Magnetic isolation

tbg
5,221 posts
06-28-2016 9:18pm
I had these long ago from SONY. Remember that like pole isolation acts just like a spring. I like neither.

Virtually all advanced isolation devices employ springs in one form or another, including LIGO, the project that detected gravity waves from a black hole last year. Trust me if there was something better than springs LIGO would have used it. Of course there are at least a few reasons why audiophiles don't get good results with certain things. 

Nobody hates beating a dead horse more than I do but it's not really a sound quality issue. It's simply whether or not the opposing magents are powerful enough to separate from each other under the specified load. There is no sonic benefit to making the separate more than say 1/3". i think you'd agree that more powerful magnetic fields than necessary are probably not a good idea in the vicinity of things like CD lasers, low output cartridges, tonearm wire, etc. speaking for myself I abhor magnetic fields in general and for that reason, with respect to the whole mag lev thing, I'm out.

harold-not-the-barrel
295 posts
06-29-2016 5:30am
Exactly, Geoff. Furthermore, the stronger (dense) the magnetic field (push) between deck and environment, the better sound quality. In other words, the stronger the magnetic spring, the better isolation and thus sound quality, Stronger magnetic push gives better mechanical stability, IME.

Most likely the magnets' strength should be matched to the mass of the component, like springs. Ergo, stronger stiffer springs do not equate with better isolation. Not by a long shot. The strength I.e., stiffness of the spring is selected based on load. Not to mention that very strong magnets are actually less stable than weaker ones as they will have a greater tendency to slide uncontrollably in the horizontal direction which is their wont. 

harold-not-the-barrel
297 posts
06-29-2016 12:06pm
"I´m talking only about heavy turntables. ( I have never liked CD´s dull and edgy sound so I have no idea whether maglev feet would be benefit for digital too).

There is a clear sonic benefit between say 10 mm and 2 mm separate. The narrower the gap between magnets the better sonics, IME."

Your last statement directly conflicts with your earlier statement that more powerful magnets improve sound quality. Am I missing something? It sounds like you are now agreeing with me, that the opposing magnets need to be just powerful enough to produce a gap, but not more powerful for a given load.

geoff kait
machina dynamica
isolation vibration and resonance control

It’s not that a wider gap translates to a weaker magnetic field. For a given load a wider gap actually translates to a stronger magnetic field. So if your gap is say 1 mm now, more powerful magnets would produce a 2 mm gap or whatever for the same load. As long as there’s a gap there is levitation. It’s the levitation that’s the issue not the flux density of the mag field per se. Hel-looo!

interesting article on mag lev for audiophile applications, see link below:

http://www.gcaudio.com/products/reviews/infomagix.html

I like those Solidair Isolators. The rod connecting the top and bottom sections is quite clever. 

Mapman, at last we agree on something, albeit something I already mentioned on this thread what, a week ago? But thanks for the heads up, anyway. :-)

Geoffkait:"I think you’d agree that more powerful magnetic fields than necessary are probably not a good idea in the vicinity of things like CD lasers, low output cartridges, tonearm wire, etc. speaking for myself I abhor magnetic fields in general and for that reason, with respect to the whole mag lev thing, I’m out."