Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ.

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Many work, but differently in different systems.

Posted by bartc (A) on January 19, 2004 at 15:14:53

In Reply to: Isolation Devices: More fact or fiction? posted by Len on January 19, 2004 at 13:55:15:

First of all, I love to DIY, not just because my pockets are small, but also because it permits me to experiment with a range of devices without spending a lot and without buyer's remorse! If you are willing to pay more you might, maybe get that much more impact, but I'm not yet convinced of the value proposition in the commercial products many times the cost of my DIYs.

Vibration control works. It just works differently in different situations. It's a matter of so many different factors involved: idiosyncracies of rooms and their construction, build of components, etc. Some situations call for isolation, some for coupling, some for combinations - you simply have to experiment and find out which work for yours. You're controlling both floor and air borne vibration, assuming you aren't stacking components (in which case you would be adding direct conduction of vibration too). Lotta lotta places to play.

The results can add up to something just short of dramatic, or in some instances a single tweak might sound dramatically different. Different isn't always better.

I try to follow David Aiken's theory of keeping the true isolation as close to the component as possible and to have more coupling controls from the floor up to that point. Not so sure David follows his own theory strictly, having seen his rack and shelf setup in pictures, but everyone tweaks to his own drummer.... I've been following his advice on damping in general, not to overdo the damping, and this works as well.

I like isolation close to my electronic components because my NAD chasis/box construction is rather light and flimsy. So my isolation devices both damp the cabinetry AND isolate from floor borne vibration. My speaker stands incorporate both coupling (mock cones to tile on floor) and isolation (dead ball suspension) and then the tile top plate is coupled via hardwood buttons to the speaker bottoms. My rack incorporates coupling (mock cones to tile on floor at base), coupling again (roller ball DIYs) between rack and shelves, then isolation (roller balls with dead balls between shelves and component). My sub is up on racketballs for isolation. Every one of these made its own difference and it was at least noticable if not strong. Other combos didn't work as well for me on my suspended laminate floor in my fairly bare and reflective room.

I do use DIY cable lifters. I laughed until I tried lifts; worked the first time. After various experiments I've settled into a ceramic DIYs of the famous cable elevators. I'm convinced these work by getting cables out of the floor's static field.

YMMV!

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