Vibration Control

AussieSteve,

You are certainly right about how vibration can effect the sound of a music system, whether the speakers, cables or the equipment stands.  Naim have gone to heroic efforts to control and minimize effects of vibration in the design of there electronics, speakers and Fraim stands.  Ideally we would like only the transducers and the air to vibrate, not the speaker cabinet or electronic boxes or cables.  In reality, vibration is never totally eliminated.  So it is necessary that what vibration remains is highly linear.  Any rattles or tiny micro-rattle can be very deleterious.  I also find that the (not linear) hysteresis in soft elastomers (in a load path) can take the life and PRaT out of music.  I would be very dubious of using sorbothane or other lossy materials under equipment or speakers. I prefer instead to use a three-point hard (stiff) support on points or balls, or perhaps linear metal springs.

Apparently your felt and sorbothane feet improves the sound of your CD player - but perhaps this is because the player is being isolated from a shelf which vibrates excessively (and is not-linear?).  Many of us, including Naim, have found a sheet of glass on three ball-bearings or dome nuts can give a pleasing result (when place on the shelf, under the player).

Your mileage may vary, of course, but I encourage you to continue experimenting.  I find that it makes most sense to treat a HiFi system as if it were a musical instrument (in a manner of speaking), where you would never want rattles or squishiness.  Everything must be "tight" and "clean."

Good luck, and keep us posted on what you learn.

Charlie

Thanks for the info Charlie, that is very interesting. I'll continue to experiment.

Aussie,

i had a similar experience with the Silent Mounts on my suspended wood floor- they remain under my speakers to good effect.

The Sorbothane did not work for me when I tried it with a CDX2- lost some of its' timing magic. Cd player worked best flat on my Fraim glass shelf. Always fun to try different tweeks though, enjoy the journey !

ATB,

Mark

Thanks Mark, I am learning new things weekly. The more I learn the more I find their is as much an art form involved in hifi and acoustics as it is science. It's fun but tricky, and since I have not studied at a higher level my brain can hurt!

It is an adventure!  Go ahead and experiment, but listen to lots of music and trust your ears (and your wife's ears!)  Enjoy...

Charlie

I'm very much a novice in understanding vibration isolation but I have dabbled with a variety of materials under my gear. I'd agree with Charlie that soft materials are not the way to go. They can offer an immediate noticeable response by damping a vibrating rack, but at the cost of musical resolution, dynamics, and vitality. A quality rack with each shelf having three isolating points supporting a rigid (glass) sub-shelf directly under the gear seems the best route. Speaker contact with the floor should also be isolated. Once feedback on the gear is isolated, feedback from the room may become the next obvious point of attention.

If you have a Fraim with Naim your sorted - the boffins at r&d know their onions regarding vibration control, your only concern is wether you have it set up correctly and whatever placed appropriate. If you don't have a Fraim.... Many tell that glass shelves work best with Naim boxes although other get great results from other materials such as wood , bamboo, granite and other compound products.    If your going through a home brew route it can get very interesting/ confusing especially when mixing soft with hard and conflicting technologies together - the best advice is to know what's contributing what to any change of sound wether for good or worse.

With speakers you want to use something that works with its design and sound - what works for one may not work for another-   Other than trying different surface contacts it makes more sense to buy a product that has been designed for that particular type of speaker.

..........Looking through photos of Naim systems posted from users I have never seen any damping devices placed on top of boxes...  Said devices are meant to put the component within a constrained vibration control with its support to absorb vibrations generated from its power transformer and case resonances.

The older members here might recall Chris Koster's experiments with hockey pucks...