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 1 response by mphnkns

I agree with Onhwy61 as the very first starting point. An equipment rack, wrongly placed, will destroy ANY advantages your player has. This has happened in a friend's room, the non-audiophile type. I had to move his equipment rack -- made of wood -- 1/8 inch back and forth. I've been doing this for a VERY long time. We're talking months and years, and I finally found the spot -- IN THE SAME CORNER! -- where the sound isn't scrunched together. Turns out his floor was uneven in that very spot.
Otherwise, I'd use Walker Valid Points. However, be very aware that, as with other devics, you will need to position these devices CAREFULLY. 1/8" in any direction can dull the sound. I have found this to be the case with ANY resonance-damping device, including Tube Traps, of which I have 50 and I've had them since 1988. All devices seem to have one spot where they are superb. Place them and listen for complete harmonic structures, from fundamental to overtones. The place where you get the most complete structure is the location in which they should remain. And you can mark the EXACT location with a magic marker that's washable, so you can remove it if you sell it. It's a lot of trouble, but I've been doing it for years, and only recently did I even realize that the "airiness" in the upper midrange is highly affected by the placement of room and resonance devices. I knew they needed to be correctly placed, but does ASC, for example, tell you that if you have two Tube Traps stacked on top of each other, than the seam of one may be turned very, very slightly out of alignment with the one below? No, and neither does anyone else. Be very analytical when doing this.