Isolation Theory Question


I'm comparing the Vibrapod versus the Cardas/Ayre myrtle block devices for isolation in my system. My stands are Lovan Soverign with small pieces of sorbothane between the steel frame and the wooden shelves as a bit of an after-market tweak. I have not mass loaded the stands.

My question is more theoretical, as there seems to be a difference between these options, but I cannot say if one is better than the other, they are just different. So, I feel that it's pretty obvious what the vibrapods seek to accomplish, but am unsure what problem the myrtle blocks are supposed solve? It seems to me that any vibration will be transfered from the shelf to the component through the block. Is this not the case?

Right now, I seem to prefer the blocks under my solid-state amp and tube preamp and the vibrapods under my dac, transport and turntable... I'm not sure what to infer from this, but it seems that the devices that have motors prefer the vibrapods and the more stationary devices prefer the blocks. I'm curious if there is any "theory" that might help me decide what to use where?

Thanks!
-Marc
mre2007

Showing 2 responses by uppermidfi

Everything you put under your equipment will have an effect on the sound whether you use wood blocks, vibrapods/sorbothane or cole slaw.

Everything has a resonant frequency, or a frequency at which that item will vibrate. There are many theories about which items to use to control any given frequency, but what manufacturers try to do is eliminate vibrations arriving at your gear, or possibly in the case of your dac, transport, and turntable, eliminate/reduce vibrations caused by your equipment.

A product that vibrates at a given frequency will accentuate that frequency when it is played because the music is exciting item or material. For example if a wood block vibrates at 5000Hz, when you play music in that frequency range, the music will cause the wood block to vibrate, and prevent the wood block from doing what you intend it to do. Materials generally do not vibrate in the small frequency I just mentioned, but over a much bigger range.

Ideally a person wants to use items whose resonant frequency is outside the audible lisening range, but these items are very expensive.

What some companies do is employ layers of materials which have different resonant frequencies so that vibrations are reduced/eliminated by the time the have to pass through these layers. Sota turntables use this idea in their Cosmos armboard. There are layers of Plex, and aluminum, and rumor has it they will be adding more layer in the newer models. Maybe a layer of carbon fiber would work well.

So, in conclusion, what was the question again???