[I.Greyhound Fan]

Larry

You can buy the same design of footers on Ali Express for a whole lot less.  I've bought several sets in the past and they work the same.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803146953604.html?spm=oneshop.home.dspopularproducts.2.419d7f6bT6p1bu&skuId=12000025263529676&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000025263529676%22%7D&aecmd=true&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803504435527.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.11.97241802c0Xr8S&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

Thanks for the tip.  I will buy enough for my DAC and preamp after I receive the ones that I bought for my TT.

[JLM]

Can't judge vibration control by visuals (except for diffusion).  Vibration control is a very complex problem.  Worked with PhD's who studied it for huge power plants fans and motors.  Their solutions always ended up being massive foundations.  So I suggest moving all your source/amplifying gear to the basement/another room and adding lots of mass to your speakers.  Or just turn the damn volume down.

[rotarius]

Buying brass cones or some feet for individual components ain't gonna do it.  As JLM, who is probably an engineer, pointed out, it is a complex science that involves determining natural frequencies, system resonance and all the good stuff.  I worked on vibration control for many years, you can try to alleviate your issue by added mass where possible but adding snake oil devices to your system without measuring is only good if it gives you a placebo effect.  It will shift your system resonance points and could make matters worse.

[Early B.]

C'mon, guys -- this ain't rocket science. Vibrations are a minor issue compared to the three hundred far more important considerations audiophiles deal with. My speakers already weigh around 175 pounds. How much more weight should I add to them? Now, if you said, "add weight to your components" then that makes more sense. I've done that before with a CD transport and it worked great. Hmmmm... will that work for tube gear? It's a free tweak and worth a try...



   

[BobM]

You are going to hate me for this, but in my experience you have to use your ears, because footers are also tuning devices. Sometimes a pointy cone under something will sound better than something squishy, or maybe a rollerball thingie is even better.

I go this way ... under tubes I found something squishy works best (e.g. vibrapods, half cut foam balls, etc.), under solid state electronics I like using roller ball type things. YYMV - enjoy the hunt and tests and critical listening experiments.

[Early B.]

You are going to hate me for this, but in my experience you have to use your ears, because footers are also tuning devices. Sometimes a pointy cone under something will sound better than something squishy, or maybe a rollerball thingie is even better.

I go this way ... under tubes I found something squishy works best (e.g. vibrapods, half cut foam balls, etc.), under solid state electronics I like using roller ball type things. YYMV - enjoy the hunt and tests and critical listening experiments.

That's good to know. I thought about this -- some isolation devices are designed to allow the component to wobble, so maybe my floating floor is serving as a massive isolation device.

There are also two issues to vibration management -- minimizing the vibrations and improving the sound. Less vibration doesn't necessarily confer better sound. For now, I'm focused on minimizing the vibrations. If I tap my finger on my audio rack while music is playing, I can hear the tubes ringing. That can't be a good thing. Some tubes are more microphonic than others, specifically the two 26 tubes in my preamp. They're notorious for being excessively microphonic.   

[WGH]

I used to live in a 1940's house with bouncy wood floors, the Ortofon Acoustic Absorber Feet completely eliminated the turntable bass feedback loop. I still had to walk gently because the feet didn't help the bounce. I bought a set of 4 in 1986 for $20, the wobbly, flexible center is height adjustable. I still use them under my tube preamp. Maybe some old guy has a set in their audio junk drawer they are not using.




Look at turntable vibration solutions which would work for light weight electronics too. Use Search to lookup "turntable sandbox"

[rif]

I don't think anyone has mentioned it yet, but could you mount the tube gear on a shelf on a wall?  Preferably an exterior wall.  But I think any wall mounted shelf would be an easy and inexpensive improvement.

[ric]

Most homes with a second story have wood subfloors (plywood over joists) which is typical and should not be a problem. If the problem lies with the floating floor and your speakers rock, you can A) remove the flooring under the speaker or B) use isolation devices (4) under the corners of you speakers (or both).
I have experimented with many types of DIY isolation (wood, brass, soft materials, ball bearings, etc.) and these made a little difference.  It wasn't until I spent some money--first Herbie's products and then Iso-Acoustics products, which I love.
I now use Iso-Acoustics under everything--speakers, amp, source, TT, . Yes, they're pricey, but as they say, you buy quality only once.
   My suggestion would be to find a seller that accepts returns and try them out. If you can't hear a difference then return them. Cheap DIY stuff, from my experience doesn't work very well. Use your ears, good luck!

[Early B.]

I now use Iso-Acoustics under everything--speakers, amp, source, TT, .

Yep. I have a set of IsoAcoustic pucks underneath my amp and another set arrives tomorrow for my preamp.

[JLM]

Use isolation on soft (wooden) floors and spikes on hard (concrete) floors.

[DaveC113]

What we're really trying to do with vibrations in an audio system is to control the electromechanical feedback mechanism that exists between the speakers and components so that the result is psychoacoustically correct, or that the result is as close to what our ear/brain mechanism expects to hear.

If the audio system's feedback results in a perceived expansion or extension of acoustic decay that matches decay we expect to hear or have become accustomed to, then it can be an improvement over a system with zero feedback. If not, it will be worse.

Understanding the objective helps achieve them, but in this case a path to achieve the objective is unclear and results vary because both the system and the environment that contribute to the feedback vary A LOT. Vinyl and tubes lead to a lot more magnitude of feedback than SS and digital for obvious reasons, but any component, including AC power distribution, will have it's own feedback characteristics making the best solution potentially different for every component. The best device to modify feedback of a tube amp vs a SS amp may be different, and similarly a tt is different than a DAC.

In general it would be best to start with a perfectly solid and immoveable foundation. Many think that a concrete foundation accomplishes this and thus you should couple to it, but this is not true. Concrete has a sound when driven by speakers and it's not good, so you need to actually isolate from concrete. In the same way a suspended wood floor may not be ideal so you'd want to isolate from that too, but it's trickier as the unstable floor will combine with the isolation you're using and lead to unpredictable results.

All this to say, there's no way to really predict what isolation or coupling will do in these cases and the only way to improve the situation is likely going to involve a lot of trial and error. Further, it's unlikely other people's experiences will be useful unless both the environment and the system share something in common.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I just received my isolation pucks with the ball bearings from MNPCTECH today.  They are well made.   I will put them under my TT later this evening and give a listen.  I will report back. I think that they will work much better than the Isoacoustics Zazen TT platform.

[Early B.]

I just received my isolation pucks with the ball bearings from MNPCTECH today.  They are well made.   I will put them under my TT later this evening and give a listen.  I will report back.

Cool. Just wanted to report back to you that I placed a 47x22 inch rug with rubber backing (0.5" thick) underneath my audio rack and I don't think it mattered. The rack was just as wobbly(?) as before and I doubt if the rug reduces floor vibrations. Of course, there's no A/B testing that can happen.

 

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Cool. Just wanted to report back to you that I placed a 47x22 inch rug with rubber backing (0.5" thick) underneath my audio rack and I don't think it mattered. The rack was just as wobbly(?) as before and I doubt if the rug reduces floor vibrations. Of course, there's no A/B testing that can happen.

 

So are you saying that you can rock the rack or are all the feet not level?  They do make self leveling pads.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=self+leveling+furniture+feet&hvadid=409969171912&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9019558&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=13092016623257638455&hvtargid=kwd-346861655278&hydadcr=10137_11279163&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_7l7g5954q0_e

Other options are that you can nail down the floor under that rack. Use finish nails.

Or you can get a piece of scrap granite from a counter top store and put that under that rack.

[WGH]

Early B. - Is this your system and rack?




Linn and Niam have always preferred rigid, lightweight racks. Something to consider.

FraimLite Support system
https://www.naimaudio.com/products/fraim-lite

A FraimLite module is composed of a base level and multiple shelving levels above it. Each level has a set of cone and cup interfaces. Like the Fraim reference-level, FraimLite support offers an optimal motionless environment for Naim Audio electronics to perform their best.

[Early B.]

So are you saying that you can rock the rack or are all the feet not level?  They do make self leveling pads.

I think the rocking is a combination of three things: 1) the floor not being level; 2) the feet not being level; and more significantly 3) the maldistribution of weight on the rack. The left side of the rack has twice as much weight as the right side, and there's not much I can do about it unless I add a 30-pound weight to the right side. Plus, I move the rack occasionally to plug/unplug components and change cables, so I need a flexible solution. I can adjust the feet on the rack, but it's a pain when there's 150 pounds of gear on it. Once I think I got it properly adjusted, it starts wobbling again a week later. Perhaps a couple of plastic shims might be the simplest "solution."   

[Early B.]

Early B. - Is this your system and rack?

Yep. The DIY rack has three shelves that are 48x18 inches. The 1.5" thick wood slabs are gorgeous and have live edges. I have nearly every shade of wood color in that room. The back wall has a door opening into the kitchen; I installed a sliding barn door so I can close off the 13x20 ft. room for critical listening. 

Yesterday, I removed the spikes from underneath the midrange driver. That helped a little bit. I also ordered some Herbies giant decoupling gliders to replace the ones on the speakers so I can move them more easily. Those speakers are as tall as I am and weigh as much as I do. That's a nice way of sayin' they're short and fat. 

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I placed the new MNPCTECH isolation pucks under my TT and removed the ZaZen platform and the pucks work so much better.  I can now walk past my TT and not hear the footsteps through the speakers and it is also less likely to skip.  I have sorbothane feet that I placed on the TT and these are sitting atop the ball bearing pucks.  Before the pucks, I could sit on my sofa 15 to 16 feet away and tap  on my knee with my foot on the wood floor and hear it through the speakers.

Well done MNPCTECH.

I am going to order a few for my DAC and BAT tube preamp.

[Early B.]

Well, that didn't work....

I spent $250 on component isolation pucks for my preamp and DAC and couldn't hear a difference. I also bought a pair of tube dampers -- same outcome. The only benefit is they look cool. Perhaps I created a problem that didn't need fixing.