Taken in Isolation.....

[lindsayt]

The simplest and cheapest form of isolation is to put your speakers in a different room to the rest of your system. All you need is sufficiently long speaker cables.

If you don't want the inconvenience of that, if you're really serious about isolation you can get one of those active isolation tables that they use for electron microscopes. There are 2 main types: pneumatic and electronic. The electronic ones would be be better for domestic use. The pneumatic ones are more plentiful on the 2nd hand market.

Turntables can be quite sensitive to what they're placed on. My solid state amps are happy anywhere, including plonked on the carpet.

 

[CJSF]

The simplest and cheapest form of isolation is to put your speakers in a different room to the rest of your system. All you need is sufficiently long speaker cables.

Start drilling holes through the adjoining wall and see what the 'Mrs' has to say . . . !!! :wall:

 

[CJSF]

I know certain forms of isolation are a good thing, but . . . 'Who is kidding who' . . . ? By the way the sound will be 'different' . . . :?

CJSF

I handle the dubious honour of "eccentric crackpot" with aplomb.....but this could just be pushing it! 8)

. . . 'pushing it'? . . . I'd recon the men in white coats will be knocking at your door!

 

[CnoEvil]

I know certain forms of isolation are a good thing, but . . . 'Who is kidding who' . . . ? By the way the sound will be 'different' . . . :?

CJSF

I handle the dubious honour of "eccentric crackpot" with aplomb.....but this could just be pushing it! 8)

. . . 'pushing it'? . . . I'd recon the men in white coats will be knocking at your door!

The nice nurse kindly removed the straight-jacket just long enough for me to type this. :twisted:

 

[MajorFubar]

I'll be first to put my hand up and admit that other than TTs (obviously) I thought all this specialist support lark had a definite snake-oil smell about it.

That's until about a year ago when I transferred my HiFi from a glass-shelf HiFi cabinet into my current solid oak AV cabinet. The result is a sound which is smoother, has a deeper, better-defined bass and a deeper and wider soundstage. At first I thought I was probably imagining it, then one day I read on the Interweb that glass shelves can make HiFi components sound brittle and sharp while hardwood supports give a smoother sound.

I can't explain it: I don't try. I just accept that it works, in the same way that I accept that there are many people out there who swear that two cables which physics says should sound the same do not.

 

[chebby]

...then one day I read on the Interweb that glass shelves can make HiFi components sound brittle and sharp...

It's interesting that these audio qualities are exactly the same as the physical properties of the material.

I would have been a bit more suspicious if you had described the sound of the wooden support as 'grainy and organic'

(Would a steel support sound 'cold' compared to a wooden one?)

Is it not just possible that feelings for the material itself can influence the mind about the character of the sound?

 

[CnoEvil]

...then one day I read on the Interweb that glass shelves can make HiFi components sound brittle and sharp...

It's interesting that these audio qualities are exactly the same as the physical properties of the material.

I would have been a bit more suspicious if you had described the sound of the wooden support as 'grainy and organic'

(Would a steel support sound 'cold' compared to a wooden one?)

Is it not just possible that feelings for the material itself can influence the mind about the character of the sound?

Lavardin have a view on this: "What is the best rack to put the amplifier" (FAQ - 11th down) -
http://www.lavardin.com/lavardin-faqE.html

 

[nopiano]

It's interesting that these audio qualities are exactly the same as the physical properties of the material.

Is it not just possible that feelings for the material itself can influence the mind about the character of the sound?

That's a good point, chebby. For example, when metal tweeters were first launched, the over-riding impression was one of smoothness. The Celestion SL6 that popularised that tweeter was shelved down in the treble, and the later SL600, though flatter, was still smooth and on the mellow side of neutral. (There was a resonance that was notched out by the crossover at around 20kHz) Thay were ideal for their day, arriving around the same time as early CD players, which were often a bit glassy and hard.

Now, however, people who claim a dislike for metal domes universally say that are hard or bright or whatever. Never smooth, subtle or detailed. Wood is often perceived as natural or organic (which I suppose, literally, it is!). Let's face it, this hifi stuff is probably all a figment of our imaginations!

 

[dannycanham]

It is certainly the case that isolation is important when it comes to vinyl and valves.

It is certainly the case the flooring affects speakers.

Certain metal domes were also tamable by certain valves, which was undoubtably a more of a common occurance amongst amplifiers years ago.

There is certainly a case where what we visualise and imagine affects our opinion of what we hear.

One bad/good experience certainly tarnishes/improves another when we see simalarities in the equipment. (in my case metal domes = harsh after a number of ear rapes by metal domes)

So what amongst all this tangled mess is biasing our opinion for the uncertainties?

 

[Anonymous]

I have had a similar experience to MajorFubar and similar attitude. I bought a couple of granite chpping boards to put underneath the floorstanders, and do be honest I couldnt hear any difference. As the boards were cheap, I thought I would buy some more to put underneath the CD player and amps, they sit on a Partington Minim AV rack which is metal frame with glass shelves. The difference in sound was clearly noticable much to my surprise - note I said difference not improvement The bass is much stronger and fuller, I now get a certain room modes excited which my system has never done before. The overall sounds appears to have slightly less attack in the mid and treble but this may be due to having stronger base and therefore an overall more "balanced" sound.