Shelf Material

Dekay, Since your mdf shelf on spikes is a temporary setup, would you do a little experiment and report back here your findings? Just use your mdf shelf as planned for a while till you get a pretty firm handle on it's qualities.Then cut the 5"-6 "(larger if your mdf is in excess of 3/4" thick) hole as I recommended in the related CDP isolation thread to remove mass.Thanks. Best, Ken

Redkiwi, Try checking out products that meet exactly the rigid/low mass/fast dissipation isolation philosophies you are looking for at www.neuanceaudio.com(my company) or www.cetech.co.uk(a respected competitor)as well as the RATA/Torlyte of Russ Andrews,UK(the man that wrote the book on low mass supports).Each has an unique manner in which resonant energies are controlled but all do so very effectively without destroying pace, rhythm and timing.Bladder devices have the disadvantage of poor location in space on a microscopic level and thus present new problems for turntables and digital reading mechanisms such as transports and cdp's. Cetech uses a carbon graphite/aluminum honeycomb composite for fast evacuation, while Torlyte is of low energy storage and internally damped.Neuance is a low mass decoupled monocoque of via constrained layer principles with a high ceramic content and internally damped.I firmly believe that any one of these products will satisfy your needs and tastes. Best, Ken Lyon GreaterRanges/Neuance

I have a demo Neuance Alpha sized 18-1/2" x 14-1/2"(fits Mana Mini/Reference Table) that I would be happy to let you have for the cost of shipping.Let me know if this is something you'd like to investigate. Best, Ken GreaterRanges/Neuance greaterranges@msn.com www.neuanceaudio.com

Redkiwi, You mention that you once had a TATA Torlyte(assuming Russ's original design).Could you elaborate in more detail what you remember of it's sonic character for my own information?It might give me a better handle on the specific "sound" you are after.I have a small range of voicing capabilities with Neaunce that might possibly be applied. Best, Ken

lol.damn keys keep movin' late at nite. (RATA & Neuance) Ken

Redkiwi, Caterham Motors ,the factory authorized service arm for Lotus Components that supplied your motors purchased the manufacturing rights and tooling of the Lotus Seven after Colin Chapman bored of it.They produce to this day a highly refined but direct descendant to the Series III Super Seven. The lightweight 250hp Jonathan Palmer Evolution(JPE) is capable of 0-6omph times of 3.5sec,0-1oomph in 8.3sec,0-100 to 0 in 12.5sec and roadholding of 1.1 lateral G without benefit of ground effects.Way cool.Still saving my pennies for the more streetable Caterham Seven SuperSprint 1700(135hp). I still do some autocrossing(gymkhana) with a B-Stock Mazda Miata MX-5R when time allows and formerly road raced a Crossle Formula Ford, Lotus Cortina and karts. I actually was pretty good at it but gave it up after an incident at Sears Point Raceway,CA. in the 80's when I managed to cut my F-Ford in half with an aerial summersault atop a long stretch of steel barrier at a pretty good rate of speed. :^) Best, Ken

Dekay, My intent was a semi-controlled experiment to note the effects of reduced mass of shelving of the same materials, and not a comparison of hardwoods vs. mdf. I was expecting that your response would take a minimum of week or more because of the time it takes just to familiarise oneself with the character of different materials. I am not a proponent of mdf,btw and have intentionally stayed away from specific recommendations in materials in this most interesting thread. Best, Ken

Dekay, DuPont Corian is a readily available material used for countertop installations and can be ordered thru most home improvement centers.You should have no troubles spanning 24 inches.

Give that man a cigar! :^) Neuance has been described as a "Box filled with custard". This, of course, is not perfectly accurate as I prefer firm meringues instead. ;^) Best, Ken

Redkiwi,Subaruguru.My regular mailserver has been down since Tuesday.I am able to receive but not send email via a secondary address-greaterranges@flashcom.net.Let me know what's been going on in your platform experiments via the later.I'll respond back a soon as I have service.

Redkiwi's shelf saga pulled from the depths for reference purposes