Damping blocks

[Rare Bird]

Hi Chris
Thats what i do 3/4'' piece of granite ontop, DAC sitting on the granite..

[MartinT]

Hi Chris

I do exactly the same with my Caiman only in my case it's a Hi-Fi News block made of steel laminate. It definitely seems to help the Caiman's sound quality, applying many times its own weight to stop the case from picking up vibes.

[The Grand Wazoo]

It definitely seems to help the Caiman's sound quality, applying many times its own weight to stop the case from picking up vibes.

Yes, the reason I first tried it with that Dac was purely to stop it walking about all over the place when I connected it with a stiff set of cables, but it soon became evident that there were other things going on.

[Snoopdog]

The same as Martin.

I use the Hi Fi News 'Fluxdumper' which is identical to the VPI 'Brick' which was manufactured in the States.

It was a gift from Monya (also a contributor to this and other forums) and sits on the top lid of my Conrad Johnson power amp, directly above the large transformer.

Does it make a difference to the sound? It's probably a comforter more than anything as I have never been over-impressed by the build quality of American amps and the Hi Fi News brick (which is very heavy and consists of laminated steel encased in black ash) definately damps the amps top plate which was prone to ringing and audibly reduces a slight hum.

I also have a Shakti 'Stone' Electromagnetic Stabilizer (to give it it's full title) and that sits over the CD drive on the top lid of the dCS Paganini transport.

To my ears, it adds to the clarity of the sound slightly.

If you want to 'see' how the Shakti stone improves the performance of an electronic component and reduces EMI/RFI with it's passive circuitry, then put one on top of a Sky/Virgin HD box and be prepared to be gob-smacked by the improvement in picture definition and colour rendition on a large plasma display!

[MartinT]

I use the Hi Fi News 'Fluxdumper'

That's the one, I couldn't remember the name. I have two of them.

If you want to 'see' how the Shakti stone improves the performance of an electronic component and reduces EMI/RFI with it's passive circuitry, then put one on top of a Sky/Virgin HD box and be prepared to be gob-smacked by the improvement in picture definition and colour rendition on a large plasma display!

I was interested until I saw the price

[Alex_UK]

My Caiman is in a granite "sandwich" which seemed to help at the time, but I've fiddled with that many things I'm not entirely sure!

[Spectral Morn]

When I played with a Beresford 7510 awhile ago I did notice a slight improvement in sound using an AMR isolation foot (not made anymore) placed on top with a cotton wool pad below (I did not want to mark it as it was not mine). What the DAC was sitting on seemed to be more critical than what was on top of it.


Regards D S D L

[WAD62]

Hi There,

I've not tried damping from above, however I've recently been expanding my system into other rooms in the house, via a combination of squeezebox receivers and some T-Amps.

It may be my imagination but |I think the sound has been tightened up a little by using some 1" granite slabs (I have a mate who's a builder and got them for a couple of pints), with 4 half squash balls as feet. I'm not sure whether it's the DAC that's benefiting, or the T-Amp, or both...or neither!!!

Anyway even if it's just psychosomatic they look quite nice too...

[YNWaN]

How entertaing this thread has proved to be = particularly the references to the Manchster show (which I remember well).

[monya]

I've recently tried black ravioli pads under the darTZeel power amp which sits on the bottom shelf of an old finite elemente rack.They seem to absorb some detail and dynamics as well as vibrations. Also tried some stillpoints but this brightened the sound too much with a more forward presentation. At the mo. I'm trying the ravioli spacers under the original feet - made of corian I think. One thing for sure, placing ANYTHING under the amp alters the tonal characteristics of the system. Could be that the original feet are the best in this instance.