zero cost isolation

dave ...are you listening !!!!

tony's hit the nail .....squarely on the head......

It was as if the RA oak cones were not doing anything [which was not the case] ....just your larger feet were several magnitudes better.....pulling detail out of the cdp that neither of us had heard, on several previous plays of the same track.

 

7/16 and 1/2" mainly, got a supplier for ceramic balls but struggling to get sensible prices for steel and phosper bronze.

 

oh yes, I am listening....

 

...yes....just tried it...

works for me too.

 

....thankyou.....

 

Is it important to use the dowel? What about other materials? eg.
chiropodist's feet cubes as featured below.


http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/sblocks1e.html

 

I've just ordered a box full of 11mm bearings, so i'll make a base mould and cast some bases in mineral loaded epoxy and set some balls into them.

i'll run some with just one ball and some with 3 in the base and one on top.

i'll have to pop down when they are done Pete.

 

yes ..sounds good.

jimbo has used the foot cubes ..but they just didn't do it for me very crumbley too.....
I'd expect the point contact to break the foot cube things.

plastic sound interesting if you get the right one .....perspex works ...but is too fragile. That why wood came to mind

 

Have the feet under my amp and cd, and yes they gave better bass. My gear sits on glass shelves so maybe they isolated from them to give a warmer sound. Got them from the local Pound Shop i think you get four. Can be messy as Pete says but as long as you dont move them then they are fine.

Perhaps i'll try the dowel and bearing soon when i'm not too busy to see if i can improve on the cubes.

 

i'll use epoxy,i have plenty of it and plenty of fine aggregate i can use.

 

Zanash,

What about those granite chopping boards, drilled slightly to provide a seat for the ball bearings? Or as you mentioned a wooden chopping board.

 

you read my mind .....

just need a suitable drill bit for the granite....I've not got anything in my box at the moment...

but I think its the wood thats "absorbing" the "energy" vibration etc.

It also seems that 5mm could be the smallest effective ball ...don't know why ?

small wood cones tend to make my cdp sound brighter ....but the 45mm disc with 8mm balls really got more detail out.

DaveF is experimenting with various diameters and ball sizes ..

I've all on with the blue light at the moment to devote too much time to this.

 

why not buy a granite rolling pin and just chop it up with a disk cutter to the required length, then just cut an "x" in the top with said cutter and place the ball on there further reducing the point of contact ?

or a wooden one for that matter ?

you could use bouncy balls instead of ball bearings or try marbles.

you could always stick about 5 layers of damping mat to the bottom of the granite to further dampen them and cover it with some electricians tape to hide the edge.

 

Thought it's time I found out what all the fuss was about....
They work well.

 

whats sort of blade will cut into granite?

do you know what sort of wood you are getting?

eg softwood/ hard wood.....Oak?

glass is nt a good idea...so i agther..

depends if you want to absorb vibrations or dissipate them?

 

a diamond blade will cut it easily so will a stone disk, (just not as easy) if you make them a tiny bit bigger you can clean them up with a grinding disk.

I would try all available options if I was making them so glass might be worth it ? dissimilar materials etc ?

normally on the label it has what timber it is made from if not you can pretty much guess just by looking and trying to dent it with a fingernail.

dunno about the dissipate / absorb thing I would try it and see.

 

DavidF,

I think the zero cost isolation tweak allows the excitement of a piece of music to shine through without the usual downsides of too much brightness.

I don't know about granite & heavy materials, I kinda think light & rigid is best.

 

Some nice thinking ......

though I think granite may be too similar to steel in the hardness and rigidity....

I've a gut feeling its the dissimilarities that work for it [steel /wood]

we've tried bouncy balls ....squash ball, tenis balls....but on there own [in isolation ?...pun]

as I say I've had stillpoints in my system and have no effect .....but these little sods do especially the bigger disc ones.

 

nice one knightshade......

try the bigger disc if you can .....

 

use wooden balls ?
seriously you can get them, look in the early learning centre maybe for some beads or an abacus to pull apart
try filling the holes with bluetak maybe?

or try the rubber....