ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?

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MtnHam

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ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? http://steveblinndesigns.com/IsopedFooters.html
Anyone tried them? They seem to be a knock-off of the highly effective and proven Stillpoint footers, at about 1/2 the cost. Does anyone have first hand experience with them?

My experience with Stillpoints makes me believe they should come with the following advice:
WARNING: Highly addictive, may cause financial ruin!

sebrof

Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #1 on: 8 Dec 2014, 07:45 pm »
No experience but I'm interested for my turntable. Maybe someone will chime in with experience with them.

I do find their ad funny, however. It reads, "Are you convinced that it's necessary to spend ridiculous amounts
like $125, $250 and $700 for world class vibration control footers...?
Hold on, not so fast!"

And their products range from $90 to $235 each, which is $270 to $705 assuming at least 3 footers for a component (more than double the "ridiculous" sum of $125).

FullRangeMan

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #2 on: 8 Dec 2014, 08:58 pm »
Incredible expensive. I buy a alu round bar and took to a CNC shop to cut, result=80mm cones at $ 30 each.

MtnHam

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #3 on: 8 Dec 2014, 09:03 pm »
Incredible expensive. I buy a alu round bar and took to a CNC shop to cut, result=80mm cones at $ 30 each.

A photo would help. Cones alone would not be likely to have the same effect.
Have you compared the results of your DIY project with any of the Stillpoints?

FullRangeMan

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #4 on: 8 Dec 2014, 09:13 pm »
A photo would help. Cones alone would not be likely to have the same effect.
Have you compared the results of your DIY project with any of the Stillpoints?
I will post a photo. I dontt made comparative tests.
I have a other two sets of cones, but they are all the same material, aluminium.

danali

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #5 on: 8 Dec 2014, 10:27 pm »
hockey pucks? regular or the softer practice style?

Speedskater

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #6 on: 8 Dec 2014, 10:38 pm »
Tell me again how something made out of stainless steel or aluminum isolates?
Do they have springs?
Is it vertical and/or lateral vibrations?

MtnHam

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #7 on: 8 Dec 2014, 10:51 pm »
Tell me again how something made out of stainless steel or aluminum isolates?
Do they have springs?
Is it vertical and/or lateral vibrations?

Go here:http://www.stillpoints.us/reviews.html

Read all the reviews. If you need a more technical explanation, read their Patent. (Sorry, no link.)

Speedskater

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #8 on: 8 Dec 2014, 11:11 pm »
'technical explanation' What other kind of explanation would there be? It's a mechnical engineering thing.
Just which of those many reviews?
Sorry, I couldn't find a patent reference on the Stillpoints page?

gychang

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #9 on: 9 Dec 2014, 01:09 am »
I am having vibration issues with my power supply, ten-tec 937, so I was interested but the price in the Cheap and Cheerful is slightly out of range??, what is a snake oil?

MtnHam

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #10 on: 9 Dec 2014, 01:15 am »
I am having vibration issues with my power supply, ten-tec 937, so I was interested but the price in the Cheap and Cheerful is slightly out of range??, what is a snake oil?

Cheap they are not. That's why I was asking about the Isoped products- they're 1/2 the price.
Snake Oil is anything marketed by lies. Stillpoints are definitely not in that category. Find a dealer who will loan you a set and try them. Warning- you will probably not want to return them. They are extremely effective under power supplies which usually generate vibrations which degrade everything else.

Letitroll98

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #11 on: 9 Dec 2014, 02:55 am »
No experience but I'm interested for my turntable. Maybe someone will chime in with experience with them.

I do find their ad funny, however. It reads, "Are you convinced that it's necessary to spend ridiculous amounts
like $125, $250 and $700 for world class vibration control footers...?
Hold on, not so fast!"

And their products range from $90 to $235 each, which is $270 to $705 assuming at least 3 footers for a component (more than double the "ridiculous" sum of $125).

Exactly, I find the Isoped product so far out of the spirit of Cheap & Cheerful, as well as pricing guidelines for tweaks, that its a slam dunk that the thread needs to be moved.  However, in the interest of cheerful fairness, feel free to convince me otherwise.

MtnHam

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #12 on: 9 Dec 2014, 03:17 am »
Exactly, I find the Isoped product so far out of the spirit of Cheap & Cheerful, as well as pricing guidelines for tweaks, that its a slam dunk that the thread needs to be moved.  However, in the interest of cheerful fairness, feel free to convince me otherwise.

I only posed the question here because I couldn't find a more appropriate Circle. Please suggest one. However, at 1/2 the cost of Stillpoints, they are cheaper. And, I must observe, have given me a more cost effective bump up than the alternatives in an already very fine system.

FullRangeMan

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #13 on: 9 Dec 2014, 09:50 am »
Tell me again how something made out of stainless steel or aluminum isolates?
Do they have springs?
Is it vertical and/or lateral vibrations?
In the cones case what decreases the vibration transfer is the tip of the cone, for smaller contact area.
The right guy for explanations is Herbie.

FullRangeMan

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #14 on: 9 Dec 2014, 10:07 am »
A photo would help. Cones alone would not be likely to have the same effect.
Have you compared the results of your DIY project with any of the Stillpoints?
The cones are 75mm diameter, not 80 sorry.
Without the hi lite polish and spray can varnish the price down to $20 each.
The stain on this cone are my incompetence to paint, they are made in 2003.
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JLM

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #15 on: 9 Dec 2014, 10:57 am »
'technical explanation' What other kind of explanation would there be? It's a mechnical engineering thing.
Just which of those many reviews?
Sorry, I couldn't find a patent reference on the Stillpoints page?

Seems like you'd like to dismiss the whole isolation issue (so would I as I'm old school and have a hard time spending serious coin on cables, isolation, etc.), but in the case it's real.  While in the structural engineering field decades ago I ran into a dynamics genius that we used to design concrete pads for huge fans/motors used in power plants.  Obvious examples a vibrational dynamics: diving boards, noisy upstairs neighbor, and turntables on soft wooden floors.  It's a very complicated matter to understand completely as it deals with resonances of each piece (down to tubes, discrete components, even chips are all cantilevered to some degree).  If you're on a soft/bouncy floor, you're probably best off trying to isolate from it (magnetic, air bladders, soft foam).  But better to be on a solid floor (concrete), then you can try to secure the equipment to the rack and the rack to the floor.  Points help concentrate the force of gravity and reduce horizontal movement, but clamping/damping would help more.  Moving the gear to behind doors/walls would be better (or just turning down that damn racket - dad talking).

Currently I have (cheap) neoprene/cork blocks under my 50 pound tube amp and they help clear up the mid/treble.  Previously I'd tried a variety of squishy footers that I couldn't hear an improvement (even the ACer who sold them, again very cheap, admitted didn't help much).  What sold me on the squishy footers was that they offered different sizes to support different weights, which would seem to make sense.  But that was with soft floors, now I'm on concrete.

Letitroll98

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #16 on: 9 Dec 2014, 01:14 pm »
I only posed the question here because I couldn't find a more appropriate Circle. Please suggest one. However, at 1/2 the cost of Stillpoints, they are cheaper. And, I must observe, have given me a more cost effective bump up than the alternatives in an already very fine system.

You win on two points, one not yours.  There is no more appropriate circle as we have none for either tweaks, isolation, or general audio.  And the discussion has moved to comparing Isopeds to cheaper alternatives.  The only other alternate is deleting the thread and that's uncalled for.  So here is stays for better or worse.

mcgsxr

Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #17 on: 9 Dec 2014, 01:43 pm »
I have had good success in the past with partially inflated inner tubes and cutting boards or slate pieces of stone.

I was able to source the slate for about $10 per piece.  The tubes were children's bicycle tubes for about $3 at Target.

Best improvement I made was to move the gear out of the listening room into my media closet.  Less need for isolation in the other room.

MtnHam

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #18 on: 9 Dec 2014, 03:37 pm »
There is an important difference between isolation of a component from it's enviroment and the draining away (dissipation) of internal vibration. Transformers and capacitors often vibrate (particularly in power supplies) and transfer this energy on.

Speedskater

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Re: ISOPED Vibration Isolation Footers? Anyone tried them?
« Reply #19 on: 9 Dec 2014, 05:28 pm »
Seems like you'd like to dismiss the whole isolation issue (so would I as I'm old school and have a hard time spending serious coin on cables, isolation, etc.), but in the case it's real.  While in the structural engineering field decades ago I ran into a dynamics genius that we used to design concrete pads for huge fans/motors used in power plants.  Obvious examples a vibrational dynamics: diving boards, noisy upstairs neighbor, and turntables on soft wooden floors.  It's a very complicated matter to understand completely as it deals with resonances of each piece.

I'm not dismissing it at all!
At work I had a similar experience to you's.  In industrial measurement development.  We had large so rotating test stands that had to measure very small movements at 1/10 Hz and less.  We would have a consultant come in and examine new designs for vibration.