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Isolation Devices, Something to put on top of unit

Hello, I need to find a good device(s) /or/ method to kill the airborne vibrations that attack the top of my cd player and preamp... Basically the shelfs under the components are completly dead, you can not feel anthing coming thru the rack or the bottom of the units, its just the top plate of the unit, which is the largest and weakest surface area anyway... but again the rack is excellent, it has 3" thick maple shelfs and with full bass in the room does not show a hint of vibration. Don't get me wrong the system sounds excellent and never skips or does anything funny because of the top plates dancing to the music, but of course I would like to eliminate this.
-Should I just get some 2" solid maple blocks that fit on each unit and do it this way as this is how the shelfs are, with like a sheet of fabric inbetween or something?
-I would like to keep this situation as CHEAP as possible, again I would like the benifits but really the system performs flawlessly.

--I have a turntable in the system too, it never skiped once at full output so its good, the plater does not vibrate, just the dustcover(so I just leave it open

--Wadia CD player never has a problem but would like to put something on top. It does not get hot.

--Mcintosh Pre-amp like to put something on top, it does not get hot.

Thanks fellow audio people
matrix

Showing 3 responses by clio09

clio09
3,346 posts
 
Take a ziplock freezer bag and fill it with sand. Lay it on top of the unit. You can add or remove sand to tune the sound as needed. If you are worried about how the bag looks on top of the unit, get a nice cigar box and pace the bag of sand in that.

I actually use HRS dampening plates which are a much more expensive solution. Sand is cheaper by and large.
clio09
3,346 posts
 
For HRS, try these two links, one is the website and the other is a review that lists pricing:

http://www.avisolation.com/dampingplate.html
http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/hrs_nimbus_damping_plates_followup.htm

If I recall there are three sizes and they are priced at $75, $100, and $135 respectively. Don't overdo it with these tweaks, they are really very efficient and the small ones work best for me (on top of my speakers no less). Email me if you are seriously considering purchasing these and want to save some money. I have a few extra I don't use.

For cigar boxes a smoke shop should be able to help you out.
clio09
3,346 posts
 
Jack,

The HRS plates work really well on top of my Spendor's. I use 2 of the 4.5 x 5.5 plates on each speaker, spaced about an inch apart. I also use one of the medium plates on the top of my preamp power supply, which then sits on 3 of those rubber/cork blocks I got from our mutual friend.

I've been so busy listening to the Audio Mirror and testing phono stages I haven't had much time to chat with you. I'm at RMAF so I'll try to catch up with you soon.

Tony
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