I beleive from my experience that they do help. I can't tell you which ones are best as I have not tried them all. I get great results using a Bright Star Air Mass 3. It is an iflaitable air bladder type of base. I have used cone feet between the player and the Air Mass as well, and will experiment further with this. Different cone feet can be used as a tuning device. I am eventually going to add the Bright Star Big Rock(sand dampening and added mass)on top of the Air Mass. I do have friends that are using Vibrapods under their CD players with good results vs. cash outlay. These can be a good way to start to experiment for about $25. I have quite a bit of bass energy when I play the system at higher volumes.I'm using a sub that has pretty flat respose in my room below 40hz and my results may be more dramatic than if you are just using small monitors at low levels. I have a fairly solidly built CD player as well and I still find isolating it a must. With more budget minded machines I think it's even more critical to do so since they won't have the attention to vibration dampening or the heavy chassis that a 2 or 3 thousand dollar machine might have. Try different combinations of things until it sounds best to you. I would take into consideration the recomendations of the manufacturer of the isolation device,for example,the maker of Vibrapods does not feel they will give you good results in combination with an air type device like I have.
I get improved overall clarity,ambient decay,transient attack, both improved bass texture and weight,and re-creation of space using isolation products under everything in my system. I even have my woofer on a Billy Bags amp stand with spiked feet, with vibrapods in between the woofer and the stand. Give it a try. I like the sound of Vibrapods under my speakers as well. I need to experiment further and work out a better way of using the pods under the speakers later, but my initial results were pretty good. Hope this helps. |
Vibration isolaters come in a variety of sizes, shapes and materials. They will all change the sound. If it is better or not can only be judged by you. I only have experience with mid level cones and less expensive rubber footers, sorbothane, etc. Of the cones I have tried I prefer the Soler points. They have much more detail and speed than Black Diamond Racing or Mapleshade cones. And to me sorbothane sounds muddy or slow and veiled. Not even in the same league. It all depends what your tastes are and what you system sounds like now. But to answer your question, YES. In my system, to me, they make a huge improvement.- John |
I had a local cabinet shop make some sand boxes which I put my cd player on top with the aide of BDR #3/4 cones. Plus put a ziplock baggy with sand on top of the unit to stablize. It does help smooth out the sound and expand the sound stage. Total cost for the box $35 sand $8 BDR cones $50. Not bad for the results. |
The best I have heard is the Symposium Rollerblocks and Ultra Shelf. check out symposiumusa.com
Amazing stuff that is easy to point to when you do an A/B with the shel in and with the shelf out. I dare anyone else to do a similair test with their favorite isolation product. I nailed the symposium difference every time. The stuff is expensive but its the best in my mind. I have and do own Vibrapods, DH COnes (Jumbo and Large and Medium) and DH squares. Thes cheapes result that added the most improvemt was a DIY sand box. MDF box with sand inside. Easy to make even for somebody like me. I urge you to try out Symposium. It works especially well under anything tube and front end gear. I have stopped fooling around with cheap tweaks that get me almost there and now know that Symposium is where I want to be. Maybe it will work for you as well. Happy listening |
Yes, they make a big difference, and yes, you need to experiment. I've had the best results with my CD player by supporting it on a maple cutting board with Aurios 1.2s beneath, used with their matching 7/16" tungsten carbide balls (the 1.2s are richer sounding than the 1.1s, and less bass heavy and clearer than the Pros). Aurios are relatively expensive, but they're worth trying, particularly under CD or DVD players-- they make as much difference as a good cable or component change. |
You cannot isolate vibration. It's everywhere. The music, itself; vibrations in the air. Sound is vibration. It's ok. Let it vibrate and send the resonances to the floor. I do not understand the hoopla with these vibropads. Man, I hate to leave.. I'll be back for more, but I'm on a prep, and my students call. |
I also am using the Aurios 1.2 with bearing currently under CDP, it took me a while to effectively nuetralize my VD Nite AC cord's effect so they work properly. Agree with others that you must try many things they all sound different and I still own several other footer systems, and shelves.
The Daruma II bearings will give you a "taste" of the Aurios 1.2 for under $100 a set of three. If you keep looking you can get a used set of Aurios 1.2 for @$200 here.
BTW I find the Aurios 1.2 with bearing a noticeable improvement vs original Aurios MIB both in sound and easier set-up.
If you don't want to fool with hassle/cost of bearings the huge Mapleshade Heavy Foot brass cones work very good for $60 a set of three. |
Another strong vote for the Aurios Pros, and don't agree for a second that they contribute any bass-heaviness if used properly. All Aurios work best supporting something with spikes. A combination, for example, of a Signal Guard II isolation platform with spiked feet resting in four Aurios Pros is a great upgrade--not cheap, but this isn't a cheap hobby. |
Somebody explain this to me. You have your speakers, amps, everything on these bearings, vibropods, sandbags,concrete, and other esoteric whatevers. Now where is the isolation? Are the resonances from the sounds put out by your speakers airborne? How do you keep that from your components? You can't. Better to couple everything. Send all those resonances to the floor. Vibration can't be stopped. There are many good vibrations. Why would you want to absorb them? Sand, lead, the like, don't differentiate between the two. This new speaker support system I just purchased from Star Sound Technologies is based on this principle of resonance transference. I am still in awe of what I hear from my speakers. I am a tough sell, with these golden ears of mine. Can you relate? More about these stands in a bit. Back to you with more.. Got's to go and run. Be gentle with me. |
No quarrel with anything that works, Warrenh. I don't understand the physics behind vibration isolation or tranfer (lowly English prof that I am), but I know what works. And just as I don't for the life of me understand why different power cords affect the sound radically, so I don't understand what makes the Aurios so effective (or, for that matter, why they have different sounds from one another). This is an inductive business, and we'll let the scientists figure it out in the future. If it's good enough for medicine (see under aspirin, for instance) why not audio? |
Warrenh, When the system is not playing I find that I don't need any of these whatevers you describe. Yes, I do think that primarily bass energy from speakers/subs can cause trouble with electronics( I could be wrong?), especially tube electronics, Cd players, and turntables.If ya got no real bass then it likely won't be as significant. I do know that when I decoupled my sub from the floor by taking the standard spike feet off it and puting it on the pods the sound became much more realistic and focused. I am not atributing this entirley to lessening vibration getting to my components, more it took some of my room acoustics out of the equation. This is what I believe to have happened in my room/system/opinion. Set up is an art form. Do what works for you. I am with Swklein, let someone else expalin it, as long as it works for me, or whatever you use works for you. I have heard some very costly systems in homes of audiophiles that I would not want to live with. They must like them. |
When all your electronics,speakers, even cables, vibrate from the sonic energy of the music in your listening room: where do those vibrations go now that you have them so beautifully isolated from the floor? No place to go. It's when you give them somewhere to go, your music will really open up. My subwoofer came more,alive, focused, tighter, and extended when I placed them on a Sistrum Speaker (Star Sound Technologies) platform. This is a beautiful platform consisting of three audiopoints (1 1/2") facing point up, and three matching audiopoints facing downward going to the floor, held together by a lovely metal plate, with a musical note in the center. The three pairs of points are couple together through internal threads. The metalurgy of these audiopoints is their, soon to be, patented recipe. I became a true believer in resonance transference. I have since, coupled all my electronics with audiopoints, including the wood stand everthing sits on. Four points with threads are screwed into the bottom of the woood stand. Nothing is on the stand that will absorb resonances. I don't even leave a cd jacket there when listening. I plan on buying their Sistrum Rack System eventually which does what I'm doing, in a killer, scientific/physical and aesthetically pleasing way. Robert over at Audiopoints.com is the man when it comes to resonance transference, or at least, explaining it very clearly. I'm going to talk more about the speaker support system I'm using soon. It's drop dead amazing. |
Vibrations are self perpetuated within the playback instruments that we choose to reproduce-- the natural resonance of the music we enjoy. If we were to try to dampen or leaden the sound of musical instruments then it would not be considered natural. If we allow electro-mechanical as well as airborne vibration to be stored or dampened they will only again be remodulated by their own device and environment. Resonance transfer science introduces a high speed conductive path so as to naturally drain away these electro-mechanical and airborne vibrations. Without this interference you are finally able to hear all the natural spatial cues within what is dynamically coherent. I personally use this science and these devices exclusively, thru-out my entire playback system. Tom |
