OK, so microphonics could possibly impact solid state components!
Doesn’t mean I’m not crazy, though…
Yes. I’ll rephrase that for you even more extreme : it’s not ‘possibly’. It is an absolute, 100 percent certainly.
But let’s not forget about the scale of the problem, and more importantly about the amount by which such a solution can actually resolve it ;-).
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A simple empirical report courtesy of my ears. Vibration control pieces under my electronics (Antipodes server, Aesthetix amp, dCS Rossini DAC) have made a clear and very nice improvement in sound quality, both in A/B/A testing and just the increased pleasure in listening. Now WHICH products is another question. Hence the testing.
Jim Heckman
This thread has broadened out somewhat beyond the original question, regarding the impact of ‘micro vibrations’ on solid state electronics. One would think that manufacturers of serious active speakers (not the cheap stuff aimed at consumers) would have the answer to this, as their internal electronics have to endure speaker level SPLs all the time.
As these products do not sound terrible and tend to be praised for their performance over their non active versions (ATC for example make both types of each model) we can conclude that it is straightforward to design in such resistance to vibrations. I expect that sensible choice of, for example capacitor types coupled with physical measures to prevent component movement are all that is needed.
If your expensive ‘high end highly resolving etc’ piece of kit benefits from the addition of aftermarket rubber bungs placed underneath it, you can draw your own conclusions as to where your money went. And why didn’t they build the rubber bungs into the case design while they were building the thing?
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Truth!
You could always move to japan to live in a 4th gen anti seismic building to get the best result!
Thanks @Marco_de_Jonge for this excellent non voodoo explanation!
I will happily continue to listen without dampeners.
Dampeners may come into play once I have fully taken care of room acoustics treatment, moved from a Rossini to a Vivialdi Stack, upgraded my speakers, refurbished my inner ear hardware and a few more.
That was a great post… thanks for taking the time to share.