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Thread: Bright Star Isonodes / Coupling vs. Decoupling

  1. #1
    Join Date: Apr 2008

    Location: Warrington

    Posts: 3,451
    I'm Neil.

    Default Bright Star Isonodes / Coupling vs. Decoupling

    I've always been a fan of coupling strategies, which is why I use a Mana rack spiked straight into my suspended wooden floor, and floor spikes on my speakers, however, my neighbours sometimes complain about the bass, but point out that they can't hear any music, just the 'boom' when I'm playing electronica & bass heavy music, no doubt it's the floor singing along.

    So, I've picked up 8x Bright Star Isonodes to replace my speaker spikes. I hope this will stop the bass travelling through the floor into next door.

    Has anyone else experimented with coupling vs. decoupling? For me, coupling gives a more focussed and live sound, but can get the room going more. Sorbothane can dull the sound, but Isonodes aren't made out of sorbothane...
    Mana Acoustics Racks / Bright Star IsoNodes Decoupling >> Allo DigiOne Player >> Pedja Rogic's Audial Model S DAC + Pioneer PL-71 turntable / Vista Audio phono-1 mk II / Denon PCL-5 headshell / Reson Reca >> LFD DLS >> LFD PA2M (SE) >> Royd RR3s.

  2. #2
    Join Date: Apr 2008

    Location: Warrington

    Posts: 3,451
    I'm Neil.

    Default Bright Star Isonodes / Coupling vs. Decoupling

    They have massively reduced room interactions, so am indeed able to play the music louder. I can’t feel the bass though my feet anymore nor hearing boom upstairs. There is also more focus to the sound, a welcome addition considering that I only wanted to stop annoying the neighbours.
    Mana Acoustics Racks / Bright Star IsoNodes Decoupling >> Allo DigiOne Player >> Pedja Rogic's Audial Model S DAC + Pioneer PL-71 turntable / Vista Audio phono-1 mk II / Denon PCL-5 headshell / Reson Reca >> LFD DLS >> LFD PA2M (SE) >> Royd RR3s.

  3. #3
    Join Date: Aug 2013

    Location: London

    Posts: 142
    I'm Michael.

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    I've been toying with this very thing for a while now. I'm using a pair of Harbeth 30.1 on my old Sonus Faber adjustable stands and due to the position of the speakers (somewhere where they can be easily knocked off) I needed a way for the speakers to sit in a more secure manner on the stands. My old Sonus Fabers mounted to the stand with screws previously but that was not possible with the Harbeths.

    When I first got the 30.1's they sounded shut in, muddled and boomy. I'm running them in a small room and on a suspended wooden floor. I tried Acoustifeet pads at first, then upgraded to small Black Ravioli pads under the speakers which helped somewhat. I then added in Sound Damped Steel feet and Blue Horizon Spike Shoes under the stand spikes and this helped massively to reduce the bass driving the floor boards and cleaned up the muddiness of the presentation.
    I still found though that my speakers could get knocked easily by people coming in and out of the room so I looked for another solution.

    I ended up investing in some of these in the end and have been really pleased with how they work.

    http://www.isoacoustics.com/iso-puck/

    They have a flange cup design which creates a small amount of suction that couples on both sides (to both the speaker underside and to the top of the stand). They essentially try to decouple the speaker from it's environment.
    I can run use the speakers without any of the SDS or Blue Horizon feet now because they are not transmitting much energy into the stands, but rather into the Isopuck.
    I'm getting a very wide and deep detailed soundstage with tightly controlled bass (not boxy or boomy at all which is amazing considering I'm in a very small room). The speakers feel very free but I'm aware that most people tend to think coupling is the way to go with Harbeths.

    I only needed 3 per speaker due to weight.

    Anyway I'm not sure if they sound better this way then placing them on Something Solid Stands or a wooden stand on a normal floored room but in my situation they work really well and they're not outrageously expensive either.

    Good luck experimenting.
    Vinyl: Pro-Ject Xpression MkII + Speedbox MKII + Goldring 1042MM
    CD: Cambridge Audio 851C
    Network: Bluesound Node 2
    Amps: Musical Fidelity A5CR Pre / Power (JS Audio full upgrade)
    Speakers: Harbeth Monitor 30.1
    Cabling: Tellurium Q Black Diamond / Studio Connections Black Star / Graditech Kide Digital
    Mains: James Audio MK7 Power Conditioner, Studio Connections Black Star, Synergistic Research Orange fuses
    Support: Creaktiv Rack, Hi-Fi Racks 30.1, Black Ravioli

  4. #4
    Join Date: Apr 2008

    Location: Warrington

    Posts: 3,451
    I'm Neil.

    Default Bright Star Isonodes / Coupling vs. Decoupling

    Thanks for the post, interesting experiences similar to what I have been noticing.

    I do think it is important to match the decoupling with the weight expected - my speakers are 16.5kg each, with 4 large isonodes supporting up to 19kg. It means they act properly as a ‘seismic spring’ instead of being squashed too flat.
    Mana Acoustics Racks / Bright Star IsoNodes Decoupling >> Allo DigiOne Player >> Pedja Rogic's Audial Model S DAC + Pioneer PL-71 turntable / Vista Audio phono-1 mk II / Denon PCL-5 headshell / Reson Reca >> LFD DLS >> LFD PA2M (SE) >> Royd RR3s.

  5. #5
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

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    If speakers are not coupled to the floor rigidly either directly or via their stands (if used), then surely the bass driver will impart a rocking moment? This may be small but it will be there and depending on the inertia/mass of the speaker and isolation compliance, may be within the audio bandwidth, certainly the energy from the bass driver will be, but that could excite sympathetic resonances below this. Has anybody using isolating mounts carried out tests to check? A sweep tone could show what is happening.
    It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!

  6. #6
    Join Date: Apr 2008

    Location: Warrington

    Posts: 3,451
    I'm Neil.

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    Yep it's a real possibility Geoff. The way my speakers are set up is they are bolted into a back plate in my stands with them slightly above the top plate. I give my speakers a push and there's a damped wobble, but can't notice any movement when music is playing. The bass resonance frequency of my speakers is 30hz, but I am pretty sure that the weight-loaded isonodes + speaker bottom plate interface are way lower than that, 3hz or I think (when I push a corner it seems to rock back and forth less than twice & stops in under a second) - they actually move in a very similar way to how speakers do on Townshend seismic speaker bars. I should set up a seismograph app or a motion detector app on my phone to see what's happening.
    Mana Acoustics Racks / Bright Star IsoNodes Decoupling >> Allo DigiOne Player >> Pedja Rogic's Audial Model S DAC + Pioneer PL-71 turntable / Vista Audio phono-1 mk II / Denon PCL-5 headshell / Reson Reca >> LFD DLS >> LFD PA2M (SE) >> Royd RR3s.

  7. #7
    Join Date: Nov 2008

    Location: North Down /Northern Ireland/ UK

    Posts: 19,484
    I'm Neil.

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    Anthony Gallo changed the Reference 3.5 stand away from rigid spike/cone mounting to a soft squidgy one. It worked, they sound better than the original ones, and I tried substituting the old stand on to the new speaker, sounded better with the dedicated squidgy base.... go figure
    Regards Neil

  8. #8
    Join Date: Apr 2008

    Location: Warrington

    Posts: 3,451
    I'm Neil.

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    Interesting to the topic Geoff: https://youtu.be/dW9-r83IvhI?t=292 (at 4:52)
    Last edited by Yomanze; 30-10-2017 at 12:13.
    Mana Acoustics Racks / Bright Star IsoNodes Decoupling >> Allo DigiOne Player >> Pedja Rogic's Audial Model S DAC + Pioneer PL-71 turntable / Vista Audio phono-1 mk II / Denon PCL-5 headshell / Reson Reca >> LFD DLS >> LFD PA2M (SE) >> Royd RR3s.

  9. #9
    Join Date: Aug 2013

    Location: London

    Posts: 142
    I'm Michael.

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    Quote Originally Posted by walpurgis View Post
    If speakers are not coupled to the floor rigidly either directly or via their stands (if used), then surely the bass driver will impart a rocking moment? This may be small but it will be there and depending on the inertia/mass of the speaker and isolation compliance, may be within the audio bandwidth, certainly the energy from the bass driver will be, but that could excite sympathetic resonances below this. Has anybody using isolating mounts carried out tests to check? A sweep tone could show what is happening.
    From the Isopuck website which sort of explains their approach:

    The ISO-PUCK’s upper flange “suction cup” design adheres to the underside of the cabinet making the upper isolator live with the speaker, while the lower isolator adheres to the supporting surface. All the energy is managed within the core of the ISO-PUCK’s isolators which are carefully tuned to provide superior isolation and control while remaining on-axis.
    Vinyl: Pro-Ject Xpression MkII + Speedbox MKII + Goldring 1042MM
    CD: Cambridge Audio 851C
    Network: Bluesound Node 2
    Amps: Musical Fidelity A5CR Pre / Power (JS Audio full upgrade)
    Speakers: Harbeth Monitor 30.1
    Cabling: Tellurium Q Black Diamond / Studio Connections Black Star / Graditech Kide Digital
    Mains: James Audio MK7 Power Conditioner, Studio Connections Black Star, Synergistic Research Orange fuses
    Support: Creaktiv Rack, Hi-Fi Racks 30.1, Black Ravioli

  10. #10
    Join Date: Apr 2008

    Location: Warrington

    Posts: 3,451
    I'm Neil.

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    Well I have been very impressed with these, as discussed they have stopped room interaction / bass through the floor issues, so have ordered 2x more sets, 1x large set for going under my DAC or amp, and 1x small set for going under my preamp. I also have some black ravioli pads on my CD transport, which I think I might move down to my power amp. So, a little bit of tweaking ahead.
    Mana Acoustics Racks / Bright Star IsoNodes Decoupling >> Allo DigiOne Player >> Pedja Rogic's Audial Model S DAC + Pioneer PL-71 turntable / Vista Audio phono-1 mk II / Denon PCL-5 headshell / Reson Reca >> LFD DLS >> LFD PA2M (SE) >> Royd RR3s.

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