For those of us enjoying the never-ending power and interconnect debates, here’s another snake oil tweak to argue about: Does my perceived appreciation for Herbie’s rubber bumper items make sense? Do “solid state” electronics really change their performance values when impacted by “micro vibrations”?
Yes, no, maybe, can’t possibly be, deluded, transformative, rip off, bargain of all time, zebra.
Does that cover it?
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No!
Let’s get some actual revelatory experiences posted before the “scientist” villagers show up with torches to burn down their neighbors’ fantasies…
C’mon, lift that veil!
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usually doesn’t take more than a couple of posts 
back IT: although I do use, and swear by them all 
, many “sciaman’s thingies”… never ventured into anti-vibration stuff
oh… wait: I do have some Cardas mirtlewood cable lifters around I’m using to lift other stuff. but just because they’re nice and cheap 
I found that some damping material inside a tube preamp I’d built (many years ago) made a noticeable difference. But please note:
- This was a home made device that most likely had some flaws that more professional units avoid.
- Small signal tubes always have some vibration susceptibility, and I was using relatively inexpensive tubes in inexpensive tube sockets on a home etched circuit board that was mounted straight to a thin sheetmetal box.
So the bottom line for me was that under these perfect storm conditions, it was easily noticeable.
I think the answer is definitely not.
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I have tried some, can’t say they made much difference on hardware such as amp, streamer etc… Speaker isolation feet did though.
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I put Dr. Scholl’s gel inserts under my CD Transport. I could clearly hear a $5 difference in audio quality so I concluded I paid too much for too little benefit. I do not know if you’d get a similar bang-for-buck from the more traditional, and expensive, options.
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Well, there are many things – fighter jets, cars, etc. – that have sophisticated and sensitive electronics and also vibrate well more than audio gear.
My gut feeling is no, micro-vibrations should not affect solid state gear, but that said, it is not as ridiculous a question as some of the tweaks that have been discussed here.
I’m pretty sure vibrations effect turntables. But that’s not relevant to Roon!
I put an HRS M3X2 isolation base under my Nucleus, Etherregen and NAS. It was a good investment in improved sound quality.
No, I don’t know why other than generally understanding vibration=bad. Stability=good. No, I’m not going to debate it.
I have these same bases under my other components and have heard similar improvements.
I also found that stillpoints under the opticalmodule (connects the internet to my etherregen optically) and a stillpoint puck on top of it enhanced the audio quality of streaming.
Your mileage may vary.
I don’t need to argue, but yes they make notable differences in my setup.
A couple of years ago, the rage was Finite Elements, Stillpoints etc. You know, all of those with a ceramic ball to transfer a certain part of the vibrational frequency range.
Today it’s IsoAcoustics thats hot, so more of isolation through soft coupling instead.
I use NoVibra instead, for most of my equipment incl speakers. However, my turntable has got an HRS platform!
Townshend seismic jobbies under my speakers made a big difference to the bass, really tightened it up. Dunno why and not really bothered!
I understand that vibration is a problem for turntables and tube amplifiers.
The interaction between the floor and the speakers is definitely something to consider too. But I think this is more room interaction than anti vibration. I used to live in a 500 year old house, with a swinging wooden floor. My Apgogee Diva was no fun at all. When this beast stands on a concrete floor, the sound is great.
When I used to build tube amplifiers, I used to mount the circuit board with special rubber isolators. I had the impression, that gave me an advantage sonically.
With some devices like my Mark Levinson No 26 and No 26s I had the impression too, that anti vibration helps, but more because the housing is not too solid and clatters. In that case very soft feet were better.
I had other devices I could blindly identify if they stood on rock/plywood or glass.
The racks I use are all filled with sand. But I do not put doorstoppers onto devices.
So I am convinced, a solid rack is better, than some shaky shelfs. On the other side I always wonder, why do I have my gear in the same room as the speakers? If anti vibration is such an issue, why do I not have it outside of my listening room?
Mines bolted to the wall.
Well, it looks as though the objectivists must be sheltering-in-place, or something, because they are not taking the bait. Maybe they can accept that 1) speakers can be more effectively coupled to the room with 3rd party products 2) tubes are subject to vibration 3) turntables benefit from additional stability. All pretty easy to understand.
Here’s where I need to hear from the scientists: do any electronic components, like a capacitor for example which is supposed to deliver value “x”, change their performance when impacted by sound waves?
This sounds to me like the absolute “bits are bits” rejection that I’m having trouble with.
My own experiments with Herbie’s dots suggest that letting these cheap, rubber-like puds absorb vibration by converting it to heat, instead of impacting attached solid-state electronics like endpoints, gives me obviously tighter bass and better overall definition.
In any case, I enjoy the delusion.
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The Wikipedia article linked in the quote is pretty clear that microphonics do exist in electronic assemblies…
… but bits are bits until you try to turn them into something else, so I’d probably agree that microphonics have no impact in the digital domain.
Personally I’d be very surprised if anti-vibration products had any effect on the intended functionality of a computer; but that’s not to exclude the possibility that installing them hasn’t affected something else.
Objectivists are only concerned with the absurd claims that are made for the digital realm.
Analog parts of the chain are of a different nature.
Microphonics in tubes and the effectiveness of speaker isolation are well understood.
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Excellent point.
One thing that emerges about objectivists is how few of them know anything about anything. I suppose that is why they roam in packs. Usually circling the one amongst them that might actually have a clue! It also explains why they demand proof but are utterly incapable of presenting any real proof that supports their own suppositions!
A sarcastic post that is beneath your normal contributions.
By this I guess you mean that objectivists don;t know anything about the subjectivists’ personal impressions.
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