View Full Version : Glass coasters and Isonone feet
Wakefield Turntables
30-04-2011, 18:54
I have heard that placing the isonone feet on glass coasters is supposed to improve things but has anyone actually tried this. I notice over on Dave Cawley website he sells the isonone feet with a small glass termination platform. I tried my own deck on sorobothane and found that it sucked the life out of the music.
Yes but what does the glass then rest on?
Thing Fish
30-04-2011, 19:28
And what type of glass is it?
It's special triple-annealed audiophile glass infused with pixie dust and it sits on a fluffy cushion of fairy breath... :piano:
Thing Fish
30-04-2011, 23:45
It's special triple-annealed audiophile glass infused with pixie dust and it sits on a fluffy cushion of fairy breath... :piano:
That'll be the £599 glass then...:lol:
just found 4 glass coasters so will report back soon, :eyebrows:...yesterday it was glass, the day before that hifi for sale advise a granite butchers block to put your speakers on, what next I wonder???
chris@panteg
01-05-2011, 15:49
just found 4 glass coasters so will report back soon, :eyebrows:...yesterday it was glass, the day before that hifi for sale advise a granite butchers block to put your speakers on, what next I wonder???
Kipper's have excellent damping properties , though a little smelly after a while , shame really :eyebrows:
Spectral Morn
01-05-2011, 16:14
It is a well propagated (fact) suggestion that these isolation feet sound/work best on glass and the coasters are for those who don't have glass shelves. I have not explored this enough yet to really say what I think. The glass is referred to as being 'instrument glass' whatever that means.
Regards D S D L
I have a set of the glass coasters made by Isonoe for the feet. I have tried them a couple of times and each time I have removed them again as being detrimental to the sound. I understand the theory and the fact that my Isonoes should prefer to rest their ball bearings on glass rather than the wood of my Solid-Tech system rack, but the experience says otherwise.
I understand the theory...
What exactly is the theory (in this case)?
chris@panteg
01-05-2011, 17:13
This from the Isonoe site !
Stainless steel is a very hard compound, and the further the ball bearings penetrate into the surface underneath them, the less effective their ability to block the transfer of the vibration into the outer body will be. For this reason we recommend the hardest possible surface you can find - instrument glass is optimum, some dense hard woods or ceramic materials can also be used. Isonoe sell cost-effective accessories designed to seat the isolators effectively:
A pack of 4 discs made from instrument glass - these glass discs can be seated either upon a conventional table or stand, or they fit inside our Sorbothane "coasters":
Sorbothane "Coasters" - used in this application the turntable's base will be extremely well secured. These coasters can be used in their own right as a vibration-damping accessory for conventional turntables, or they can be implemented to make an ideal base for the Isonoe Isolation System providing another level of isolation.
The same as spikes or points into a receptacle, to terminate a large weight via a tiny surface area giving massive stability. However, the Isonoes are already complex devices using sorbothane in a manner reminiscent to SME turntables and it seems to me that they are incompatible with point termination. To my ears, at least.
chris@panteg
01-05-2011, 17:22
The same as spikes or points into a receptacle, to terminate a large weight via a tiny surface area giving massive stability. However, the Isonoes are already complex devices using sorbothane in a manner reminiscent to SME turntables and it seems to me that they are incompatible with point termination. To my ears, at least.
Martin
Out of interest , do you have the sorbathane boots ? I ask as the glass disc's fit inside these .
http://www.isonoe.com/galnew2.jpg
Wakefield Turntables
01-05-2011, 18:05
As always thanks, for both the silly answers :lol: and the more serious ones :cool:
No Chris, I don't have the boots.
chris@panteg
01-05-2011, 18:50
No Chris, I don't have the boots.
I just wondered if this is how to best use the glass coaster's , though it smack's of snake oil .
I don't really know, but I find the Isonoes on their own give superb isolation so I don't feel the need for more of the bits.
chris@panteg
01-05-2011, 19:00
I don't really know, but I find the Isonoes on their own give superb isolation so I don't feel the need for more of the bits.
Quite right:)
I'm in no hurry to change mine either , they do the job .
flapland
01-05-2011, 19:05
If you need dense sound absorbing pads I recommend four packs of block mozzarella still in there vacuum pack seal, you know the rubbery type thats nothing like the real thing.
The same as spikes or points into a receptacle, to terminate a large weight via a tiny surface area giving massive stability. However, the Isonoes are already complex devices using sorbothane in a manner reminiscent to SME turntables and it seems to me that they are incompatible with point termination. To my ears, at least.
Hmm....but surely the feet of the Isonoe feet make the same surface area contact irrespective of whether they sit on glass, acrylic or MDF? What I can see changing is the impedance match between the Isonoe feet and the material they rest on - and then what that material rests on.
The Isonoes sit on three small ball bearings so the contact points when on glass or wood are different.
Are you Assuming that the feet are bedding into the wood? I would say that given the relatively low mass supported and that the load is spread over a number of points, that the contact area difference between MDF (I didn't mention 'wood') and glass (note, I also mentioned acrylic) is negligible.
So, in short, I disagree :).
Fair enough. However, they still sound different when placed on glass compared with directly on the wooden shelf of my Solid Tech system rack (which already floats on springs).
Got mine today, complete together with the Isonoe glass coasters. Looking good!
Got mine today, complete together with the Isonoe glass coasters. Looking good!
Well, how do they sound?:popcorn::)
Wakefield Turntables
30-10-2011, 10:19
Blimey I can only just remember starting this thread! I've recently (last week) bought two packs of glass coasters and my techie is sitting on 2 layers of them. I have no idea if this will impact on the sonics. First impressions seems to be that the soundstage has changed. I'm not sure if this is purely psychoacoustic or not :steam: I also recently changed my speaker placement which is now giving me a wider soundstage at the expense of intimacy of soundstage, the jury is still out on that one ;) The soundstage does appear a little more detailed. I have been pleased to hear things that I previoulsy didnt hear on the well known records. I havent lost any speed or attack, bass still seems to impact like a sledgehammer, vocals appear to have changed slightly in that they appear a little less clear and quieter:scratch: I'll be leaving the coasters in for another few weeks until I get my new power supply. I note that several other guys were reporting back but never did I'd like to hear any stories. As for me the jury is still out............................
Keep us informed, guys. I may break out my coasters and give them another try despite not having had success with them in the past. However, many small details have changed since then.
Mighty Ant
30-10-2011, 11:36
Oh dear. Hi-Fi's like the medical profession, ideas change by the minute. Ask one medic their advice and his/her advice will be totally different to advice given a few minutes before by another.
Hi-Fi and music appreciation are deeply personal, compounded by everyone having different systems in different rooms. How could there ever be 'universal advice'?
Wakefield Turntables
30-10-2011, 16:57
Hi-Fi and music appreciation are deeply personal, compounded by everyone having different systems in different rooms. How could there ever be 'universal advice'?
Agreed, life would be a very boring experience if everything was universally uniform :(
I've thought of using the coasters but I like the fact the boots stop the deck sliding of my shelf
I've discovered a neat second usage for these coaster thingies. It turns out that they also make excellent supports for cups and mugs too. Not only that but they stop hot mugs from marking your posh wood furniture :stalks: However, I'm not noticing a significant improvement to the taste of my PG Tips, will the coasters need to burn in for a bit? :cool:
Wakefield Turntables
31-10-2011, 07:57
I've discovered a neat second usage for these coaster thingies. It turns out that they also make excellent supports for cups and mugs too. Not only that but they stop hot mugs from marking your posh wood furniture :stalks: However, I'm not noticing a significant improvement to the taste of my PG Tips, will the coasters need to burn in for a bit? :cool:
:D I've heard a furnace can be a jolly good device to burn the coasters in before usage. :lol:
The Grand Wazoo
31-10-2011, 08:00
Don't mess about with PG Tips, burn them in with a triple espresso.
I just fitted the Isonoe feet and noticed 2 things moving from the sarbothane feet on first impressions:
1. The sound stage seems to float free and doesn't seem to interact as much with the surrounding furniture (I have a terrible room), i.e. less reflections and echos...? This makes me think that the deck must be better isolated from it's surroundings.
2. The deck is much more sensitive to footfalls and I can clearly hear the cartridge mistrack on almost every footstep on my suspended wooden floor, which was never an issue with the sarbothane feet, which makes me think that the deck is not better isolated.
:scratch:
PS. I don't think the feet are screwed in too tightly, only about finger tight and there is still some play on the suspension when I wiggle the deck.
That's odd, the one thing I find above all else is the incredible isolation that Isonoes afford. There is no feedback or distortion at any level in my system. Perhaps you have a nasty resonance or interaction between your suspended floor and the deck?
Wakefield Turntables
02-11-2011, 20:00
I just fitted the Isonoe feet and noticed 2 things moving from the sarbothane feet on first impressions:
1. The sound stage seems to float free and doesn't seem to interact as much with the surrounding furniture (I have a terrible room), i.e. less reflections and echos...? This makes me think that the deck must be better isolated from it's surroundings.
2. The deck is much more sensitive to footfalls and I can clearly hear the cartridge mistrack on almost every footstep on my suspended wooden floor, which was never an issue with the sarbothane feet, which makes me think that the deck is not better isolated.
:scratch:
PS. I don't think the feet are screwed in too tightly, only about finger tight and there is still some play on the suspension when I wiggle the deck.
Try sorbothane under the Isones but be prepared for the lifeforce to be sucked out of your music. Secondly, screw the feet in to the max. Thirdly I also noticed that soundstage markedly improved, and "floated".
Why not do a scooby snack, isonoe feet, glass then sorbothane or maybe isonoe, sorbothane then glass, :)
Personally having tried about 8 different combinations I now have it right IMO, the deck sitting on my clearlight audio RDC rack with my own feet (spare sets available to try for anyone although I have 3 sets out currently so only 1 set left) and it was sounding better than it ever has until I took it all to bits to take to Whittlebury and now it's at Nick's being tampered with again!
I could never fathom out how tight to screw the Isonoes down and they are not black so aesthetically on a 1210 they looked pants.
Wakefield Turntables
02-11-2011, 23:09
Isones on there own sitting on a simple hi fi rack, it works a treat! Sorbothane and glass coasters have now been binned. I'm not pissing around any more, I'm happy with what i have . Experiment ended. :ner:
I did a few more experiments last night, and I think the deck is sufficiently isolated by the isonoe feet. They seem to do a pretty good job, even when I wiggle the deck or knock (quite hard) on the glass shelf the deck is sat on. What I think happened is that the suspended (springy) wooden floor is being shown up for the first time by the Isonoe, which were probably designed to absorb vibrations and not combat a trampoline effect. Somehow the more "spongy" attributes of the sarbothane feet were more forgiving and seemed to absorb the spring effect better, probably along with some of the musical detail..
I don't think adding a sarbothane layer between the deck, isonoes and shelf (in any combination or order) will make any sense or I may as well go back to where I started. I'll just have to learn to tip toe around like a ballerina!!
CableMaker1
11-11-2011, 16:39
The isonoes work well isolating the tt from its surroundings - preventing external vibration from entering through the feet. Try this simple experement - with the stock feet on the tt and tonearm on the outer groove, flick your finger on the feet as hard as tolerably possible. You should hear your finger thumping. The sound is traveling thru the feet into the tt thru to the tonearm. Try the same experement with the isonoes. No sound (from what I can detect) goes thru the isonoes. Money well spent in my opinion. I do not have any experience with the glass coasters preventing further isolation, but I would expect the black rubber boots to have an enhanced damping effect preventing any external vibration from entering into the isonoes.
prestonchipfryer
12-11-2011, 08:18
Recently I fitted the glass coasters with my Isonoe feet and sorbothane boots. Now there is the full Isonoe set: Isonoe feet, sorbothane boots and glass coasters. Have to say that the glass coasters have made a definite, but small improvement over just the boots and feet. Greater depth to recordings and a better stereo image with a bigger soundstage. My shelving is granite and all components, apart from t/t, are resting on cone feet, similar to RA but bought off the bay. These cone feet are used in threes under equipment.
John
Wakefield Turntables
12-11-2011, 14:36
WOW! When i tried the sorbothane + glass coaster route it killed the music. I have my techie sitting on Quadraspire racks, nothing fancy! Must admit not tried granite.
CableMaker1
12-11-2011, 15:13
Ok I have always wondered this -
Why do manufactures who sell spkes sell them in sets of triplicates instead of quads? I'd feel better with my equipment resign on a set of quad spikes.
prestonchipfryer
12-11-2011, 17:21
Ok I have always wondered this -
Why do manufactures who sell spkes sell them in sets of triplicates instead of quads? I'd feel better with my equipment resign on a set of quad spikes.
Three feet are usually considered to be easier to level than four feet, with less micro-rocking.
John :)
Wakefield Turntables
12-11-2011, 18:45
Three feet are usually considered to be easier to level than four feet, with less micro-rocking.
John :)
Indeed if you look at some of the hi-end equipment you'll see that they only have three legs (jake the peg leg anyone.....), plus it costs less and they can charge more...??
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