Isolation platform

[admin_exported]

Hi, would be grateful for a bit of advice.

I recently unearthed a Mission Isoplat isolation platform which I had bought years ago and as I own it already I thought I should probably use it.

Where in my system is it likely to bring any benefit (if at all)? Under my laptop (source), DAC, or amp?

I will obviously experiment myself to see if I can detect any improvement but would appreciate your advice on where isolation would normally be best utilised.

Thanks in advance

 

[Overdose]

An isolation platform? Try one in the North Sea.

As for your paperweight, I'd stick it on ebay and buy some music with the procedes for the best benefit.

Failing that, possibly file it in B1n. I know, harsh, but fair.

 

[acalex]

Hi, would be grateful for a bit of advice.

I recently unearthed a Mission Isoplat isolation platform which I had bought years ago and as I own it already I thought I should probably use it.

Where in my system is it likely to bring any benefit (if at all)? Under my laptop (source), DAC, or amp?

I will obviously experiment myself to see if I can detect any improvement but would appreciate your advice on where isolation would normally be best utilised.

Thanks in advance

I would be very curios to read your findings as I will be also lloking at removing vibration sooner than later. In my opinion you can experiment great improvement with not that much of an investment. I would be more inclined to say that under amp should probably be more useful.

I know that Cno for example uses Black Ravioli isolation pads under the source (Linn DS range) and he's very happy about the results. Please report back your findings!

 

[Inter_Voice]

IMO isolation device is designed to reduce vibrations, in particular, those with moving parts like CDP, DVD Player and turntable etc. As to using it on amplifiers which are without moving parts I am afraid the effect will be miminal unless your amplifier has self induced vibrations from its own transformer 😛

 

[paradiziac]

Another test to try would be to play your hifi while a friend shakes each piece of equipment in turn and see if it sounds any different.

I'm sure good isolation works in some cases...

 

[acalex]

Another test to try would be to play your hifi while a friend shakes each piece of equipment in turn and see if it sounds any different.

I'm sure good isolation works in some cases...

Nice one. I might ask Roby to come home and shake the Jadis whilst playing music :rofl:

 

[Anonymous]

Well, having now tried it out my opinion is this.

I enjoyed the experimentation but it's not needed in my system. I suspect (as Inter Voice indicated) there are improvements that can be made from good isolation products when used with components with moving parts (turntables in particular and CDPs) especially where vibration issues might be present as a result of suspended floors etc.

As for my system I'm not convinced it made much difference and if it did it may have added a bit more bass (when tried under DAC and AMP) but I'm not convinced it didn't also take away a smidgen of top end detail.

So, not being convinced of any improvement with this product in my system, after all these years of sitting unused it's going back in the box I unearthed it from...

Just a correction on my initial post, it's a Cyrus Isoplat not a Mission Isoplat - either way it's going back into isolation.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Guys.....a little off-topic here but when I moved house recently, I went from concrete floors to having floorboards and my turntable (Pro-ject debut iii with Ortofon M2 Red (also Linn LP12 )) lost all it's capabilities. My LP12 was mounted into a wall and it sounded great, as usual.

I took no risk at all and bought a paving slab from a builders merchant (£2.12) and put the pro-Ject onto the slab and all the life came back to the cheap and cheerful deck that I love so much. How about that for an inexpensive fix?!

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

If you wanted something a little more elegant a 24 inch square slab of your choice of polished marble or granite from your local "monumental mason" and some rubber feet off the internerd or from your favourite DIY store will work just as well as an Isoplat.

FWIW I used to use an Isoplat under my CDP and another under my turntable. They helped a little, I guess they would have been more beneficial If I'd ever figured out where to plug the mains conditioners into them ...

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, I have contacted a few people in regard of getting some white Italian marble now I know the isoplat solves my problem. It will cost around £80 for a nice polished, beveled sheet. I bought the slab to test the theory. Now I know the sound is compromised by the floorboards (or a poor table on which the system sits) I will happily spend a little money on it. Perhaps I will have the marble built into the wall like it is on my other system.

Either way, I am happy with the sound again.

[EDIT] I also bought some thick rubber washers to rest the slab on. These are 19.5mm wide and 6mm thick.

 

[jcarruthers]

I always wondered why my Pro-Ject RPM 1.3 has spikes — even if they sit on little discs — surely that anchors the thing to the surface instead of separating it.

 

[jcarruthers]

I always wondered why my Pro-Ject RPM 1.3 has spikes — even if they sit on little discs — surely that anchors the thing to the surface instead of separating it.

 

[Captain Duff]

I always wondered why my Pro-Ject RPM 1.3 has spikes — even if they sit on little discs — surely that anchors the thing to the surface instead of separating it.

Only if they dig in and grip to the surface (ie, if you used on wood without the metal discs for the spikes to sit on). The idea of the spike on a hard surface is that it presents a minimal contact area between the two and so limits the vibrations that can travel between them. The rival theory is that you use sound absorbing materials (various rubber compounds) to dissipate the vibration as it travels. Of course, if you are a belt and braces kind of person you can combine both theories in your isolation platform or diy contraption.

 

[Frank Harvey]

I always found Isoplats to be inconsistent - some products they seemed to make a difference, some they didn't, and when they did, it wasn't anything major. I found the Base to work better under most components with more consistent results (can't remember the company name).

 

[jcarruthers]

Only if they dig in and grip to the surface (ie, if you used on wood without the metal discs for the spikes to sit on). The idea of the spike on a hard surface is that it presents a minimal contact area between the two and so limits the vibrations that can travel between them. The rival theory is that you use sound absorbing materials (various rubber compounds) to dissipate the vibration as it travels. Of course, if you are a belt and braces kind of person you can combine both theories in your isolation platform or diy contraption.

Makes a lot of sense. I think.

Rubber under the little discs makes even more sense.

Now to the querstion of what to do with speakers — which I presume want anchoring to the surface.

 

[jcarruthers]

Only if they dig in and grip to the surface (ie, if you used on wood without the metal discs for the spikes to sit on). The idea of the spike on a hard surface is that it presents a minimal contact area between the two and so limits the vibrations that can travel between them. The rival theory is that you use sound absorbing materials (various rubber compounds) to dissipate the vibration as it travels. Of course, if you are a belt and braces kind of person you can combine both theories in your isolation platform or diy contraption.

Makes a lot of sense. I think.

Rubber under the little discs makes even more sense.

Now to the querstion of what to do with speakers — which I presume want anchoring to the surface.

 

[Baldrick1]

Only if they dig in and grip to the surface (ie, if you used on wood without the metal discs for the spikes to sit on). The idea of the spike on a hard surface is that it presents a minimal contact area between the two and so limits the vibrations that can travel between them. The rival theory is that you use sound absorbing materials (various rubber compounds) to dissipate the vibration as it travels. Of course, if you are a belt and braces kind of person you can combine both theories in your isolation platform or diy contraption.

Makes a lot of sense. I think.

Rubber under the little discs makes even more sense.

Now to the querstion of what to do with speakers — which I presume want anchoring to the surface.

Why not the same again...and if you cannot/do not want to attach spikes to the bottom of the speakers then at least put them on the isolating gel pads too "... to dissipate the vibration as it travels". :clap:

 

[BigH]

For speakers to attch to stands then spikes or more common now blu-tac or black-tac if you can find it.

 

[jcarruthers]

Why not the same again...and if you cannot/do not want to attach spikes to the bottom of the speakers then at least put them on the isolating gel pads too "... to dissipate the vibration as it travels". :clap:

Some small rubber self adhesive feet would be ideal — and easy to get.

Perfect 🙂

 

[SiUK]

The self adhesive pads on rubber feet 'dry out' over time in normal living conditions and eventually lose adhesion. Blu tack / white tack / black tack etc. also dries out and goes hard. However, it tends to keep its adhesive properties, getting harder in my experience. However, with blu tack the speakers do move out of position over time (vibration from the cabinets). I have my speakers on the same sand filled spiked stands I purchased too many years ago to mention, and they are stuck down with blu tack. I check them every 12 months or so and realign them.

As far as ridiculously priced iso platforms are concerned, not worth it in my opinion when you can do an admirable job yourself without much effort and much less money. Isolating the CD player does make a difference, and on mine it sounds leaner, cleaner, and less harsh. It's not a difference of night and day but it is nonetheless noticeable...well, except during the day when everything sounds worse.

In 1985 (when dinosaurs ruled the earth) I purchased a spiked (the feet, and top shelf are spiked; bottom shelf on corner brackets) metal framed Target turntable table (well two). The shelves were made of fibreboard material and covered in black coloured wood effect vinyl. Ghastly really. Anyhoo, instead of ditching them when I ditched the deck, I renovated one of them to take the CD player and Mission amps (amps on bottom TEAC player on top). It was relatively inexpesive and easy. The original shelves were discarded, and in their place some very nice green composite marble plinths I had cut and polished at a local marble suppliers. Two offcuts all finished cost me £30. I bought 2 green smoke 10mm pieces of safety glass from a local supplier, again all cut and edges finished nicely. £12 (it was a while ago). And then a pack of self adhesive rubber feet from Maplins. So, bottom shelf has blu tack on the corner brackets with marble shelf on top and then glass shelf on top of that with the rubber feet in each corner. Amps on top. To marble shelf sits direfctly on spikes, and then the glass layer on top (same as bottom) and CD player on top. Looks amazing, makes the sound much better, especially on floorboards, and it's been like that for a long time now. Disadvantage is that dust will settle under the glass layer, and you will end up cleaning it frequently. Oh, and you won't be able to just pick the table up and move it with everything on unless you have a strong back. It ways a ton!

 

[Al ears]

This particular platform was primarily designed for use beneath amplifiers to reduce the possibilities of vibrations affecting the inhernet resonance frequency of such electronic devises which are more prone to this sort of vibration interference. The mass of the isolation platfrom, in tandame will the low resonance compound make ideal for this. You will observe that the platform has rigid feet. So ideally position it beneath your amplifer.

It would only really be useful for your laptop it your device has a solid state hard-drive (SSD). If your laptop has a traditional magnetic disc hard disc drive (HDD), which is more prone to kinetic vibration, then you should treat it in the same manner you would a turntable where the primary issue is mechanical vibation as opposed to electronic resonance. The Isoplat is not ideal for this owmning to it's rigid feet. For a turntable etc it is better to use a platform with spiked and decoupled feet. Whilst this type of feet arrangement can be a faf to set up, it is well worth the effort, especially with a premium turntable / tonearm / cartridge combination. This sort of platform arrangement also benefits valve amplifiers, which are not only susceptible to electoronic resonance, but also kinetic vibration of the glass vacuum bublble and metal wire fillament construct of the valves.

The Isoplat is of little use for speakers, where the aim is not to reduce the vibration received by the speaker enclosures, but rather the vibrationa radiated by them. In this case unisolated spikes may either be used directly beneath the speaker cabinets or in tandem with a heavyweight isoplation plinth.

I'd agree but not much use to the OP , it's years old.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_645074850]

This particular platform was primarily designed for use beneath amplifiers to reduce the possibilities of vibrations affecting the inhernet resonance frequency of such electronic devices which are more prone to this sort of vibration interference. The mass of the isolation platfrom, in tandem will the low resonance compound make ideal for this. You will observe that the platform has rigid feet which are not decoupled from the base in any way. So ideally position it beneath your amplifer.

It would only really be useful for your laptop it your device has a solid state hard-drive (SSD). If your laptop has a traditional magnetic hard disc drive (HDD), which is more prone to kinetic vibration, then you should treat it in the same manner you would a turntable, where the primary issue is mechanical vibation and sonic feedback, as opposed to electronic resonance. The Isoplat is not ideal for this owing to it's rigid feet.

For a turntable or HDD computer etc it is better to use a platform with spiked and decoupled feet. Whilst this type of feet arrangement can be a faf to set up, it is well worth the effort, especially with a premium turntable / tonearm / cartridge combination. This sort of platform arrangement also benefits valve amplifiers, which are not only susceptible to electoronic resonance, but also kinetic vibration of the glass vacuum bubble and metal wire fillament construct of the valves.

The Isoplat is of little use for speakers, where the aim is not to reduce the vibration received by the speaker enclosures, but rather the vibrations radiated by them through the cabinet and into the floor and walls of the room and thence back to source equipment. In this case unisolated spikes may either be used directly beneath the speaker cabinets or in tandem with a heavyweight isoplation plinth. Opinions now vary as to wheter the spike tip should be against the floor or the bottom of the speaker enclosure - this is something you may experiment with on your own system to see which gives the most favourable results. However on carpetted floors, with speakers which have a great height verses their footprint, then it is generally better to have the spikes orientated downwards through the carpet and underlay as this gives greater stability of the speakers, irrespective of vibration damping. On concrete and solid wood floors (not laminate flooring) there is little difference and the choise essentailly comes down to which surface you least wish to be marked by the spikes - this reason generally dictates the spike pointing into the base of the speaker.