Tweak worth 100X It's price - Vibrapods

Ernie: I tap the Neuance shelf in the center (the component is not on it @ the time) and can tell by the tone whether the shelf is stable or not. The noise becomes very tight and short in duration when things are right. If I do not do this the overall sound is not very good in my setup as the LF's become subdued. My equipment is also on the light side (under 20 pounds) which may be why this special care is required. Maybe Ken has something to add to this, but I feel that proper support and setup is key in getting the "best" out of this shelving.

Drubin: I read about the residue problem on earlier runs of the Pods, but had thought that it was remedied. I do not experience it with the ones that I purchased a year or so ago and it should have been clearly visible on natural Maple platforms. I now use Neuance shelving for the main components (no Pods), but still like the Pods where I need to be frugal with other gear (especially in a second system). Never tried the E.A.R. footers that RedKiwi mentioned but I would still like to as I now find myself needing more Pods. I have been using a non Hi-fi product for "very" light components (Bel Cant DAC, phono preamps, TDS Passive Audiophile and HTS2000 conditioners) which are "nail buffers" used in beauty salons. They are 1" x 1" x 4" HD foam blocks which have an abrasive coating on the four longer sides. These usually sell for 25 cents each. I doubt if they would work on heavier gear, but have not yet experimented with them in this application. They do not seem to shift the tonal balance on lighter stuff, but they do clean/clear up the sound which is what I am looking/hearing for. I have always had a problem isolating light components before (don't care for the sound of mass loading) and these little blocks really do the trick.

Hi Bob: I have an inexpensive (discontinued) rack that has adjustable upturned brass spikes for all of the shelves (I could not see investing in the Neaunce shelving if it was not properly supported). It was designed as a bolt together rack, but I had it mig welded, by my mechanic, into a one piece frame. He did not charge me for this service, which took just a few minutes for sixteen spot welds (I did the setup and squared the rack off on a plate of glass - he was impressed) and in this form it works very well with the Neuance product. I have not experimented with upturned cones, etc. as supports, but assume that Ken @ Neuance would be able to supply info on various alternative support systems. The "cheap" isolation devices that I mentioned are not pumice stones, but are made of HD foam with an outer coating. We were putting a nail care kit for my wife's sister in Italy and I ran across them at a beauty supply warehouse just ouside of LA (my wife said that they are what the tech's use to polish nails in parlors). When I found out that they were four for a dollar I purchased a dollop of them to play around with (they come in different colors:-). I also used them to isolate the four tranformers contained inside a TDS Passive Audiophile from the chassis with good results. Before, the four transformers were "hot" glued to the single bottom plate of the chassis (no comment) and now it sounds much better, IMO.

Drubin: I hope that they have fixed the problem as they were described as "almost" dripping before. I ordered two sets in the past year and both were fine as far as I could see. I sold one set combined with some Mapleshade cones in the charity auctions and did not receive notice of any problems, so I assume that my observations are accurate. I have tried a few "earthquake" putties in the past that have stained (and was furious), so know where you are coming from (it took a lot of elbow grease and applied chemistry to reverse the damage). I don't know if Craig (can't remember the company name) the gentleman/dealer that I purchased the Pods from follows the forums, but am certain that he could give a history on the problem and its solution as he has rep'd the company for quite some time. One thing about the cheap "beauty" foam jobs is that I don't expect them to last a year (if that) as we live in LA, do not use A/C and leave the windows open all the time. Exposed foam and rubber does not do well with the air here as even windshield wipers require replacing once a year. I am not spending any money on the system(s) right now, but might try out the #1 Pods along with the E.A.R. footers once I get back into the swing of things. I had tried to use the #2 Pods with the "light" stuff before, which was not a good match (and which was against the user instruections). I think that the E.A.R.'s also come in different support weights. I sometime recommend that people start out by trying pieces of an old mouse pad to see if their setup is geared for soft footers, but should make it clear that I think that the Vibrapods sound a whole lot better (for a small investment). They smooth things out, fatten the bass and mid bass a bit (great for many digital sources) and they are $24 a set. Not exactly SOTA, but definately not a fool's tweak (they make a night and day difference on the player that I listen to when on the computer) and when I was first starting out with digital a few years ago they stopped me from wasting money upgrading the CD player (the Pods were all that it needed to bring it up a couple of notches and keep me happy).