Wool Felt Footers?

You can purchase EVA footers/pads from commercial sources at very reasonable prices.

For example:  https://www.supplyhouse.com/Pads-11752000

Yeah, EVA, 703/705 fiberglass, cork, and wool felt are all described by AI almost word for word as offering similar benefits related to vibrations and sound insulation:

"dissipate vibration energy as heat, acting as a natural vibration absorber...also lightweight, flexible, and offers good thermal and sound insulation"

In addition to the appliance footers linked by @kr4, for very little money EVA is available custom-cut in just about any shape, size, and thickness (link) for users who want to roll their own and experiment with different facing materials and sizes/thicknesses.  Add the similar benefits of Sorbothane and platinum silicone to the above materials and audiophiles have many low cost choices for vibration isolation and damping applications.

Yellow dot (softest) squash balls.

"Audiophile Junkie' did a series of vibration tests and got excellent results using these to decouple.

The felt furnature pads footers that you get on amazon to put under furnature for wood floors work surprisingly well for vibration dampening.  For pennies, it is at least a first level improvement, and it is easier to slide your equipment around.  

In order to get the blackest blacks and widest soundstage, you'll need to source the finest virgin wool from the Vicuña. An animal that lives high in the Andes mountains. Or just go with an old sweater. You'll get the same result.

I use it and agree with HAL😉

Experimenting with Structures to support Audio Equipment can bring very good improvements for tidying up the sound.

The entirety of the Structure for the System and then working with support for individual devices will be the best way forward.

My own experiences are to be open minded and limited in the methods used, systems are set up in environments that are unique and not duplicated at other locations.

One mans reject in one environment can very easily become in another environment the most impressive to have been used.

If Natural Materials are capturing your Interest, I am not without Cork in a variety of thicknesses, nearly all interfaces are using Cork Solely as the separator or as part of an assembly used a separator.

Cork + Felt might be a winner?  

I was able to source one-inch thick wool felt on Amazon for a reasonable cost.  I used 3M tape to attach it to the bottom of the Zoethecus Z-slab. I like what I am hearing.  BTW, after my purchase, I believe the Vicuña at the highest reaches of the Andes mountains have now been shorn.  Lucky for them, summer is coming.

@hjdca - Yes, the ability to slide the 90’ish pound DAC out of the rack when necessary is appreciated!

@pindac - If I were to cut the felt into 3x3 squares to use as footers, a thin layer of cork adheared to the top might work great.  I would leave the felt alone on the bottom for the reason discussed above.

@gdaddy1 - I have tried those and found they do indeed work well.  Years ago, I used a small bike tire inner tube as an air spring - also effective but obnoxious to keep the right amount of air pressure.  

mapman wrote:  

I use it and agree with HAL😉

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

I have been using 1” diameter felt furniture slides/protectors between my speakers and Sound Anchor stands for the last few years. I prefer them to the Sorbothane dots that came with the stands. I have tried several other materials but the cheap felt discs perform best. 

Yup 

I asked both ChatGPT & google Gemini about the effectiveness of wool felt, as I am in the process of isolating my components. Both agree. Attached is the response from chatGBT. 

Benefits of Wool Felt Isolation:

1. Gentle Damping:
   Wool felt provides light mechanical damping, especially for mid-to-high frequency microvibrations. It’s soft and compressible, helping absorb some surface-born energy.
2. Surface Protection:
   Prevents scratching and can act as a barrier between metal, glass, or wood surfaces.
3. Non-Resonant:
   Wool doesn’t “ring” like rubber or plastics can. It has a natural absorptive quality.

⚠️

Limitations in Your System:

1. Poor Low-Frequency Isolation:
   Wool is not effective at isolating against bass-born vibrations (e.g., from your subwoofer or room modes), which are most problematic in audio gear.
2. No Load Handling or Decoupling:
   Wool doesn’t decouple components from shelves. It compresses too easily under weight, especially heavy gear like the BHK or 330A, and doesn’t return to shape predictably.
3. No Layered Damping or Directionality:
   Unlike Herbie’s, IsoAcoustics, or Symposium products, wool lacks engineered damping layers, so its effect is subtle and not optimized for audio bandwidth.

I also asked about cork (my Aurender has cork footers). 
 

Ultra Transparent being produced is a very particular preference for a certain selection of individuals, most want a sense of having moved towards being transparent with a end sound, but are also very secure in their acceptance of a colour influence being present.

It is each to their own, when added Color is to be cut off.

There are a selection of Colourations that can be produced, but to keep it simplified I will refer to it as follows:

1, A detectable hint of Weight that is at the base of the notes and vocals, which is able to influence the tonal character that is noticeable for being present. 

2, A noticeable weight that underpins notes and vocals, which is influencing the tonal character to a point that is very noticeable for being present. 

3, A weight is present and undeniably attached to notes and vocals, which is influencing the tonal character and frequency range to a point that it is present and can be overwhelming.

Creating a Supporting Structure for the System and then working with support for individual devices will enable systems in use using the above influences, to be tuned to meet ones personal preference for how a Color is able to influence the end sound produced. Creating this influence is not limited to to the Structure Only, the structure when working for the individual will be the gathering of the reigns, and created influences will become gathered/ tidied up. 

Measurements of a materials interaction with transferred energy are a guide only, but experiencing options in use, supplies a tremendous opportunity to attain the optimised support set up for the individual.   

@pindac 

"Creating a Supporting Structure for the System and then working with support for individual devices will enable systems in use using the above influences, to be tuned to meet ones personal preference for how a Color is able to influence the end sound produced." 

I agree with your thoughts.  My racks are very solid and stable on their own so the supporting platforms and footers may provide nuanced variations or colorations reflecting the individual materials and design.  In the case of the heavy DAC where I have used the wool felt, there are two platforms under that DAC, the very stiff BDR shelf and beneath that the constrained layer Z-slab.  The wool felt isolates the two platforms from the stand.  I suspect the density and thickness of the felt material also influences the resulting effect.  The felt I used is quite dense and firm, probably similar to an F5 or maybe F7 (although the source did not provide the rating), and is a full one inch thick. 

The actual footers under the DAC are currently platinum silicone hemispheres operating within the suggested weight range, so those probably provide an elastic spring-like effect.  I may try different footers such as felt pads as discussed by @helomech or maybe one of the stiffer options from Herbies since I have quite a few of their products around here.  The footers that came with the expensive DAC were basically bog-standard aluminum footers you can purchase from Amazon so I am interested to hear whether other materials will have a different sonic effect.

I use hockey pucks with furniture felt rounds from Amazon attached to the bottom of the pucks under a few pieces of my equipment. Certainly cost effective.

@cbrez - hockey pucks are vulcanized rubber and many here have reported good results over the years from using them beneath speakers.  I like the idea of putting felt pads on the bottoms if you have hard floors, or to allow components to slide on their shelves.  3M double sided 9448A tissue tape or 3M foam tape would probably work to adhere the pucks to the underside of speakers, stands, or components.

Much of this stuff that companies charge big bucks for can be accomplished with everyday products but some are not comfortable experimenting and others like the finished look of manufactured products.

I know from past experiences that both Squash Ball Hemispheres and Hockey Pucks have been used by individuals within the Plinth for a TT and to mount the Plinth on.

Balls and Pucks having spent their energy are also recommended and should not have a cost. Speak to a Local Sports Centre where Squash is played or the local Hockey Club and either will happily assist with collecting the Spent Energy Balls or Pucks.

Another Cheap version to be effective as a footer is in the Link described in Item 7& 8 in the List with directions. The same can be achieved using a Spoon with Handle removed and the Steel Ball, there are plenty of these simple design footers in use, but unfortunately there are large and unnecessary price tags for the items. .

https://barrydiamentaudio.com/vibration.htm

Interesting topic with so many options…one surprising discovery I stumbled upon is …after I made my speaker towers I was having to move my speakers around into the room find the best positioning.  Started using the felt furniture pads to slide  them out on hardwood floors.  Worked but to make it easier thought I would try 2” black vinyl castor wheels $30 on Amazon.  They are great for pulling the towers into position and I was shocked how well they sounded. Sitting on the small tips of the vinyl wheels with brackets sure worked for me.  Also, I use felt furniture pads under my wood AV cabinet which may be an added plus I never thought about it prior to this thread.  On my components I use mostly iso springs which now I may try attaching wool felt to their support pads.  Never know until you try…

It interesting, Isoacoustics Gaia 1 feet were wonderful under my speakers, but when I put their other products under my other equipment I noticed absolutely no difference.  I ended up using the clothes washing machine rubber isolators under my amps and subwoofer.

Isoacoustics Gaia feet need to be matched by weight to the item they are being used to support in order to be effective.  They are very effective if applied correctly.  I have them under both speakers and turntables and they do make a noticeable difference.

fyi, I have a concrete floor at ground level with wood floor covering it.  I am running Adona Altair Racks with Herbie’s wide footers and felt pads.  I am also running GAIA I footers with felt pads under my speakers.  I also think felt pads under each piece of equipment can help.   Here are some crude vibration tests I ran when I put the rack together.   I am cranking the volume to ear splitting levels with a bass heavy song without even a miniscule disturbance in the water.  you can see the levels by the meters in the preamp shown in the pictures.  

Even though I am utilizing multiple vibration damping measures, I have come to appreciate the effect of the felt (see below the two platforms).  FYI, your iPhone can measure vibrations and even calibrate and connect to remote sensors (link to AI answer).