Using Magico Qpods and Symposium roller blocks which in my system was much better than any Stillpoint footers.Stillpoints tend to favor the highs over the rest of the frequency spectrum.IsoAcoustics are better than Stillpoints in the systems i have heard.
What Are Your Experiences with Decoupling Products and Your Recommendations?
I've heard IsoAcoustics to Stillpoints are the way to go. But I've also heard HerbieAudio is a great (inexpensive) alternative and not over-engineered. What has been your experience and what in your opinion is the cost/benefit threshold?
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OP If by "decoupling products" you include speakers then yes, hell yes! The cool part about decoupling your speakers is that not only do you relieve the rest of the house from having to experience the deep bass but it also helps to keep speaker vibration from affecting the system components. And yes, Herbie's gliders work extremely well in decoupling cone/spike coupled speakers and subwoofers from the room. I use Herbie's Tenderfeet under most of my components as part of the system "tuning" process. |
I recommend and use Herbie's "Fat Dots" to couple my Harbeth's to Sound Anchor stands. However, I strongly preferred coupling Sound Anchor stands with supplied steel spikes to the concrete slab floor over carpet vs. using Herbie's Gliders, as there was a noticeable loss in transparency and imaging with the gliders. YMMV. |
Most audio equipment comes fitted with rubber feet. That's just as well as rubber is a great isolator, offering hundreds of times better isolation than spikes. Whether audio equipment need isolation is another matter entirely. Loudspeakers are where it makes a difference for me and I'm happy to use 70 durometer sorbothane hemispheres. Without any hard evidence I'd say the sorbothane generally improves the bass end and lower mids. Most noticeably the bass starts to pop out and play tunes. I'm sure that Herbie's footers or other isolators would work just as well. I doubt whether it matters too much to get the resonant frequency down as far as possible. It could even be Many loudspeakers start to roll off around 40Hz and almost any form of isolation will get you well below that. Even a few strips of rubber will do that. pdreher, I wonder whether the Herbie's gliders under your stands would have worked better as the carpet settled underneath. In normal use the bass speaker cone should not be able to overcome inertia and cause the speakers to rock significantly, but maybe in your case on top of very wobbly carpet they did, just enough to lose a touch of focus and transparency as in your case. I guess it might a case of balancing maximum isolation against compromising stability. Too much isolation (excessive wobble) must be counter productive. |
cd318 I guess it might a case of balancing maximum isolation against compromising stability. Too much isolation (excessive wobble) must be counter productive. >>>>>>Uh, there is no excessive Wobble when isolating a component. There should be no wobble at all. And there is no such thing as too much isolation. If the component moves it’s not isolated properly. That’s the whole point. They wouldn’t have been able to observe gravity waves that have amplitudes on the order of an atomic particle if the optics of the LIGO project wobbled. If a microscope isolation stand wobbled you wouldn’t be able to see what’s under the microscope. Hel-loo! |
geoffkait, Up to your usual misuse of scientific terminology? Measuring gravitational waves via an interferometer has very little in comparison to supporting a loudspeaker with a moving bass driver playing Led Zeppelin at decent volume. Remember Newton and forces? I imagine your potential customers might expect you to understand this. You do, don’t you? Or was this just another one of your cheap tirelessly prolific shill attempts that plague this forum? Hel-lo yourself! https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/vibration-isolation |