Get Stoned

I have tried various footers and spikes but not the Terrastones. I found that my rim drive performs the best when used with a compliant footer. I had a fellow audiophile who works with medical plastics used for prosthetics cast me a set of 2” x .75” medical grade 40 duro silicone footers to replace the VPI stock feet. Huge improvement.

Thanks for the tip. May give it a try as they are not that expensive.

Started a thread last week on the same subject I found that Omicron footers under my SDS gave me great results. Could not belief the difference !!!

I prefer to do it more traditional way :-)

Sorry, re my above post, I accidently read rim drive and obviously the post is about the SDS. I've played around with some footer on my SDS, but to be honest, I did not realize any benefit. Perhaps it is because I cannot understand "why" it would work???.

Again, it is a cheap tweak to employ and if it fails, the terrastone can be used elsewhere.

Oh...I thought this thread was about something else :)

BRF....my post was about putting the Terrastones under the SDS...not the rim drive motor (which I agree with you works best with compliant feet), and not under the turntable itself (which best works with Bearpaws...a solid foundation to the center of the earth...get rid of the compliant VPI minifeet)

What are Terrastones, and why would they make any difference vs some other footer of similar type?

Same question as was asked in the Omicron footers under the SDS thread: under what theory would and should any footers make any difference?

As for me, I do think footers can make a difference to sonics, especially as regards turntables, maybe not so much as regards something like an SDS, but I am just wondering specifically about the Terrastones. For example, there are dozens of variations on the original "tiptoe"; why would any one of them "sound" different from any other of them? Materials used in construction might make one different from another, but I would have to hear it to believe it. I gather that the Terrastone is not a conical type footer. (Guess I should Google the item.)

I replaced the stock VPI feet on my Classic with the Bearpaws and I do like the improvement so I would not question a further improvement with the Terrastones under a turntable. However, Terrastones under the SDS, which simply regulates the power supply, pose an entirely different reference. I'd like to hear any theory under which this makes sense.

Theory Schmeory.....I know what I hear. All you need to do is get them and try them for yourself. They have a money back guarantee....Edansound.com

No, it's cool, but I need at least some plausible explanation why this should make a difference. Otherwise, I'll just attribute it to your subjective perception and pass. I believe any effort at improving the sound of one's system with auxiliaries might be psychologically destined to result in a positive, but ultimately very subjective, perception of sonic benefits.

Stringreen,

It took me awhile to find the site with data on Terrastones. I wanted to take a look at them.

The problem was, the company name is spelled Edensound, not Edansound as posted.

http://edensoundaudio.com/index.html

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I use hockey pucks for footers. They work just fine in my system.
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I use adjustable AT footers and trust on my prayer and the
Almighty. The footers which are not adjustable make no sense to me.

Sorry Albert et al .....I was in a hurry to get to my system and mistyped...

Stringreen, I respect your opinion based on the totality of your contributions here, which is why I asked to know more about the Terrastones. Skepticism is usually not inappropriate in this hobby, but because you like the Terrastones, I would make the effort to learn more about them.

I made some footers for my slate-plinth Lenco in the following way: I purchased small-size cans of Mandarin Orange slices in water, three of them. To the bottom of each I attached some Black Diamond carbon fiber conical footers using double-sided tape. (I had a set given to me.) The bottom surface of the slate plinth is placed againt the "top" side of each of the 3 cans, and that's it. I had noted that the anti-skate weight of my Dynavector DV505 tonearm would readily start swinging whenever I walked past the turntable, even though it is sitting on a very large and heavy Adona rack, on one of their damped granite shelves. The can-footers have nearly completely damped out that phenomenon. I think it would be even better if I were to insert some spacers, so that the bottom surface of the slate plinth engages only the top surface of each can, not including the raised edge around the circumference of the top. Total cost: about $6 plus the use of the Black Diamond cones. Any such conical feet would do the job, IMO.

Theory: the Mandarin Orange slices in water provide a sink to absorb and dissipate vibrational energy entering from below. The orange slices serve to break up any regular wave motion of the water which might otherwise transmit to the plinth. (By the way, it looks more professional if you remove the labels from the cans, could be even more expensive looking if you paint the cans black, white, or silver.)

I agree, its hard to imagine this would make a significan difference, but I firmly believe everyone's system has strengths and weaknesses and improvemnts for some might not be for others and vice-versa.

That being said, as a former VPI Aries 3 and SDS owner, maybe the SDS 'acts' like an amp. Minimize the vibrational aspects to the cabinet of the SDS and it could conceivably improve it's ability at volatge control and thus speed control to the motor. Better speed control equals better sound.

What would be interesting is if someone would us the Feikert iphone speed app or another measuring device and measure the speed accuracy of the SDS with and without the terrastones. That would definitely confirm what Stringreen could be hearing.

I do own a VPI classic 1 but, not the SDS controller. I am powering my classic 1 with the purepower 1050 AC regenerator. The purepower unit does output a true 60hz/120v feed. I haven't detected any flaw in speed stability so far. If it is off speed I can't detect it audibly. I would like to try the SDS to see if it would make an improvement.

The reason I responded to this thread is beacuse I have just ordered some terrastone products and thought I would share what information I know about the material. According to Dan @ edensound, Terrastone material is a very dense isolation polymer. He said it serves a dual purpose of rejecting outside vibrations as well as damping vibrations originating from the source component. I'm not sure exactly how this is achieved, you would need to ask dan about that.

I tried some of dan's brass bearpaws on my classic one. They did make a very noticeable improvement but, I had some low frequency vibration problems due to the rigid setup. Dan suggested the terrastone because it does a better job of isolation than the brass. I have ordered a custom terrastone platform and a set of terrastone footers for my VPI table. I will post some pictures and my impressions of those products after I integrate them into my system.

I would assume that the terrastone polymer would do a great job of isolating the SDS unit as well. I can't understand how isolating the SDS could improve the sound though, as it is a speed controller and is not directly in the audio signal path. I'm am not saying it doesn't work, I just can't understand how. I guess don't knock it till you try it.

I think Philb's idea is worth considering, but I suspect that there would not be any differences in speed detected. If the VPI SDS was that supscetible to mechanical energy the product couldn't do what it does so well. I measured my speed using ISpectrum, a software based Oscilloscope, and a 1000 Hz test tone. The speed was rock stable.

I had a theory, but it's a stretch...

All the VPI motors vibrate considerably, if by chance Stringgreen's powercable from the SDS was pulling some of that vibrational energy away from the VPI motor, though the cable, and down though the SDS and footers into a vibrational sink. The net effect would be a motor that is vibrating less. Less vibration would yield a lower noise floor.

Stringgreen, can you post a photo of your setup?

Another thought...

Try this: take the belt off the motor so that the platter won't move, lower the stylus onto the platter, switch on you amp and turn up the volume. Now switch on the motor and you should hear hum.

The hum will come and go as you switch on and off the motor. The hum isn't electrical, it is from the vibration of the motor transmitted through the table and shooting back up to the platter from the cone feet.

Try the above with footers under the SDS and then not. If you hear less hum when the footers are on, then the SDS and Power cable are acting as a vibration sink for the motor.