[brooklyn]

SRB is correct, the TJ Max web site wont show what they have in the store.. Another related store
is Home Goods.. You could probably even find bamboo cutting boards at Bed Bath and Beyond,
they do have an extensive website.

[johzel]

Once upon a time I went to our local granite supplier to purchase a pair of granite slabs to place under a pair of speakers.  After listening to what I wanted to do with the granite the supplier suggested I use soapstone instead because, in his words, it would "ping" less than granite.  FWIW.

[FullRangeMan]

Maybe why soapstone is a soft rock.

[Bob2]

I guess I don't understand this concern about ringing at least in this context.

I have a granite surface plate under my turntable. The amount of energy to make this ring/vibrate to the extent it creates a problem would possibly be quite high. Of course granite will ring when struck providing it is not dampened in any way. 

I have the granite sitting on sorbothane pads and the TT has sorbothane feet as well. The upper plinth is also sitting on sorbothane pads isolating it from the tonearm pylon. The granite weighs 96 lbs. Turntable another 55 lbs.. I'm using granite because of it's mass.

There are many opinions here brought about by experience. Is there more info about what material is better and factual data to back that up?

Are folks placing their gear on any surface using a bare metal chassis? No "rubber" feet?

At this point I am more concerned about my tonearm developing sympathetic vibrations.

[FullRangeMan]

A platform stone will no ring itself, the ring effect is a resonance in the return way from the plat to the amp or turntable etc, if turntable it will reach the needle and the entire capsule as a smear signal.

[Don_S]

SRB is correct, the TJ Max web site wont show what they have in the store.. Another related store
is Home Goods.. You could probably even find bamboo cutting boards at Bed Bath and Beyond,
they do have an extensive website.

Amazon has more cutting boards than you can shake a bamboo stick at. I have also seen nice ones at Big Lots.

[sunnydaze]

Amazon has more cutting boards than you can shake a bamboo stick at. I have also seen nice ones at Big Lots.

So does E-Bay.  Dawn's Depot is a reliable vendor -- good quality, many sizes, reasonable price, fast ship.   Not sure if she does bamboo, mainly traditional woods I believe.

TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Home Goods are all related, carry similar / same discounted mechandise.  Same parent company I believe.  Cheap bamboo cutting boards also at Burlington Coat Factory.

[Bob2]

A platform stone will no ring itself, the ring effect is a resonance in the return way from the plat to the amp or turntable etc, if turntable it will reach the needle and the entire capsule as a smear signal.

Thanks for that FRM.

If the granite is vibration isolated, sitting on isolation pads that also, in effect dampen it, certainly changing it's resonant frequency, how would that be a conduit to anything resting on it that is also vibration isolated from the granite or any other material with similar density?

I'm curious to know if an app for my phone would be able to measure the vibration in a relative way to find a best all around material.

Just trying to understand where the chain can be broken..

[Photon46]

Thanks for that FRM.

If the granite is vibration isolated, sitting on isolation pads that also, in effect dampen it, certainly changing it's resonant frequency, how would that be a conduit to anything resting on it that is also vibration isolated from the granite or any other material with similar density?

I'm curious to know if an app for my phone would be able to measure the vibration in a relative way to find a best all around material.

Just trying to understand where the chain can be broken..

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vibsensor-accelerometer-recorder-vibration-analysis/id932854520?mt=8

[FullRangeMan]

Thanks for that FRM.

If the granite is vibration isolated, sitting on isolation pads that also, in effect dampen it, certainly changing it's resonant frequency, how would that be a conduit to anything resting on it that is also vibration isolated from the granite or any other material with similar density?

I'm curious to know if an app for my phone would be able to measure the vibration in a relative way to find a best all around material.

Just trying to understand where the chain can be broken..

Similar density not good, Iam using sorbothane big feet why I had on hand, I suspect you would bond a wood slab as mentioned earlier to change the resonance.

[Bob2]

 Photon46, thanks for that link. I have loaded it on my Ipad. Will give it a test as soon as I find the time.

FRM, "Similar density not good, Iam using sorbothane big feet why I had on hand, I suspect you would bond a wood slab as mentioned earlier to change the resonance."
Thanks for your info. Much appreciated!

[GRACE RUBY]

Hi Guys,

Has anyone tried granite as speaker or equipment platforms? I have read that while they can enhance bass and impact (good), they can also thin out the mids and increase treble energy (bad). Could this be possible? I would be most grateful for feedback and perhaps a recommendation for an alternative.

Thanks!

Hi Andy

I sold odd shaped broken pieces of gorgeous red swirled Italian marble left over from a lobby build out, it was remarkable under some turn tables, concrete can look like hell, and often is only plumb on one side, depending on the leveling,,,,you can stain it in the most beautiful ways tho. Virginia (USA) used to have extremely good soap stone quarry's, there are some very nice smokey yellows
but speaker spikes vibrating may eventually wear down into it, if you have never seen it, it feels just like soap, but 6 times harder   

[GRACE RUBY]

I guess I don't understand this concern about ringing at least in this context.

Hi BOB hope things are good for you.

marble is crystal matrix, if it is a dense piece, it is almost glass, and that glass will have a sympathetic note corresponding to its crystal matrix, when your system produces a note similar to the Mable, it will go from stone dead to ringing.

Marble or concrete are for sure stabilizing agents, but at the end of the day its air born vibration picked up by the very light tone arm that does the damage, which no platform can stop.

the diamond plays a part too, in relation to how stable it is by how deep and fully it is reading the groove, I have seen $1000.oo cartridges with a junk shaped needle, that is just never stable, as such, I only use "Shabata" cut diamonds, they play the whole complete from top to bottom of the "V" groove, have the worlds lowest record wear, dig out the most sound and clean out dirt instead of grinding it in deeper, I also use a gold "doped" cantilever, this stops even more resonance, my arm tracks fine at just over 1/2 a gram, my beryllium cantilever core is one of the hardest metals know to man, this helps too, as no groove info is lost in route to magnets.

I have never had a record wear out-ever.

Vibration can be used for good too, years ago I sold Grado's for $25.oo, but I had a $200.oo version of the same exact cartridge and needle, some company took the cheap Grado and filled the junk aluminum cantilever tube with "Oil" and sealed the tube.  they had a very pleasant sound.

Some times the so called most sophisticated arms, are the worse, little weights hanging by strings swinging in the vibration winds, little adjustment arms here and there, are all nets for air bound vibration.

Good Luck


GRACE RUBY 

[srb]

... my beryllium cantilever core is one of the hardest metals know to man, this helps too, as no groove info is lost in route to magnets.

Actually the physical properties of beryllium that make it desirable for that application are its high stiffness and light weight ... beryllium only has medium hardness, ~ 5.5 on the 10 point Mohs scale.

[Johnny2Bad]

I actually don't know of any instances where the use of different materials bonded together doesn't improve the acoustic properties of a material used as a shelf, rack, or loudspeaker enclosure material.

If you find granite, for example, to be inferior to some other solid material, try bonding a layer of different material to the granite. You will probably improve the damping, but if not, you will move the natural resonant frequency higher, which means less energy in the room will be available to excite your composite.

There is less airborne or structure-born SPL or vibrational energy as frequencies rise. There is simply not as much energy in music at 10 KHz as there would be at 100 Hz (to use a crude example), so you would have to turn the volume knob higher to excite the material's resonance.

This is a benefit that transcends whether your composite is made of "good" or "bad" materials, if you don't excite it in the first place it doesn't matter what it sounds like when excited; you never get there.

[Johnny2Bad]

Once upon a time I went to our local granite supplier to purchase a pair of granite slabs to place under a pair of speakers.  After listening to what I wanted to do with the granite the supplier suggested I use soapstone instead because, in his words, it would "ping" less than granite.  FWIW.

It might be worth further investigation, as soapstone is a kind of natural composite material ... you know ground soapstone by it's household name ... talc or talcum powder.

[rif]

It might be worth further investigation, as soapstone is a kind of natural composite material ... you know ground soapstone by it's household name ... talc or talcum powder.

Is soapstone is the stuff used in high school chemistry labs?  If so, how does it ground into a fine white powder?  Just curious.

[Johnny2Bad]

Is soapstone is the stuff used in high school chemistry labs?  If so, how does it ground into a fine white powder?  Just curious.

No idea what went on in your HS Science labs. If you are thinking of a grey-ish, soft, somewhat slippery feeling rock, that would turn white-ish if gouged with a tool, that was probably Soapstone.

Metalworkers and welders use soapstone sticks in a holder it to mark steel. Some bulk soapstone is used for carving by artists but the vast majority is mined and ground into talc.

A similar stone, also quite soft and suitable for carving, is Pipestone, but as it's a ceremonial material amongst Native North Americans, it's generally controlled. Very similar but is a red toned material. The two sometimes are found together.

I know of a series of entire islands made of Pipestone in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada and apparently there is some in Minnesota USA. Mining or quarrying by non-Natives is prohibited by law in both occurrences.

Soapstone is a very cheap material while Pipestone, due to it's controlled quarrying, is dis-proportionally expensive.

[GRACE RUBY]

Actually the physical properties of beryllium that make it desirable for that application are its high stiffness and light weight ... beryllium only has medium hardness, ~ 5.5 on the 10 point Mohs scale.

Very true SRB

I confused one of the most brittle metals with hardest, same effect tho as stated, brittle is a property needed
to conduct vibration with accuracy, beryllium is so good at conduction that it is a high dollar strategic metal in some purity's, tho i am not sure what a strategic metal is ha ha lol

it is also poison.

MOVING BACK ON TRACK INSTEAD OF FOLLOWING MY DYSLEXIA

[/b]

YOU FOLKS wanting a more stable floor stand-

GO DOWN IN your basement below speakers, and just happen to have a NON SALT TREATED*** wood 6 x 6 cut into about exactly the width between your floor's under side  2 x 12's studs, and with one hell of a drill gun, like the plug in kind that are hard as h3ll to hold above your head cause the cord keeps whapping you in the head, as dust and crap falls in your eyes, and just space them far apart enough to put about 5 or 6 6 in" deck screws, from each side of stud into the cut 6 by 6, install as many of these as you can on both sides of all studs,  before wife gets home, in a 5 foot radius around each speaker. if you get bit by a spider, don't worry, unless its got a red spot on its back, if it has the red spot you will know cause the venom will say very rude stuff to your nerve endings, and also its a black widow, they hate men, as a matter of fact, last thing they do after sex is eat their husband.
 also, be advised, Brown recluse spiders are really tan and have long spread out legs and the most poison venom known to man. to avoid getting bit, I wrap my whole body in duct tape, making slits at the eyes, and wearing clear googles. and 2 ski hats. don't put the duck tape on fingers, I already tried that and it was hard to use the drill and even harder to pull deck screws from the cheap ahss box they come in.

So get some really good gloves. if your gloves have been in the basement, put them in the micro wave for 2 mins on high cause you never know what crawled into them.

also later when your done, before removing duct tape, warm it with a hair dryer, to soften adhesive so as you pull the duck tape off, it comes off easier to retain some body hair to ward off spiders if your still in the basement cause you heard your wife come home and you don't want to have to explain stuff no man has ever been able to make a woman understand.

Wives

NOW your half done.

if wife is still out, go back up stairs and get some 5  in" deck screws and power drill them into floor wood slats, squares or what ever you got, right on top of the stud that holds the floor, again, in a five foot radius around speakers,  this will secure loose floors to the studs in basement you secured with 6 by 6 cross beams, if you lived..... now,  leave about 1/2 inch of the screw still sticking up and out of floor, take a hammer and whack the heads off, like magic most will break off right at the floor line.

About screws that don't break off magically at floor line, whack them down with a hammer, if you scar floor, explain to wife you where killing brown (really tan) recluse spiders. and not to worry everything is safe again and " honey aren't you glad there's a man around the house to keep things normal, so what you say sweetie, how about a hug".

if she wants to know what and why broken screws are sticking up thru floor, tell her they poked up from under the wood when you killed the spider's and just say, "Ya know sweetie, thats just how floors are made" 

Now if she has not fled the house to call game warden to come with dart gun to take you down, put speakers back and dig all that deeper sound stage and tighter imaging.


*** salt treated wood fumes can kill you and if burned make you very sick first as the fire reaches for your third floor bedroom. so don't let visiting guest smoke in bed in the basement if you use salt treated.

GRACE RUBY

[Letitroll98]

Or you could live on a concrete slab with no basement, or the concurrent suspended floor.  Works wonders for bass reproduction.