Somewhat hate to post this but just upgraded to a Quadraspire SVT. I've had all sort of devices, Sorbothane, Stillpoints, spikes, the list goes on. I have seen no difference at ALL from all of these things. I finally got a difference from the Quadraspire. A big difference. I do wonder if you need to get your system and rack to a really high end before you start tweaking. Thoughts appreciated.
The minimum required before isolation
- Thread starter Tim F
- Start date
Rob998
Scimmia Nordoccidentale
Expenditure bias.
The reason I asked what was on the shelf:
https://www.audio-forums.com/articles/microphonic-effects-on-solid-state-circuits.17/
https://www.audio-forums.com/articles/microphonic-effects-on-solid-state-circuits.17/
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
I think that supports, cabling and mains affect certain aspects of hifi reproduction, so if your system doesn't have its strengths in those areas, you'll not experience many meaningful benefits. Cabling and mains appear, to me, to affect the amount of energy the system can create. But better cables will also help keep that energy coherent, ie all the right notes, in the right order (to paraphrase Eric Morecambe).
More energy out can then create problems if there is any sort of microphony, so a bigger feedback loop. That's where the supports come into their own.
So if your system isn't particularly good at getting musical energy off the medium and into the room, supports won't do overmuch to help. And if your system gets the energy out, but in a muddled or less coherent fashion, then supports won't fix it (though they may help somewhat).
There are high end products which don't do the 'energy thing' as well as lower end ones, and (shock, horror) there are high end products, including cables, that don't help the coherence thing overmuch.
In short, I don't think it's 'high-end' vs 'low-end' that matters, but rather, energy and coherence.
I was getting a lot of bass boom, which has now gone. This was a very serious problem for me as I was going to go for room correction etc. to fix it but now I don't think I need to.
I have mainly valve kit, both digital streaming / Dac, and a vinyl set up.
From the advice I've read (but have not tried) on suspended floors you shouldn't look to couple the speakers via spikes as it just transmits the energy into the floor. Look to decouple using devices like Townshend make.
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
This is very much my experience. Bass boom isn’t all about room modes, it would appear that some of it is a feedback loop of some sort.
The other thing I notice is that some systems introduce a sort of extra degree of reverb- it seems to be an element of vagueness in the timing of the signal which I tend to perceive as reverberation. You only notice it when it is removed or reduced, because most music has a degree of reverb inherent anyway.
Why don't you have isolation under cables?
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
I find that spaciousness is illusory though, and the gains in timing and overall coherence are significant. Tighter, more tuneful bass, usually, and generally more tuneful throughout as the pitch information isn’t muddled quite so much. Not a trade off in my experience so much as a win-win.
JimmyB
pfm Member
...and his take on a blind listening test for cables is awesome.....proves that you need to be hyper careful what your cable is made of!
Townshend is way beyond my budget unfortunately. It is when you go for a more price friendly option that things get confusing. A plethora of pruducts, with numerous manufacturers making the same claims using variuos materials. There has to be a lot of snake oil in there, but sorting out the wheat from the chaff is somewhat of an insurmountable task, particularly when one is not in a position to try before you buy, as is the case with me.