Hmm.. it can be confusing. Even some manufacturers don't seem to know the difference either.
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Hmm.. it can be confusing. Even some manufacturers don't seem to know the difference either.
Hit your equipment with a sock covered hammer whilst hooked up to an oscilloscope.
Any changes?
:)
Good info Geoff in your first post.
Made some cast iron feet to put under my valve amplifier. There was an audible difference to the overall sound.
Microphonics on tubed equipment is a known source of distortion. However small it may be. Back in the 50’s the tubed electronics in the nose of jet planes were going haywire due to the vibrations of the plane. Readouts in the dash were jumping all over the place, so they invented dampened, spring loaded mounts for the electronics to stop this problem. And it worked. Hopefully your stereo isn’t jumping like a jet plane! But it does prove that it is possible for air born vibrations to affect your sensitive gear.
Russell
The great thing is that the DIY feet made more improvements than some expensive isolation cones that I had from a previous system. I read about the dampening properties of high carbon cast iron (which is the cheapest cast iron type). Cast iron plates are used to dampen vibrations in factory machinery and some high end stands and isolation device vendors are now using cast iron in their components.
Being a cheapskate I used some cast iron trolley wheels, removed the bolts and they became feet! The wood discs are furniture castors.
All up Aud$20 for a worthwhile experiment
A friend once designed a valve phonostage that was so microphonic you could hear people speaking in the same room! However, as with a lot of valve gear, it was the valves themselves that were microphonic, changing what it was sat on didn’t stop this and they were picking up vibrations directly from the air. Of course, most valve gear is nothing like as microphonic as this.
The more I get into this hobby the more I think that probably isn't true. I mean we can all tell a poor sounding system from a good one. But once the sound is good it starts being more a matter of personal choice and psychology. A lot of psychology. The one exception to that is imaging. Some good systems image absolutely unbelievably well, and some don't. But I think the reasons for that are verifiable and have nothing to do with whether or not you have isolated your laptop with stillpoints.
I go to the odd show and you see these systems with racks costing several grand, isolation platforms and feet under everything, cable lifters, the works. And the sound is poor. Then you go in another room where they have used none of that, just plonked it all on a table and hooked it up. And it sounds great.
I should have added valve components to my list of things that will benefit from isolation from vibration, bit of an oversight on my part there. When I had a valve phono stage I did use some Audio Technica sprung feet under it. Although I couldn't tell the difference and if I didn't already have the feet (part of a job-lot eBay purchase) I wouldn't have gone out and got any.
I know what you mean. You can tour a Hi-Fi show and hear lots of set-ups that sound accurate, detailed and revealing with no nasties. But occasionally you visit a stand or room where the music comes to life. The difference is very obvious and few displaying makers seem to achieve this. Amongst others, I recall experiencing this at displays by Avant Garde, Spendor, C R Developments and of course Tannoy (even though the TD series I heard years ago was a bit grim.