Addressing the issue of microphony

[John]

Clive seems a bit of a extreme option and likely impossible for most of us to achieve

[jandl100]

I run the air pump for my arm in the next room, it's just the other side of a single brick wall. If I did the same with my TT and line-level electronics I could do this with the cables I already have.

Clive - I deduce from your posting that you understandably run your potentially noisy air pump from an adjacent room. But have you actually tried moving the rest of the equipment (barring speakers, presumably!) into the next room, or are you just havin' a bit o' fun and taking the subject to it's obvious extreme and saying that;s the 'minimum' that needs to be done?!

[Clive]

Clive seems a bit of a extreme option and likely impossible for most of us to achieve

John, I agree it's an extreme option. Actually it's one that would be relatively easy for me to do but the inconvenience would be huge in terms of playing records.

I was only suggesting the idea for those who are determined to extract the very maximum out of their system. Unless such extreme measures are taken you won't get the max. Me? I'm happy to live with the compromise and convenience of my system being in my listening room.

[Clive]

Clive - I deduce from your posting that you understandably run your potentially noisy air pump from an adjacent room. But have you actually tried moving the rest of the equipment (barring speakers, presumably!) into the next room, or are you just havin' a bit o' fun and taking the subject to it's obvious extreme and saying that;s the 'minimum' that needs to be done?!

Yes I'm having a bit of fun but there is a serious point too. By saying it's the "minimum" what I mean is that anyone who really is pushing to get the max out of their system then this should bring significant benefits. Have I tried this? Partially, I have put the TT in the next room. The improvement was not subtle.

BTW my listening room is in my cellar so I have quite a lot of flexibility.

[Steve Toy]

Moving kit to another will deal (in part) with one obvious source of vibration but only one - that from the speakers. You will have some cabling headaches though given the lengths involved. The end result might not be any better if it isn't actually worse.

[Clive]

Moving kit to another will deal (in part) with one obvious source of vibration but only one - that from the speakers. You will have some cabling headaches though given the lengths involved. The end result might not be any better if it isn't actually worse.

This is why I tried it with my TT, the benefit is probably the greatest here. Especially with the wick turned up.

It may cause cable problems for some or even many. I just have a wall one brick deep to feed my cables through so it would be no trouble at all in that respect.

[Marco]

I was only suggesting the idea for those who are determined to extract the very maximum out of their system. Unless such extreme measures are taken you won't get the max. Me? I'm happy to live with the compromise and convenience of my system being in my listening room.

Me too! There's a balance to be had between extracting the very maximum from a system and practicality, and also there's a big difference between dressing a few cables at the back of your rack, keeping them from touching walls, and carting turntables around the joint!

I will always do everything I can to optimise the set-up of my system but it must always fall within the boundaries of what I consider as practical. This is just common sense, really.

Marco.

[Clive]

I will always do everything I can to optimise the set-up of my system but it must always fall within the boundaries of what I consider as practical. This is just common sense, really.

Marco.

If I'm being pedantic (which I am), the common sense part applies to working out what extreme it's viable for you to go to. There are situations where preventing having your system not exposed to airborne vibrations is quite a reasonable thing to do. There are people who have built extensions to their house that is purely for a listening room. Having a small closet type of room, just as it often that case with commercial AV rooms, would be a smart thing to do.

[Marco]

There are situations where preventing having your system not exposed to airborne vibrations is quite a reasonable thing to do.

Absolutely, Clive. I'd love to have my whole system in a different room from the speakers (probably in adjacent rooms), for reasons we've been discussing, but until I move to a house where I can accommodate such notions it'll have to wait

Marco.

[NRG]

Our sitting room / listening room backs on to our dining room through some double doors. My system resides in the dining room and the 'speakers reside in the sitting room. The 'speaker cables are 5m long (which is too much but they are fixed length) and I needed to cut a channel in the concrete floor under the doors where the two rooms meet and install a tread plate.

It was worth it the sound improved as a consequence...however, even in a semi isolated position I find what the kit sits on still influences the sound but to a lesser degree than before. So I'm a firm believer in the importance of isolation.