In praise of isolation.


Isolation as in components, not personal.

(although, that’s not necessarily bad either)

There has been much praise, and discussion on the forum with regards to spring isolation.

Well, all this praise, caused me to look into how to approach this for myself.

I like to try things before I pass judgment on an idea.

The whole coupling/decoupling thing has been of interest to me for a while.

I get the desire to couple (yeah, I know,,,) as it plants the gear firmly in the ground, and if the base is heavy enough and made of a material that absorbs vibrations, you should be golden.

Then there is the problem of 7.83hz. Nope, not audible, but that doesn’t matter. Anyone who has used a test record to check for tonearm resonance can see quite clearly how an 8hz frequency can make the tonearm shake like a belly dancers belly.

So, decoupling. Springs made logical sense. Except, there was the problem of vintage turntables with their springy/bouncy top plates/platters. That just didn’t seem right.

I made an isolation platform and put springs underneath it. Figured out the proper spring rate and ordered 4 springs to support the 90lbs sitting above them. 
It’s crazy the clear and obvious difference it made. For the nominal price of $100 for the 4 industrial springs, the sonic improvements were off the charts! When coupling, and making changes to the materials used under the TT, and the types of feet used, there was a difference with the clarity of the highs, their brightness and with the bottom end being muddy or lacking depth.

With the springs however, the whole presentation opened up. Everything sounded better, clearer and more defined. Faster, less shrill and I could go on.

Not only am I divorced, but I’m a firm believer in decoupling.

(see what I did there?)

Damned 7.83hz…
perkri

Showing 4 responses by mahgister

My experience with springs begins to be optimal ONLY after heavy load damping of the speakers and the use of 8 springs boxes for each speakers under the very  FINE TUNED load, using  100 gram  weight variation   apoproximation at the end  for my ears ...
The first yes....But also the last...

It is very hard to create acoustic right, especially on only one try, in a small room...

And with only material passive treatment...It takes me active mechanical Helmoltz devices in my small square bad room...

Like medecine or lute making, acoustic is an art, not a commercial recipe....
As some described to me, you can get an effect that is similar to a component upgrade or a room treatment.
Thanks for your post... You are right...

Save for an important correction...

Nothing compare to a room passive material treatment and an active mechanical acoustic control of the room...

No vibration control compare to Acoustic ....Acoustic cannot replace vibration control for sure; but the converse is more true than anything...No mechanical treatment could ever adapt your specific room to your specific speaker never.... Imaging, soundstage, listener envelopment, source width,dynamic,timbre etc all is better after vibration control... But after acoustic rightly done it is not better, it is a complete transformation....

I know i use the two...

I only add that to counterbalance the general trend where GEAR and "tweaks" related to the gear are the main reason behing high S.Q....

Acoustic is the underestimated potential and only real queen in audiophile experience... Acoustic equal Half of ANY other "tweaks" at least in S.Q. improvement  and half of all of them together anyway most of the times...


I used springs also, 8 for each speaker, with one set under the speaker and one set on top of speaker with a heavy load of concrete on top of them (80 pounds fine tuned to near under 100 gram).

The difference of the compression between of the 2 sets is equal to the weight of the speakers...

This dissymetric compressive force decrease the resonance of the speaker...

Springs are more powerful than my "sandwich" multiple plate coupling/ decoupling layered platform : quartz granite plate sorbothane bamboo cork plates...

I use the sandwich under the first pair of spring with succeess to decrease vibration coming from the desk and floor... All my gear is on my big desk...

Springs are the cheapest way and one of the best way to control vibration...





The " sandwich" only under my gear was a great improvement 5 years ago....

There is a great difference though between a set of four springs only under the speaker, compared to no springs and only my "sandwich"...

And a set with a heavy fine tune concrete load on top of the speakers,improve it very much more,

And a greater improvement come after when  i added another set of 4 springs boxes under the load...

This isolation story for me took place in these 4 successive stages....