Vibration control / Decoupling - why it is critical

Reminds me of snakes and ladders

Ya snake and ladder. I saw some video some time ago, lifting the cables , see this… video I’m no technical expert, but hope this helps

Quote:

The effect of CABLE LIFTER on the electrical properties of cable such as capacitance…

Believing that certain tweaks are voodo/snake oil, is as bad as believing in snake oil itself. Instead, investigate your own truth…

“Your mind works its wonder when its open, like a parachute”

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Here is more detail information (food for thoughts)

Capacitance in Picofarad effect the treble roll off at audio range bandwith (not ghz),

BECAUSE the output impedance of the driving component and the capacitance of the cable form a low pass filter, having a bandwidth corresponding to the product of the output impedance and the capacitance.

How is the capacitance in pF (picofarad) can affect your treble (in interconnect cables)

Lets say your interconnect capacitance is 25pF per feet. If the total length is 10feet , total capacitance would be 255pF

Assuming the preamp attenuator has 100K max resistance, let’s assume 50K ohm output impedance. With these two numbers, let’s compute the 3dB roll-off freq, Fc.

Fc = 1/(2PiR*C) = 12.5 KHz

So,
1/(23.14(50000)*(255exp-12)) = 12,489 Hz

As you can see, the highs are significantly rolled in this configuration of audiable range(20-20k), not GHZ!

Unquote:

See video test below

Recently I came across this post on someone using an ikea bamboo chopping board aptitlig as isolation board for their hifi equipment

https://hificafe.sg/forum/index.php?topic=192.0

image

I was puzzled a many were reporting sonic benefits and I dug in further to find out

I found that others have a similar experience

Then I saw another who used dual boards, with a ball bearing in between them like this

More info can be obtained here
http://www.theaudiobeat.com/blog/ikea_aptitlig.htm

Then I came across other sites as well, and tons of them using it as well.

So I went ahead to ikea yesterday as I was on leave, I needed to find out myself personally, how good and effective are these and how we can improve our set up

It’s pretty heavy and thick, dimensions being

3cm X 45cm X 36cm, 3.1kg each

I’ll share the details soon on my findings after going through 100 over replies on the forums

I’ve read it in the past on some sites that bamboo is a very effective material working as a broadband dampener and is a good friend of “sound” , unlike glass material and other chip board or plywood

So far from what I have gathered so far, what is important I found… is not only decoupling or isolation, the other variant that is equally important is coupling it !! Yes! Coupling it

Now see this below

image

This method for placement of the aptitlig, couples the equipment to the bamboo cutting board vide a cone. Which is what we want.However, that piece of cutting board, is also coupled to the rack, which is not what we want

Don’t forget energy works both ways, transmission from external devices → onto rack-> onto coupled rack wood → onto the cutting board

What I am trying to achieve, is something different from what is shown above.

The approach is to couple the equipment to the cutting board, BUT to isolate the cutting board from the wooden surface of the rack.

This is a combination of coupling and decoupling technique that I will attempt

First, the coupling of the equipment onto the aptitlig, will allow for the energy to be absorbed by the bamboo material, and this absorption is broadband in nature due to the properties of bamboo

What we need to understand is that the most harmful mechanical energy doesn’t enter the equipment from outside; it’s generated internally by the audio circuits and their power supplies. Transformers, power supply capacitors, disc spinning,even the active devices themselves, all vibrate as they operate – and those vibrations occur right where the fragile signal is, creating timing errors that smear and distort the signal and quality of music.

This bamboo cutting board, functions as a means to drain those energy by the equipment itself, hence the choice for “coupling” it to the equipment, BUT … isolating it from the rack

So I believe, this approach is the better approach

It makes sense as the energy needs to dissipate and be converted to heat, the bamboo material is perfect for that purpose

Now I can relate why the divini sp40 footers works that way, it’s metal footers when placed directly beneath the oppo 205, is coupling and draining any vibration energy from the equipment through that piece of MASS

It all makes sense now to me

Completed the placement now.

Here is how I did it under the Oppo 205

The divini footers couples to the Oppo and bamboo board, the bamboo chopping board is then isolated with ball bearing footers

The same goes for the rest of the amplifiers and all monoblocks

The ball bearing footers now isolates the bamboo board from the rack

The equipment vibrational energy now couples to the bamboo which is then dissipated into heat

Any external vibrational energy entering the rack is further isolated by the ball bearing footers

Immediately, the first thing is fire up my fav 3 Chinese songs

Wow the stereo now is unbelievable! Those who have heard it before, needs to hear it again ! Lol

Gosh , so damn good. The biggest takeaway is the “depth” , very very nice segregation of vocals and the sound of instruments are like 3D! Extending from surrounds to way back behind MLP

What a fantastic experience bamboo brings to the set up with the equipment is coupled to it.

The midrange decay is beautiful, it had a much warmer tone now and the emotions are unbelievable from the singer , so so pleasant

Next up with song 61, I zoom in to the bass. The bass also feels so much tighter on the seas. The tightness is very pleasant

Major benefits

  1. Depth
  2. Emotions
  3. Extended decay at midrange frequencies
  4. Tighter bass whilst retaining the bouncy texture

This is the best stereo configuration to date

Conclusion, No regrets !

Fuuu super super good the set up, I’ve never heard it that way before

Fired up the Wang Fei Chinese songs, the noise floor in the hall is 20dba… pitch black with all lights off, I close my eyes…

Pure silence… as the vocals come on… the clarity is amazing… electrical noise is extremly Low, the emotions hitting left and right…

I never expected so much emotions from Wang Fei on this song

Brilliant… damn damn good !

One minor problem. The entire hall smells like bamboo now !! Lol… :joy:

The other thing I have also noticed, the sound is so natural. So much to my liking.

I bought the chopping board with confidence, as I have read somewhere previously, bamboo is good for sound. True enough, they are indeed very nice for music

Couldn’t stop listening till 1am, the sound of it is stil stuck in my head…

Bang for buck upgrade . Next up can’t wait to finalise the BAD hybrid panels . I’ll share that soon on acoustic thread

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world … how others are isolating it… that’s a monitor audio silver speaker there

I have just ordered in some steel shots s390 from pan abrasive

The steel shots are 25kg each in packets of 2, they go into this footrest beanbag cover from aliexpress

After which, it sits on the top cabinet of the line array woofers. The size is just nice.

Personally I have experienced some nice benefits having the steel shots on the subwoofer cabinets, (currently on the seaton pair F18) . The bass sounds cleaner and tight

none of the things in the house rattles, despite hitting 115db SPLs at MV -5, none of the things in the living room rattles or drop , including my McDonald minion collection. They sit perfectly on the shelf

Now can’t wait to have this on the line array, let’s see how much more improvements again.

Ok loading completed. Instead of using the beanbag cover, I’ve got the storage bag from daiso, then used the storage box from ikea, much cheaper alternative. Lazy to wait for the shipping from aliexpress, taking forever

Fit perfectly and now hopefully the guy on the 8th floor won’t have his windows rattling :rofl:

25kg all the way up to the top of the cabinet

Careful with the volume you playing. Be a good neighbor. LoL

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Last week I hosted bro Fooklai at my place. During the demo sessions, I always sit at the corners of the room. And this corner area towards the doorway to the kitchen, Has the most intense midbass. (A resonant peak at 58hz). I always sit here when I conduct demo sessions.

To my shock, the midbass is absolutely out of this world. No where have I heard such accuracy, speed and intensity for bullets scene.

Before the demo, I always check with the guys, how loud can you handle… nobody believes the MV was playing back at -5. It is that good. Doesn’t sound loud at all as the energy peaks and decays extremely fast at 0.237 secs down to 20hz on the spectrogram

None of the things rattle in the house, the floors don’t resonate, the ceilings after treatment doesn’t rattle the downlights, just pure tactile feeling hitting the chest. And that effect is so good and non fatigue, even at -5mv . The bass is so “bouncy like” on the seas L26roy , what a fantastic driver

The steel shots when placed above the cabinets of the subwoofers, are working wonders.

Clean, tight, fast and accurate. The set up is really solid now with f18 seatons providing the deep extension and weight.

Still room for improvement , another level up now.

Next up can’t wait to finish the project with the BAD panels, those wood panels with holes when flushed against the bass traps, will work as first layer pressure plate and noise reduction.

Here is an interesting article on that done by some researchers recently … enjoy reading ! 5 mins read

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Came across this rack today, and I thought it had a solid design to it

Rack is from Denmark Alpin-Line . The thing I like about this rack is you can observe that the top section has its spikes inverted, resting on a metal piece that provides the mass. The wood looks natural and beautiful. The purpose of the wood is to drain any vibrational energy from the equipment testing on it.

At the bottom section , the four pillars are isolated by the spikes as well preventing any external vibration entering the system.

This results in a couple - decoupling hybrid combination that should work pretty well . The tiny round metal pieces provide the mass as well.

Looks very good this design . Price not sure, gotta Google for it.

Below is another model Alpin-line nature… looks pretty solid too

Here is one I came across, last year, I thought I will share it here, they look absolutely gorgeous ! Check out the quality of the wood finishing, from Slovakia …

Damn! Drool…

Another type

Is it effective ? I’m sure it is, but how effective? Not sure… no idea… but one thing is for sure

Damn Chio…

Recently I came across this bamboo wooden HP holder from ikea, doesn’t cost a bomb, I think about $2.90/piece


It fits perfectly for an external hard disk.

Having gone through rounds of exercise, I have established that a good isolation boils down to two factors.

Coupling & decoupling. They should both be present.

The first, coupling, is being used to drain any mechanical energy from the device itself.

The second, decoupling, is being used to prevent any energy entering the device.

This approach is working wonders now. So in every possible scenario, I take this approach of coupling-decoupling

So this is how the hard disk with dsf files and music files,is connected to the Oppo 205

A bit extreme !! :rofl: … but when u move your ears to the rack, u cant hear the spinning or the disc and it’s completely isolated

I haven’t yet gone through the use of an SSD through flash instead of spin , but was told that it introduces noise compared to the conventional spinning type of disc. How much I’m not sure. There are pros and cons

So it’s noise vs vibration

So I just stick to the old hard disk that spins, but use isolation technique to isolate and solve vibration issues from the spinning disc

You might wanna explore , to see if it adds any benefit to the set up. Vibrational control is part of a very important aspect in audio system as well. But don’t have to worry, if one is not able to discern the difference. Just plug and play and enjoy.

Came across this , very good design, anyone into hifi racks, this one checks all the boxes :muscle:t2::muscle:t2:













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I forgot to share this. Here is how I placed my centre speakers

With the vibrational control in place, Low electrical noise, I’m now listening and watching drama at -5mv, the quality is superb, crystal clear, resonance free, non fatigue. Doesn’t sound loud at all… first class !

That’s the GXC350 Center

Cork material is from ikea as well


It is placed on the gypsum board platform . Together with tiny mashed up sorbothane material.

The divini footers goes under the speaker and sits on the ikea Bamboo chopping board

That’s the final , center flanked by SMTs left right up down, further with BAD.

First class audio quality from the centre channel now

If u like Manuka Honey….

Honey honey…… oh sugar sugar….lol

Explanation in mandarin, from Taiwan :taiwan:




That’s the new design, wood block carbon hifi rack, in high gloss ebony veneer, from North America franc audio accessories