I tried a granite slab under my turntable a few years back and it had a considerable negative impact on the sound quality. I tried it in three modes—alone on top of the concrete block pillars (see virtual system), on top of, and below, a 3" slab of maple. The poor sound was present in all three modes. It was a relief to remove it. My back was not happy. I was amazed at how poor it sounded.
Improving a stone rack
Hi all, I have a large stone rack for my system, in beautiful granite, which works great for stability, but maybe not so good for other aspects of the sound. I wonder if it contributes to some treble ringing and harshness. I want to improve the sound, thinking of felt damping on the wall behind the rack, some form of cloth to cover the reflective surfaces of the shelves, and adhesive rubber type mats on the bottom of the stone shelves. Is this the way to go? Experience based advice is very welcome. My rack weighs a ton. It is not easy to compare to a wood or composite rack. I need advice on how to counter the sound problems of stone or similar polished surface shelf racks. I want to try this, before I consider a new rack or shelf arrangement.
Showing 5 responses by noromance
@o_holter Are you assuming the shelves are ringing or reflecting the sound waves coming from the speakers, and adding a hardness? While that is valid, it’s not a major contributing factor. I’ve always thought of the challenge being more to do with the relationship between the supporting material and the component itself. It’s at that interface where the support-related sound quality is generated. Vibrations generated by an undamped extremely stiff material coupled by spikes, cones, or footers to the component causes that hardness. The corollary is that soft materials like cork or pine damp the vibrations and soften the sound. I’m not sure why exactly this is the case. However, assuming it is the case, the best way to ameliorate the effect is to decouple the component from the surface. I use Nobsound springs ($29 for set of 4 on Amazon) Not only does it fix the hardness, it adds dimension and speed to the music with blacker backgrounds. Edit: It's worth an experiment and a lot less expensive than the Townshend solution mentioned above in the time I took to write this! |
@o_holter I use 3 not 4. I found they worked best at 1/3 to 1/2 compression. I also found that they worked best on turntable > tubed phono amps > tube power supply > speakers. Not so much on tube power amps. Try with/without the rubber protectors - i.e. straight-up aluminum. They should touch the chassis NOT the existing feet, and rest on existing surface only. |