advertisement


Best way to isolate glass shelves.

Further to my earlier post about a bespoke audio rack with advanced isolation based on the NAIM FRAIM i.e:
- tempered glass shelves with ball bearings decouplers and
- Shelves separated via cup-and-cone interface ...
Pics to follow
 
Last edited:
Just wouldn’t use glass in the first place tbh. Be interested to hear if the cup & ball approach works well with some decent board instead
 
If you are going to use solid state components then isolation will not be of any benefit, loaded sorbathane will isolate, to a degree over a specific range of frequencies Blue-tak ( glue) is a direct coupler.
Cup and ball as Boo has already stated don’t work in the vertical plane .
Keith
 
What kind of a problem is it? Aesthetic?
Or are you saying isolation isn't a factor for SS?
It is the problem the OP believes it to be. There isn't a technical problem to solve in the sense of introducing a modification that changes the physical sound coming out of the speakers unless the OPs hardware is heroically badly designed. However, there may be some that change the OPs perception of that sound if it hooks into what he sees as the problem. The suggestion of a cup and ball may or may not do this but the technicalities of what is or is not going on in terms of vibration propagating through the structure will be almost certainly irrelevant unless it hooks into something the OP sees as part of the problem.
 
I had a dealer subcontract a bespoke custom made glass shelves stand to incorporate the same principles as a NAIM FRAIM

The tempered glass shelves resonate differently depending which side you tap on. The audible differences are there and not subtle for proper placement purposes
Then the glass shelf rests on machined ball bearings wherein the rack has a shallow “ dimple” depression in each corner for the ball bearing to actually sit in

From the NAIM FRAIM commentary on the NAIM website: https://www.naimaudio.com/product/fraim-0

“... Our Fraim equipment support system has been carefully designed to provide the perfect platform for Naim Audio electronics to shine. Each level is carefully isolated from the next using a cup-and-cone interface. An additional, double-layer base platform provides further isolation from resonance. A toughened glass sub-shelf rests on minimal-contact ball decouplers, providing even more isolation...”

Done properly ..... highly recommended.
How do glass shelves resonate differently on each side?
 
Naim sell “ball retainers “ (probably not the proper naim) to stop the shelf sliding.
What are these like?
I have a glass 10mm toughened shelf to go under a 272.
Then if I put say 3 balls under that, resting on 3 nuts ?
How do I stop the 272 and glass sliding off the balls (kids around)?
Or the whole lot sliding off the rack?
 
Does it just wobble and vibrate on top of that?

Absolutely not. Difficult for a 14kg amp to wobble and fall anywhere...
They are under two decks, and a cd player as well.
They are fairly hard, not squishy. Solid, not filled.
About 2" diameter
Cut in half - 2 balls = 4 feet.
Cost ? £2 ish. Mine were in sainsbury's, a few years ago.

They were brightly coloured, I just sprayed them matt black.
 
Careful now, this is how the Mana Pandemic started, back in the angle iron age.

Gateway drug, or ground zero virion?
lightest
 
No doubt, any one of the faithful would opine that it hasn't been 'tuned' by an appropriately anointed apostle.

(rather than simply the reflection of window blinds)
 
When I had a Soundstyle ZZ rack or some such, I replaced the standard glass shelves with 10mm perspex shelves that I had made to order from an online supplier. This was after experimenting with isolating the glass and was indeed a better solution. Only cost about £20/shelf delivered. I sold the rack, but still use the shelves as equipment supports.
 
Haven’t noticed a difference when moving from using wood, MDF and glass over the last 2 years not a gnats nuts difference in SQ . Maybe I’m just lucky (deaf).
 
It is the problem the OP believes it to be. There isn't a technical problem to solve in the sense of introducing a modification that changes the physical sound coming out of the speakers unless the OPs hardware is heroically badly designed. However, there may be some that change the OPs perception of that sound if it hooks into what he sees as the problem. The suggestion of a cup and ball may or may not do this but the technicalities of what is or is not going on in terms of vibration propagating through the structure will be almost certainly irrelevant unless it hooks into something the OP sees as part of the problem.

I just tried a sheet of 10mm toughened glass, on three silicon nitride 5mm dia grade 5 spheres, sitting in 3 old steel nuts.

this is under a NAim 272 on an oak shelf of a Quadraspire Q4 EVO 4 shelf rack.

Paul Bley kicking ass tonight.

the notes and the bits between the notes.
 
Then if I put say 3 balls under that, resting on 3 nuts ?
How do I stop the 272 and glass sliding off the balls (kids around)?
Or the whole lot sliding off the rack?

The nuts have a hole in the centre which the ball bearings then sit in so they can't move. So that arrangement is perfectly safe for kids unless they actually rugby tackle the whole thing.

That isn't the Naim set up. They do have the ball bearings in a cup so they can move around, I think that's the point of how they work. Give that a hard enough sideways knock and it will all fall apart.
 
Just to throw a spanner in the works, would it. Be possible to isolate the equipment from the shelf rather than the shelf from the rack?

I have wondered the same thing. There are sorbothane hemispheres available in a range of sizes. I wonder how necessary these isolation racks would be if the various boxes, amplifiers, preamplifiers etc., were fitted with these rather than the customary feet.
 


advertisement


Back
Top