Isoacoustic puck mini's or orea bronze for 12 pound tube preamp

This might be even better: StackAudio AUVA Equipment Isolators.

More money but perhaps better sound etc.

https://stackaudio.co.uk/product/auva-equipment-isolator/?v=0b3b97fa6688

 

I'd go on Amazon and order Sorbothane pucks, donuts, squares, whatever you need from there. You can get what you need for probably $20. Sorbothane is a very good, fairly generic, and widely available isolation material used for all kinds of vibration control from HVAC equipment to laundry machines, and yes, HiFi. There's no reason to pay silly markups for 'audiophile' versions. 

When I tried the Oreas under my SACD player directly in contact with the base (bypassing the actual feet), it was a study in frustration. With one setting, I'd get fabulous mids but severely rolled off highs. Moving them 1/4" at a time completely changed the perspective. 

Going from 3 to 4 Oreas didn't help much either as there were always tradeoffs and compromises. What worked best (by the largest of margins) was to put the Oreas directly under the footers of the SACD player, which both Isoacoustics and MusicDirect recommended not to do for best results. Go figure.

With the mini pucks, try them right under the feet of your CD player and you may be surprised by the results. 

All the best,
Nonoise

+1 update needed. What worked and where did you use them, number used etc. 

@paulcreed ,Was wondering if you could share your "extended" experience with the mini pucks under the preamp. I was thinking of getting the Isopuck mini over Orea bronze under my preamp and disc player.

You mentioned there's a definite sonic difference between using 3 pucks vs. 4, but you don't say how or more importantly, which sounds better!?

Thanks for the post. I look forward to reading more of your impressions when you have more time to listen.

I had chance to put isoacoustic puck minis in and spend a small amount of time with them. I left DH Cones under CD player and placed pucks under Preamp, then later tried other set of pucks under phono pre. 3 pucks sound different than 4.  I'm going to try CD player last. First impression they don't show such a apparent change as DH Cones did on CD player. DH Cones keep the fullness and cleaned up the highs but did not seem like a tone control. The pucks seem more like a tone control. It does alter the highs but I need to spend more time to get use to what's going on. It is doing somethings right. It does have the rubber footer sound thing going on. It must have some type of spring in there. With index finger on top and thumb on center bottom it does not compress or move at all. Put you fingers on outer radius of bottom and it will decompress like a shock absorber. Soon as I have more time to listen I will report back lak.

Sounds like a plan ;-)

 lak I sure will I just ordered an 8 pack of isoacoustic puck mini's today, they will be here Friday. The jumbo DH cones are still under Exemplar Audio tube CD player, haven't had time to try under Preamp. I will leave them in CD player until mini pucks come in and will flip back and forth to see what sonic outcome is and will post back. Kind of hope DH Cones win don't know why I feel that way.

@paulcreed I'd be interested reading your impressions of the mini's or Orea vs the DH cones, please keep us informed.

Thank you that helps knowing they do work on components and are close to Orea. I think I'll try the mini's first, there cheap and get 8 feet. I wonder if they will beat out DH Cones I really like them.  I'll give them a shot see what happens.

I am an IsoAcoustics dealer and I use Orea bronze pucks in my speaker stands.

Performance on the Minis va Oreas is going to be similar. IA big difference is largely in the finish. The Oreas I think are stainless steal and definitely look prettier and can support more weight. Additionally, the Oreas have a narrower weight range and better directionality. If you were using them on speakers, the Oreas would definitely outperform the Minis.

There is a minimum and and maximum weight for each product whether it be the Orea, Gaia or Puck product from IsoAcoustics. For instance, the minimum weight per Orea Bronze is 3lbs per puck so for three, min weight is 9 lbs. Under that and they wont work. The Minis technically have no minimum weight but I probably wouldn’t use them below about 2lbs per puck.

In your case, three pucks for either the mini or the Oreas should be fine. They both can be used for equipment or speakers. You will get best results with the logos facing forward.