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Gaia I isolators or Puck76?


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My buddy did a shootout years ago with isolation. He spent 6 months with racks, platforms, lucks and plain Voo doo BS that’s on the market. All the voo doo was worse on everything. Changed the sound for sure, but not for the best. 
 

 The Gio pucks were a nice alternative for a lower cost. The HRS beat out Stillpoints and all the others for best pucks as they also separate for solid cases and folded metal ones. As for platforms, again he lowest prices HRS sounded better for HIM in his system than any of the others. He even used Shun Muk (spelling error). 
 

Most components that have addressed this issue seem to be much less effected by more isolation. My Brinkmann Nyquist ships with its own granite base and Richard uses special footers on his electronics. 
 

As Richard said, folks often just like to change the sound etc.  Part of the fun.  

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Thanks @Richard Vandersteenand @ctsooner.
The wood floor has the low frequency foot fall flexing, so I’ll get an accelerometer if I want to get serious.
In the mean time, I’ll do the cabinet as having stout wooden legs all teh way to the floor.

The Audible Illusions and the Jazz both do not seem like they have a heavy tube sound… (As far as I know).
And  I do not want to move in that direction.

 

12 hours ago, ctsooner said:

The HRS beat out Stillpoints

Pete - What is the acronym HRS?

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20 hours ago, ctsooner said:

Most components that have addressed this issue seem to be much less effected by more isolation. My Brinkmann Nyquist ships with its own granite base and Richard uses special footers on his electronics. 

It certainly is great for the home user when the manufacturer has done the R&D and execution for proper isolation of the equipment.  It’s probably also good for the manufacturer, since they then have a better chance for their products to sound as designed in a customer’s home.

That goes for both mechanical/acoustical isolation as well as electrical isolation.

My own opinion is that a big part of why so many of the measurements we read in reviews and specifications are not entirely helpful or fulfilling.  Most of the gear is tested with a measurement system that does a really good job of providing its own electrical isolation.  Audio Precision is masterful at this.  Their products have great common mode signal rejection at both the input and output, as well as through the common AC mains connection.  This minimizes the effect the test gear has on the device under test.

Unfortunately, in a real system those conditions don’t exist.  If all audio gear had great isolation at its own inputs and outputs, Audio Precision wouldn’t have to provide that in its test gear.  So, the component performance is not always what the test suggests - certainly not in every case.  Maybe not even in the majority of cases.  It’s a home experiment of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

On top of that, I have never seen a review measurement where the device being tested is subjected to acoustic energy like what comes out of loudspeakers.  Isn’t that an important test condition?

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The whole interaction bit is a big deal, at least to me.  Most audio gear is *not* designed or built to minimize these effects.  For one thing, it costs more for development and the required parts.  That extra cost can cause competitive issues for both manufacturers and dealers, I bet.

So, there's an urban legend kind of thing that says you don't need to be concerned about these details.  It goes back to that olde saw, "Any properly designed amplifier will sound..."  What whoever said that left out was what "properly designed" actually means.  He may not have known.

One of the really bad things about brick and mortar storefronts heading toward extinction is that really good and competent dealers do know what gear works well with other gear.  So, they can help put together a system that has a real likelihood of performing the way a customer wants.  Customers who just want to enjoy music to the utmost probably appreciate that.  But, a lot of audio enthusiasts aren't really after that.

Once upon a time, a lot of these issues were far fewer.  Those days are long gone.

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1 hour ago, GdnrBob said:

As a gardener, I have found most people to be either too cheap or too arrogant to accept any information-even if it benefits them.

Bob

You should have T-shirts or something like that made up with that on it.

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45 minutes ago, BKDad said:

You should have T-shirts or something like that made up with that on it.

Probably a better phase:

'People are Fools'

-Especially, considering that with a little cooperation, we could make living on the planet a pleasant experience for just about everyone.

Oh well, time to get a refill of the Aberfeldy...

B

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2 hours ago, GdnrBob said:

As a gardener, I have found most people to be either too cheap or too arrogant to accept any information-even if it benefits them.

Bob

 

Ok detective Monday, guilty as charged.
Felony arrogance, but being cheap… it’s not grand larceny, it is only a ‘miss meaner’.

 

On the gear table/rack… it also needs to pass a WAF test.
Otherwise there will be no good vibes.

Edited by Holmz
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  • 2 weeks later...

Whereas I knew sorbothane must be properly mass loaded or it doesn't sound good, so to do other footers. As mentioned in another thread, I went to Stillpoints footer for speakers, and the designer (RV) chimed in that the spikes provide apparant mass.

Im now understanding that almost all products on the market must be properly mass loaded. I currently have my HRS platform ON TOP of a Nad M22 power amp lol. It used to be under the Allnic tube pre, with stillpoints ultra 2's in between. But it sounded a bit "soft". Ultra clear (intelligibility), but deep background cues kind of faded away. Then I remembered I don't like sorbothane,  and I took out the HRS and put the pre directly on the sandbox platform with stillpoints in between.

Not sure it will stay there, but the tradeoff in this situation is akin soundwise to a bit more voltage providing a more solid sound at the expense of some cleanness to the sound. A bit dirtier sound, but a fuller background.

I think the key takeaway is to always use footers and the like with mass loading techniques, or the tradeoffs might not be worth it.

 

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