Neuance shelf is a must!
Orchard Bay are second, EAR footers third.
Aurio's Pro, new found love. |
Tom nice - what are Neuance shelves made from? I did a search and can't find any info on them.
My preference has been for brass or those ceramic like foot sanding stones. I prefer a cleaner sound. Sorbothane seemed to muddy up the sound which I did not like. |
There are about a million different approaches - the "right" one is the one that works best in your own rig.
My present "digital stack":
one-box CDP on top - (no mass loading atop of it)
Orchard Bay titanium cones
Orchard Bay brass pucks
Black Diamond shelf (or Zoethecus Z-Slab shelf, both work pretty well, Z-Slab is less expensive)
Vibrapods
rack shelf (itself an MDF composition)
Have also used Black Diamond #3 &/or #4 cones, and Audio Point brass cones in this sandwich. O.B. titanium's are amazingly better, but are not longer available. I'm gettting some titanium Nordost Pulsar Points & DH Labs ceramic cones to try next, but so far the above sandwich has worked best for me. YMMV |
Hey Tennispro,
Here are some things that have given me the best performance:
Symposium shelves (particularly the Ultra shelf - wow!)
Silent Running Audio platforms
Newport Research Lab Tables
Aurios Pro MIBs
Symposium Rollerblocks
Black Diamond Racing Cones
Here's what I've compared head to head, in a somewhat systematic fashion:
Aurios MIB 1.2s v. Rollerblocks v. BDR cones v. Valid Points v. MGD points under digital front end; Rollerblocks v. Polycrystal cones under turntable; Townsend Seismic Sink v. Newport Lab Table v. Symposium shelves under various equipment.
Most disappointing footers I've tried:
MGD points, Vibrapods, and MIB 1.0s (more for the hassle as compared to the 1.2s, Pros, and Rollerblocks) |
I've gotten good results with Vibrapods all around, and also top weighting things like the CD player/Transport. |
Same as Tom (I am happy with Neuance shelving under the source gear).
I have used Neaunce for a year and half and other footers make my setup sound funky in comparison. Guess I am used to its sound, as well.
I have never tried roller bearings though. The closest thing to these (that I have tried) are little donuts, made of E.A.R. material, that have a ball bearing squeezed into the center (they don't R&R and are not the same as roller bearings).
Other footers/shelves have been: Maplshade cones (the cheap ones), DH cones, E.A.R. based footers (with/without the ball bearing), Vibrapods, hockey pucks, nail buffers (for light weight gear, under 5 lbs), suspension (hanging), MDF, Maple, Ikea Lack and Persimmon platforms.
I have also experiemented with top weighting, but did not care for the sound of this on any of my gear (with the exception of a few fly weight Bel Canto DAC's).
The Maplshade cone makes a nice record weight for my Thorens when inverted and blue tacked to a 45 rpm adapter. |
I have tried a number of diffrent cones and pucks and my favorite so far is the Walker Valid Points. |
Most experts regard cones, pucks and the like, as relatively minor players, compared to shelves and platforms. I looked for many years, for improved vibration isolation, and tried many products, and I've stopped now, completely happy with Neuance Shelves. At $150-$175, I regard them as one of the great bargains in audio today. The only caveat: they need proper support from below, spikes being best. Ken Lyon will advise on this crucial aspect of performance. |
I use Aurios 1.2 with their upgrade tungsten carbide balls under my CD player, and there are large gains in clarity and bass, at the possible expense of some upper-midrange forwardness and slight "steeliness." The trade-off's worth it to me (I suspect I'm actually simply hearing my preamp for what it is). Worth trying, and I'm told if you position the Aurios under a platform with the CD player on top of that, the problem diminishes or goes away. The 1.2s are noticeably better sounding than the 1.1s, by the way, and not hard to place (unlike the 1.0s). |
Put cones under everything. Your ears will be very happy. If you don't have them, already, on the bottom of your rack legs: PUT THEM THERE too. I have not compared them, but I use Audiopoints cones and am very happy with the sound. You can really go nuts with these cones and suffer the law of diminishing returns. Call Robert over at Audiopoints. He's really into resonance transference and will give you the scoop. His cones are very reasonable. You should get another 10 posts, at least, about this topic. The same people, including myself, will talk about this adnauseam...I love it, though. It's what I love about the Hi-End audio game. |
I have tried numerous setups over the last 20 years and the Walker Valid Points/Discs are the best I have ever heard. |
