Vibration isolation or absorption?

@jumia 

Is vibration a two-way street?

So you have vibration from a speaker cabinet, but don't you also have vibration due to the sound waves bouncing around the room where the floor will vibrate and that vibration will transfer back into the speaker cabinet and also the component rack?

So maybe isolation is the answer?

Yes, you have all kinds of vibrations.

However I believe that the most serious ones are those usually coming from the loudspeaker cabinet itself.

Accelerometer tests have revealed that the loudspeaker baffle can be vibrating at far greater levels when that loudspeaker is placed on spikes as opposed to when it has been decoupled via springs or rubber.

Perhaps we could imagine the loudspeaker drivers acting like musicians standing on a vibrating floor? The less that 'floor' vibrates throre chance they have of performing with greater accuracy.

Of course there will be other vibrations that might affect the floor also but the ones coming from inside the box must surely be the most serious when it comes to smearing the sound.

It should also be noted that these days an increasing number of loudspeaker manufacturers are using laser inferometry to design their cabinets in order to limit these vibrations from acting on the loudspeaker baffle.

And then there's the thin walled BBC approach as used by the likes Harbeth, Spendor and Graham Audio.

The days of loudspeakers with terrible 'waterfall' graphs revealing poor construction seem to be over.

However, since my Tannoy speakers are over 40 years old, I'm not too surprised to find that decoupling works for me. Back then, the BBC research into cabinet construction had barely been published.

@audiopoint

I read your eloquent post. And I guess I am confused. I am not the brightest person so forgive me.

You seem to be taking a negative view on isolation and absorption merchandise sold by audio enthusiasts. And then in your final section you say that vibration management tools makes sense as part of the sound reproduction process.

Can you please clarify what you’re saying and provide examples of how someone would improvement to eliminate vibrations that are detrimental too good sound reproduction, which I’m sure exist somewhere.

Maybe another way to look at this, is to find ways to better manage sound dispersion throughout the room as well as minimizing vibrations that interfere with component performance, which is a more abstract concept I think. It is really easy to understand why you’d want to minimize external vibrations from a record Player as Jumping rope next to a record player likely interferes with a record being played, adding cushioning on the feet of a record player to prevent this seems like a good idea. Further, my subwoofer cabinet directly vibrates my floor which causes vibration noise from things on my shelf, an aluminum window frame, loose knickknacks, but if I put a squishy isolator disc thing between the feet of the subwoofer and the wooden floor it tends to absorb the sub cabinet vibrations and improve dispersion of pressure amplitudes more evenly throughout the room which is ideal for a sub.

Thank you

For me, Vibrapod work realy well under my speakers, on my suspended floor.          (speakers are just a little wobbly, but it is OK).  I also use Vibrapod with their Cone, with great success under my components.  Very good upgrade for the price.

Killing vibration is stupidity. Eliminating it is impossible. Fearing it makes for sales expansion. Using it as a tool to improve sound reproduction makes more sense. 

EAR makes damping compounds for damping the hulls of submarines (military application). 3M has a line of damping compounds as do a number of other companies- and some of these are used in cars to make them quieter inside. 

We used damping compounds in our preamps. Their effect is measurable and audible. My LP mastering lathe used adjustable points and a vibration damping platform, made about 1950.

But just on account of the fact that there are large businesses that make damping compounds, we can know that the post of the above quote is dubious. Killing vibration isn't stupid...🙄

@audiopoint , i.e., Robert Maicks, is the long-time spokesperson (propriator?) of Live~Vibe Audio (that some may remember as Star-Sound Technologies), which sells primarily points (aka spikes), coupling discs, and Sistrum platforms to support speakers and other audio equipment. 

Cutting to the chase:

"Audio Points function as high-speed brass conductive gateways for resonance and unfavorable noise to flow out and away from the component or loudspeaker" 

"The high-speed exit of detrimental resonance caused by vibrations establishes greater “operational efficiency” within the component or loudspeaker per the laws of Coulomb friction and Coulomb damping."

Many audiophiles use and support their well-constructed products.  If encouraged, Robert will cheerfully go on ad-infinitum about the science behind their points or, you can look up his posts on this forum, and/or go to their website where you will find plenty to read.  You will also find an unwavering belief in their theory, without room for debate.  Mostly a case of Believe It or Not!