood many years ago when a few supposedly knowledgeable guys said wood is the way to go. In a word, no.

The good and bad of wood is each type of wood has its own characteristic sound, which can be changed or tuned to some extent by varying the shape, size, dimensions and construction. Laminate, for example. It should come as no surprise I guess considering how many wooden instruments there are that a lot of people like the sound of wood.

But that's the bad of wood as well. It definitely imparts a sound of its own. Everything does. Concrete. Rock. Metal. Acrylic. Glass. Everything. Tried em all. Why I got what I got. Very little of which is wood. Turns out I like the sound of wood- in a violin. Not in a rack, cabinet, etc. When it comes to vibration control it turns out I lean more towards eliminating than tuning. That's after having tried a whole lot of different materials.

If you're wondering how that's possible, to have tried all that stuff, well its like this- each material has its own characteristic sound. Therefore its not necessary to make a whole complete rack, shelf, speaker, etc. You can simply test a small square or oval piece. Because what you will find, if you actually do this (hardly anyone does, lot easier talking than doing) you will find that while yes indeed it is a little different depending on size, construction, etc, that the fundamental character always remains.

This is why so many speakers are made out of laminates and MDF. These take the good qualities of wood, average them out, and give you something a lot less identifiably woody. But its still there, which is why pretty much all the very best speakers are composites.

Which is what works best. Except unfortunately DJ passed on so no more BDR. So you are on your own. At least I saved you the time you might have wasted on wood.