Isolation Feet Recommendation for Equipment Rack

I have just ordered 3 Giai feet to try under the turntable. Stunning that some of the isolation units for speakers cost more than some speakers I've owned. I'm sure the law of diminishing returns applies to these.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, it sure seems you got the wrong message. There is no such thing as diminishing returns, not if you do it right. If you compare for example going from dirt cheap Nobsound to Gaia then yes totally diminishing returns. You pay a small fortune for only slightly better, if that. Mostly what you get is convenience and appearance. Performance is a wash.

Going from Gaia to Townshend, now you pay a lot more but you also get a lot more. So no diminishing returns there. Actually the last time I heard this was moving Pendragon XL to Podiums, it was like a whole system upgrade. Brandon was saying it was like the whole room was treated.

That is why I abhor the diminishing returns canard, it is simply not there other than in the imagination. In reality you are as likely to find accelerating returns. If for example you had some expensive cones or spikes that cost more than $30/set of four then going to Nobsound will be better for less. So it can go both ways making diminishing returns more something comforting to say than anything connected with reality.

You can find out real easy, simply order a set of Nobsound and compare. It will take a bit of effort, they work a lot better after a little trial and error to get the number of springs just right for the load. Once you do that though I think you will find they come real close for a lot less. Then if you do Pods, they are not just a little better than Nobsound, but a lot.

Podiums are a big chunk of the cost of my Moabs. But they elevate them to Ulf level performance. So it is all question of adjusting to the fact the components themselves are not what it's all about, but what you put the component on is equally as important. 

Right. Not only turntables, all our components have to contend with a plethora of vibration sources.

There are, at a minimum:

1. Vibrations generated within the component itself. Even zero moving parts components like amps and DACs generate a lot of vibration. With turntables there is at minimum motor, bearing, arm and cartridge. The cartridge alone generates so much vibration you can hear music coming right off the cartridge.

2. Mechanical environmental structural vibrations. This is everything from traffic outside, wind acting on trees and structures, that all adds together into seismic vibrations, mixed into which we have speakers mechanically transmitting vibration into the floor, and from there to walls, ceiling, rack, combining with seismic and into components.

3. Acoustic, the air, what we call sound. All the noise in the room. Hopefully mostly music but for this purpose it really does not matter it is all noise.

This is actually the least of the three, something you will appreciate if you ever put your speakers on Podiums and feel the difference. But acoustic energy being air affects different structures differently. Sound waves vary in length by frequency. A tweeter can be small, because the wavelength is very short. Tweeters will move at lower frequencies of course, you just won’t hear it. What happens is the pressure wave instead of being driven forward dissipates around the sides. A speaker cabinet is basically a means of preventing this. Without it, speaker in open air, loses all lower frequencies.

Now we have what we need to know to answer your question. The tone arm is so small the only frequencies that even "see" it are ultrasonic. Everything else goes right around it. Plus it is curved, makes it even harder for acoustic energy to go into the arm.

Turntable, bigger, is easier. Now it should be clear why a dust cover is so bad, great big thing practically designed to collect acoustic energy and channel it into the turntable.

Springs under turntables and other components don’t have much to do with acoustic energy. Mostly they isolate from environmental seismic vibrations. The biggest source usually being the component itself. Springs allow vibrations generated within the component to be dissipated within the component. This might not seem so great but it is a lot better than the alternative, which is vibrations travel beyond the component creating ringing in the rack and exciting all the other components until every component is causing every other component to ring in a great big smeary mess. This is the real reason springs work so well. They break that whole messy cycle.

There are so many different ways to go but they all boil down to 
a) springs are best (without getting into expensive specialized stuff)
b) the best springs are damped
c) directly under a component has far more impact than under a rack.

You can easily make your own springs for your rack. First calculate your weight load per corner. Then search eBay for suitable springs. Nobsound are nice because they are compact and easily adjustable but you can find individual springs exactly what you want. I did this with my Moabs and some subs. Not that hard, just the search is time-consuming.

What you will find, everything between ordinary springs (Nobsound are just ordinary undamped springs) and Townshend is anywhere from a lot more expensive to hugely more expensive than springs, but not that much better. You do not in other words get your money's worth. For that you have to bite the bullet. Go big or go home, etc.

On a budget, to save money, I strongly recommend Nobsound under every component (but speakers, those really should be Pods, and yes totally worth it) EXCEPT the stand. The stand I would leave alone. Cones, spikes, whatever you want. Not because it won't help, but because it is so much less important that what you do directly beneath each component.

If you are still determined to do the rack, something to keep in mind- it is gonna sway. Mine even at 750lbs sways back and forth usually about a half an inch but sometimes more at the top, just from lightly touching it to cue a record. This motion is so slow (around 1Hz!) and smooth it affects nothing- except that you see it. Notice my rack is relatively squat- short, wide and deep. If yours is narrow or tall it will sway even more. Springs are best in terms of sound but sound isn't everything. You need to consider this. Because what it means is springs are best, but in this case really, really need to be damped, or the rack is gonna be swaying all the time! So either Pods, or plan on damping using something like Dave's foam inside the spring trick.

Honestly, looking at your system (which is pretty darn nice by the way) I would remove the spikes from the speaker stands and put them on Townshend Podiums. Yes I know you think that doesn't make sense. Because you haven't heard it. All this other stuff combined will pale in comparison. Then I would put as many of the other components as I could on Nobsound. The combination will elevate your entire system like you won't believe. 

I have gone from spikes and cones to springs and Townshend Pods. My turntable rack is 750lbs. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 For most of the 20+ years it was on BDR Cones, with the turntable and phono stage on BDR Shelf and Cones, like in these pictures. Then first the turntable and gradually everything else was upgraded to Nobsound springs. Dirt cheap but incredibly effective, way better than BDR and that is saying something. Not just under turntables by the way, but everything- phono stage, amp, DAC, everything. 

Next I tried Townshend Pods, and they were so much better everything gradually upgraded to Pods. See the lower pictures for Pods. Huge improvement!

I haven't directly compared Nobsound or Pods with stuff like Gaia, but those who have Pods are much better than Gaia.

Finally, the last thing was to put the entire 750lb rack on Pods. Townshend makes ones for racks, basically 2 Pods per corner with a frame, two types depending on your rack. Neither style was quite right for me so I just took em apart ditched the bracket and put the Pods two per corner. No pics of that yet.

Based on my experience I would say the biggest bang for the buck is directly under the component. Doing the whole rack is nice, but don't think you do the rack instead of the components, not like that at all. Pods are way better than Nobsound but Nobsound under everything would probably be better than Pods under the rack. I would put Pods under as many components as possible, Nobsound under the rest, and not even worry about the rack. Unless you can do Pods under everything, that is awesome, for sure.

Also don't forget about the rest. Podiums under speakers is more improvement than everything you can do to your rack and all the components combined. This is based on actually trying all these different things- except Gaia, I rely on reliable reports. Basically between Nobsound and Townshend is all kinds of stuff hardly any better than Nobsound just a lot more expensive, so the main thing is to avoid paying a lot more without getting a lot more.