The end of the (upgrade) road?

[CageyH]

I have just added a 375 x 250 x 2mm sheet of Silent Coat to my Big Bottle 3 phono stage, coating exposed areas of the internal case, so front panel, sides, lid, base and rear panel. Some panels have had more Silent Coat applied than others. I am really not expecting to hear a difference.

Tomorrow I will attack the CD player based on the instruction on the Lampizator website. If I am feeling strong, I will,do the amplifier as well, but that is mainly going to be the upper panel, which will probably take an entire sheet quite happily. Maybe I should have bought a few more….

[Jimbo]

I have just added a 375 x 250 x 2mm sheet of Silent Coat to my Big Bottle 3 phono stage, coating exposed areas of the internal case, so front panel, sides, lid, base and rear panel. Some panels have had more Silent Coat applied than others. I am really not expecting to hear a difference.

Tomorrow I will attack the CD player based on the instruction on the Lampizator website. If I am feeling strong, I will,do the amplifier as well, but that is mainly going to be the upper panel, which will probably take an entire sheet quite happily. Maybe I should have bought a few more….

You may end up taking some off as I found weirdly you can go too far! Will be interesting what you make of it Kev. It might be best to listen to your system a piece at a time rather than Silent Coat everything and then you will know wants contributing the biggest effect. Just a thought....

[CageyH]

Surely damping the case is a good thing? It will cut down on vibrations, that could affect the delicate valves?
There is very little damping near the PCB.

[Jimbo]

Surely damping the case is a good thing? It will cut down on vibrations, that could affect the delicate valves?
There is very little damping near the PCB.

Yes of course damping the BB3 with valves in it should make a noticeable difference but I found if you completely coated the case it could dampen things down a bit too much. But personal listening experience is what matters.

I was just suggesting to try listening to your system after coating one piece of kit at a time so you can attribute differences or not?

[CageyH]

Ah, understood. I have not completely covered the case, in fact there is not a single panel that has been covered 100%.

The plan for the CD player is to put a patch on the top part of the case. This is quite flimsy, and a little on the mechanism.
The 686 has a flimsy lid. The rest is pretty solid, and access is not great to the rest of it. I certainly don’t want to put any on the heat sinks.

[Jimbo]

Ah, understood. I have not completely covered the case, in fact there is not a single panel that has been covered 100%.

The plan for the CD player is to put a patch on the top part of the case. This is quite flimsy, and a little on the mechanism.
The 686 has a flimsy lid. The rest is pretty solid, and access is not great to the rest of it. I certainly don’t want to put any on the heat sinks.

I think your biggest bangs for bucks may come from the BB3 then maybe CDP. Even DACs can benefit as those clocks don't like vibration!

With Solid state gear (686) I think it is the caps that benefit from anti vibration. Some manufacturers are building amplifiers with panel structures that are anti vibration including Teac who do a lot on their CDT to stop vibration round the drawer mechanism.

[Jimbo]

If you take a scroll down this article you can read about capacitors and vibration.


https://eepower.com/technical-articl...r-technology/#

[CageyH]

[Gazjam]

Damping capacitors is another tweak that works, I did several before and after comparisons modding different pieces of kit, all improved the sound.

Heat Sinks?
Dont be too fast to dismiss damping them Kev, you obviously dont want to stop them functioning put a small piece on top can alter its resonant frequency, which can made a change to the sound.
Worked to good effect in my Oppo and Audiolab players.

Yes,
Its a bit of a rabbit hole, and sorta easy to dismiss, but vibration is worth making the effort to mitigate.
Just depends how far you want to take it I guess?

In my opinion, its worth doing a deep-dive on this stuff, it really works.

To James’ point about OVERdampening:
Yes, you can do that, but not for the obvious reason?

Once top level vibrations are damped, going further its about changing the resonant frequency (vibration) and that can interact with something else giving a less preferred effect.
Think of applying a damping sheet to the underside of a turntable plinth…. Would change SOMETHING in the sound, right?
Would you prefer it though?

Apply the Tweak, listen and compare, keep if you like it.
Job done. Move on to the next one.

[CageyH]

Job is done.
I actually had 4 sheets, so the BB3, CD player and 686 have been done.
Having checked the specs of the silent coat, it seems safe enough to use on the 686 heatsinks, so a strip was fitted on both.
The lid and base have been done, as were the front panel, and a few small bits fitted on the rear panel, as there was not much room here.

I have turned the system on, and a) it still work, b) it still sounds good.
Was it with it? Not at the listening levels I use when the family is home, as there is very little sound pressure to cause vibrations.
When they go out, I will wind the wick up a bit.