There are several principles at work. IMO most of them are flawed.
A loose connection between cartridge and headshell will allow unnecessary movement. This will sap bass strength, reduce peak amplitudes, slow transient responses and generally suck the life and dynamics from the music.
Putting a lossy compound next to a cartridge doesn't eliminate stray energy. It simply stores it and feeds it back, out of phase, at unknowable frequencies. Result: sonic mud.
Glueing my cartridge to *anything* - well - that ain't ever gonna happen.
I haven't heard the "real" Isolator but I've demoed a friend's DIY version (attached with headshell screws, not glue.) The results were as predicted above. Two VA inmates demoed the real Isolator last year (kindly provided by a dealer). They used lower resolution systems than mine, but reported similar results. Neither kept the Isolator even though it was offered as a freebie.
If a cartridge, tonearm or TT do not handle stray mechanical energies properly, the solution is to replace the faulty component(s). Band-aids are not the path to high resolution, accuracy or a lower noise floor.
My $.0002 - fire away!!! ;-)
Doug
A loose connection between cartridge and headshell will allow unnecessary movement. This will sap bass strength, reduce peak amplitudes, slow transient responses and generally suck the life and dynamics from the music.
Putting a lossy compound next to a cartridge doesn't eliminate stray energy. It simply stores it and feeds it back, out of phase, at unknowable frequencies. Result: sonic mud.
Glueing my cartridge to *anything* - well - that ain't ever gonna happen.
I haven't heard the "real" Isolator but I've demoed a friend's DIY version (attached with headshell screws, not glue.) The results were as predicted above. Two VA inmates demoed the real Isolator last year (kindly provided by a dealer). They used lower resolution systems than mine, but reported similar results. Neither kept the Isolator even though it was offered as a freebie.
If a cartridge, tonearm or TT do not handle stray mechanical energies properly, the solution is to replace the faulty component(s). Band-aids are not the path to high resolution, accuracy or a lower noise floor.
My $.0002 - fire away!!! ;-)
Doug