[AliG]

YES YES YES Your are ABSOLUTELY correct about it being illegal to export!
But I got my wood from Malaysia, and while it is illegal to export the raw wood, if you cut the wood, make them into small pucks, it's consider as finished 'furniture' or sourviner. If you can find a local carpenter, you can ask him to do exactly that and then ship the pucks to you. The wood can be expensive, the older the wood, the harder and more durable it is, and more expensive it is.

PS: Even though I said it's 'expensive', it's no way near Cerabase. A piece of wood 2 inch thick can be bought for USD$400/sqft. One square foot can make about 9 pucks. The labor doesn't cost much locally, I gave the local carpenter $50 to make 9 pucks and he was very happy. Of course the finishing wasn't up to the quality of what we're used to see here in the US.

The Borneo Ironwood have scientific name "Eusideroxylon zwageri", it's 50% harder and denser than maple and it's one of the hardest wood on earth. This tree took 100 years to grow and can only be found in the island of Philipines, Malaysia and Indonesia. If you have friends in those countries, ask them to ship you some wood.. I think I am perhaps the only person in this country that use this kind of wood to make pucks.

It's also a protected species in some countries due to overuse and slow regrowth of the trees.  For example, it's illegal to export it from Indonesia. 

[AliG]

Indeed, everything counts and they're inter-dependent. That's why there is no one solution that work best under all circumstances, that's why we all need to experiment! But if you're rich and don't want to be bothered with the extra headache, then buy a Pagoda rack and ljust isten to music!

Just a note guys.As-far-as-i-know,isolation pucks add a certain "voicing" or "coloration" if that is the correct word and that differs depending on the surface they sit on (glass , metal , wood etc).Did anyone take into account this?

[cAsE sEnSiTiVe]

Ever compare against these at $25 for a set of four?

Just for future reference, you can get these at most any Heating and Cooling supply store for a buck a piece. I know, I bought 25 of them the last time I was in.

Someone is making a huge profit on these on A'gon and other places. Just thought I'd chime in. 

[bluemike]

Ever compare against these at $25 for a set of four?

Just for future reference, you can get these at most any Heating and Cooling supply store for a buck a piece. I know, I bought 25 of them the last time I was in.

Someone is making a huge profit on these on A'gon and other places. Just thought I'd chime in. 

yup good value if you buy them from a heating and cooling supply store 

[AliG]

I have been over to Barry's and his system is very clear and revealing!   It is like an audio lab in that it is very easy to hear differences between components and tweaks.   I can confirm that his ironwood blocks made a significant improvement to is CDP.

Bob

Hey Bob,  I got 3 extra pucks yesterday that I'm not going to use until I get my phono preamp back, I am sending the pucks to you via priority mail so you can test them out in your system. Put them under your phono stage and see what they'll do to the sound, my suspicion is that you probably won't hear too much of a difference because you're using a bookshelf speaker, but give it a try anyhow.

The other thing you can try is put the pucks underneath the Gingko Cloud 11.

[fsimms]

I am sending the pucks to you via priority mail so you can test them out in your system.

Very kewl!  Thanks, I will be looking for them.  I will let you know how they work out.

Bob

[Imperial]

Just a note guys.As-far-as-i-know,isolation pucks add a certain "voicing" or "coloration" if that is the correct word and that differs depending on the surface they sit on (glass , metal , wood etc).Did anyone take into account this?

This is actually essential knowledge about this kind of tweaks...
Well said Yiangos


Imperial

[AliG]

Inspired by the $25 cork-based isolation, I went to Ikea today and bought three big round corks for $3, I put each cork under the ironwood pucks which support the amplifier

Without the corks, the bass was super-punchy but the high was a little harsh. Adding the corks helps to 'mellow' the sound a little, removing the harshness on top.

The rest of the system was isolated as follow:
Audio Research CD7 with ironwood pucks only:


Dodd Battery Preamp with LydII


This exercise taught me one very important lesson - very often I see people buying and selling equipments in a rush because they couldn't achieve that final 5%; Well, my experience with isolation is that they WILL often impact the sound of your system more than you would expect, so we should first try to improve our sound by experimenting wtih isolation/coupling before selling off our gears hastily.
 

[denjo]

This exercise taught me one very important lesson - very often I see people buying and selling equipments in a rush because they couldn't achieve that final 5%; Well, my experience with isolation is that they WILL often impact the sound of your system more than you would expect, so we should first try to improve our sound by experimenting wtih isolation/coupling before selling off our gears hastily.
 

Well said Barry! I absolutely agree and wish I had the wisdom of these words with hindsight!

One comment, have you tried to taper the ironwood to look more like a cone rather than a cylindrical block? I know the carpenter assigned this task will find it a pain in the **** to chisel and bevel the block! 

I am in that neck of the woods where I might be able to source for some ironwood (belian right?)!

Best Regards
Dennis

[geezer]

Ever compare against these at $25 for a set of four?

Just for future reference, you can get these at most any Heating and Cooling supply store for a buck a piece. I know, I bought 25 of them the last time I was in.

Someone is making a huge profit on these on A'gon and other places. Just thought I'd chime in. 

What are these used for in the heating/cooling business?

[AliG]

Yes Dennis, it is indeed "Belian". Take a trip to Sarawak, talk to any carpenter and they will help you to find the wood -always ask for the 'old' wood. The other hardwood you can try is named "Selangan Batu". It's second to 'Belian' in terms of hardness and durability and are much more plentiful.

My 'belian' rack cost me RM1300 - but blows away a USD$3500 Finite Elemente Pagoda rack ( at least that's what I hear in my system )! 

Well said Barry! I absolutely agree and wish I had the wisdom of these words with hindsight!

One comment, have you tried to taper the ironwood to look more like a cone rather than a cylindrical block? I know the carpenter assigned this task will find it a pain in the **** to chisel and bevel the block! 

I am in that neck of the woods where I might be able to source for some ironwood (belian right?)!

Best Regards
Dennis

[jimdgoulding]

I use Rollerblock jr's on an entry level Symposium Svelte Shelf under my pre.  Maybe it's what it replaced but it has really added explosiveness and excitement to my music.

[satfrat]

Ever compare against these at $25 for a set of four?

Just for future reference, you can get these at most any Heating and Cooling supply store for a buck a piece. I know, I bought 25 of them the last time I was in.

Someone is making a huge profit on these on A'gon and other places. Just thought I'd chime in. 

What are these used for in the heating/cooling business?

These vibration pads are routinely used under heavy motor powered machinery in manufacturing so I would guess steam or hydralic boilers, compression machinery, central air conditioning motors,,,, anything that vibrates will benefit from cork/rubber vibration padding,,, just much bigger pads than we use.


Cheers,
Robin

[tdangelo]

Nice reviews Barry!

I've tried lots of different cones/footers etc.. and like the Boston Audio Carbon graphite blocks with tungsten ball bearings.  They work the best with my setup.  I also liked what the Oregon Myrtlewood blocks from Waipuna did for my previous Cary amps.  The Bostons always improve whatever equipment I have even on the asada cherry wood rack I have now.  They also worked well with an acrylic rack I used to have.  YMMV 

[rydenfan]

Have you tried the Harmonic Resolution Nimbus couples? I have heard excellent things about them and the damping plates. And their racks are supposed to be world class (but very pricey).

http://www.avisolation.com/nimbus.html

Has anyone tried any of these products?

[rydenfan]

Barry, have you considered trying a few Shakti stones as well to see how they impact the sound? I have heard very positive things and I am probably going to demo a few in the next few weeks.

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/audiovideo.htm

[richidoo]

Ever compare against these at $25 for a set of four?

WEEZ used these under his SOTA TT with good results. I think jrebman was using them too. Good to know they are available cheap. Maybe they can be found online from a plumber supply seller?

[zybar]

Nice reviews Barry!

I've tried lots of different cones/footers etc.. and like the Boston Audio Carbon graphite blocks with tungsten ball bearings.  They work the best with my setup.  I also liked what the Oregon Myrtlewood blocks from Waipuna did for my previous Cary amps.  The Bostons always improve whatever equipment I have even on the asada cherry wood rack I have now.  They also worked well with an acrylic rack I used to have.  YMMV 

Tony,

I have also had great success with the Boston Audio Design Tuneblock SE's (http://www.boston-audio.com/tuneblocks.htm).

George

[Christof]

Here are a few wood species that are very similar (density & specific gravity) to the Borneo Ironwood: Ipe, Zircote, Goncalo Alves & Jarrah.  Ipe Goncalo Alves  are common exotic decking materials that can be sourced from most lumber yards.  Vendors will typically will provide small samples for little or nothing....give it a try, quite a bit cheaper than $200-$400 bd.ft and may produce good results.

[AliG]

I want to try all of these woods 

Below is the list of 16 of the world heaviest ironwoods that will 'sink' in water:

(*Names, native country, specific gravity*)

1.Lignum Vitae  (Guaiacum officinale), S.E. U.S. & Caribbean, 1.37
2.Snakewood (Piratinera guianensis), South America, 1.35
3.Leadwood (Krugiodendron ferreum), S. Florida and Keys, 1.31
4.Burma Ironwood (Xylia xylocarpa), India Burma, 1.29
5.Quebracho (Schinopsis balansae),  Argentina S. America, 1.28
6.Womara (Swartzia leiocalycina),  British Guiana, 1.28
7.Wawra (Combretum imberbe), Zimbabwe South Africa, 1.23
8.Billian (Eusideroxylon zwageri), Borneo Malaysia, 1.20
9.Pau d'Arco (Tabebuia serratifolia), Brazil S. America, 1.20
10.Knob-thorn (Acacia nigrescens), South Africa, 1.19
11.Brazil Ironwood (Caesalpinia ferrea), Brazil S. America, 1.15
12.Desert Ironwood (Olneya tesota), S.W. U.S. Mexico, 1.15
13.Ceylon Ironwood (Mesua ferrea), India/Burma Ceylon, 1.12
14.Ebony (Diospyros ebenum), India Ceylon, 1.12
15.Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius), S.W. U.S. Mexico, 1.12
16.Black Ironwood (Olea laurifolia), South Africa, 1.11

In contrast, Hard maple (sugar maple) which has specific gravity between 0.56 - 0.72.


Hey Tdangelo, I see Leadwood in Florida.. can you get me some??? In return, I'll ship you my 'Bilian' pucks to try out