DuPont Zircon M sand is the most dense ( Heaviest ). You guys think you’re so anal, you should spend some time around competitive Bench Rest shooters.
In the sand box
I have 2 audio buddies who have built component sandboxes with different types of sand. They claim Beach sand is the most dense and made a huge difference when the turntable and amp were set in them. Has anyone else been down this road? I mean there are several ways to isolate equipment, this is just one of many.
Efficacy of a sandbox depends on the turntable design in my experience. With my Acoustic Signature Final Tool turntable a heavy sandbox made no discernible difference. However, replacing the factory "cone" feet with Stillpoints did make a difference. I also imagine what the sandbox sits on also is a factor. |
My contragravity suspension systems work well, but it's a supple trick to place/replace the next LP without bumping inadvertently.....it took awhile to learn the trick without the TT skating away....literally..... Yeah, yeah, yeah....the DOD and their ilk kept showing up, waving hands, later weapons....they Finally got tired of their various agents 'disappearing' with no trace or clue.... That and most have trouble dealing with a 3D world as it stands.... ....even with something as simple as sound.....😏 |
@bhrapp +1 When constructing an structure for the Isolation for Audio Equipment, using Tiers of Materials will produce the most noticeable of the improvements to be discovered. |
Here’s a post from 2004 by Barry, of Bright Star Audio. He started tweaking in 1985. Since my listening area is on a suspended floor, several of my components are on Bright Star sand boxes - along with aftermarket footers. |
Sand in the bottom of my Vienna Acoustics Bachs made a difference. Tighter more solid bass. There’s a plug in the bottom and a chamber built for sand. The owner’s manual describes what to, how to load em up. Also loaded up bookshelf speaker stands with sand, works great. You can buy “sterile” beach sand on Amazon designed just for such purposes. Hey, if it sounds good/better, then it works! |
@waytoomuchstuff + 1 |
Being a professional woodworker I have designed and built audio racks using custom designed sand filled isolated shelves. Since silica sand is getting hard to find I like to use a quartz based media blasting sand very similar to the article listed by soma70. Mineral based sand has all the same properties as silca sand, clean, dry, and uniform grit size. If you want to eliminate as much vibration as possible its important to have several layers of dampening and let your sand filled isolation shelves float . As we know, when you isolate your components from vibration with a quality rack it helps squeeze the maximum performance from your system components. One of the benefits of vibration isolation dampening is a very black almost spooky background. Paul |
Years ago there was a product that was a sand box with a shelf fitted on top of the sand (I think that was made by Bright Star, as bdp 24 mentions). I used a pair under my Jadis amplifiers, they were effective at isolating the amps from floor vibrations. I used play sand. Seems to me you could make one pretty easily and inexpensively too. Bdp24's advice is sound, wish I had used silica sand, as the play sand did get a little damp. |
There is a thread started on 3-27-2020 by @soma70 entitled "Sandbox Design Advice". In it I recommended silica sand, a non-organic, man-made material used in sandblasting. Silica sand is superior to play sand for this application in that it doesn’t absorb moisture, and is therefore incapable of supporting the growth of bacteria. Silica comes in different "grades", just like lead shot. When I was using the Bright Star Big Rock isolation boxes, I settled on No. 60 grade sand. It is the optimum size, anything smaller (the particle size, a larger number connoting a smaller size grain) being too powdery. I found Silica at a construction supply yard, but I think even Home Depot sells it. It’s cheap, like under ten bucks for a fifty pound bag (this was twenty years ago).
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