Herzan: Announces a new PASSIVE, more cost effective isolation solution

[Salectric]

I have tried a number of DIY platforms under my Galibier Gavia turntable which is a rather massive (over 100 lbs) non-suspended table. One of the platforms was a 3" thick slab of granite that weighs 180 lbs just by itself. The granite sounded pretty poor in my opinion whether I used it with damping underneath or bare. I am not sure I would call it "ringing" but rather that it has a cold, hard sound. I also tried an Adona platform which uses a thinner slab of granite bonded to a slab of MDF, supposedly being a very synergistic combination. The Adona was also cold and it added an unnatural sheen to the mids and treble. Based on those two trials, I am very suspicious of granite.

I also tried a 3/4" slab of aluminum. That too had an artificiality to it that annoyed me rather quickly.

I tried lots of wood platforms before settling on a very simple platform as being the best sounding. This one is two 3/4" solid maple platforms screwed together (no glue). By the way, a single 3" slab of maple was too colored and too resonant.

 

[cjf]

Im in the process of researching a sandwich of my own for use as a monoblock amp platform. I was all but decided on a 4" thick butcher block of Maple but after reading around the web I got sidetracked with the thoughts of other more esoteric options. From a Math's/Science standpoint it seems Granite is very similar to other material that is more universally favored like Steel but given the building opinion that Granite sucks for sound I find myself seeking other options that may be better then the Maple I have always had good luck with.

With that said, I have found a few sources on the web that do sell custom cut slabs of Steel,Aluminum,Brass,Copper,Carbon Fiber, Stainless Steel and various other man made plastic materials. I'm thinking that a suitable combo of two or three of these materials sandwiched together could be a possible alternative to Maple as long as these materials are chosen in such a way as to not compete with each other. I think using the chart I posted earlier as a guide may be useful. By this I mean for example, having a slab of Steel as layer #1, then maybe Brass or Copper as Layer #2, then something like Cork as Layer #3 then continue with these materials in reverse until you end with Steel again on the very bottom layer. The thought here being to have a continually less dense material then the one before it but not so much to cause the sound/vibration to reflect back to the source.

As you can imagine going this route could get very thick and heavy very fast so finding the appropriate combo of thicknesses when it all added up to not surpass maybe 3-4" per platform will take some extra thought. No matter which sandwich combo I choose, the feet of the slab closest to the floor will be a Spring of some form to break the floor borne vibration connection to the component resting on this stand.

One thing Im not clear on is if the general concensus is that the platform itself needs to weigh MORE than whatever component rests on it to be considered sufficient.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I think you are on the right track for a DIY project, cjf. (I also think theorizing about different combinations of layers of materials and building them and trying to evaluate how they "sound" is an excellent way to drive oneself crazy, but what isn't in this hobby?)

Why not just rest the multi-layered platform on sorbothane disks to damp vibrations coming up the rack from the floor?

 

[sbo6]

Granite sounded horrible under my Martin Logan Summits and when I moved those slabs under components.

Interesting, I found granite slabs on my carpet and ML Summits on top yielded an increased bass articulation and reduced bloat.

Also, WRT others comments on granite, if I recall the resonant freq. is contingent on the thickness. Also as others have said it is commonly employed with other materials (composite and / or layered) for better results.

 

[dctom]

As I mentioned earlier, bonding granite and slate created a composite support that was much less resonant than either material on it's own.

 

[bonzo75]

Interesting, I found granite slabs on my carpet and ML Summits on top yielded an increased bass articulation and reduced bloat.

Also, WRT others comments on granite, if I recall the resonant freq. is contingent on the thickness. Also as others have said it is commonly employed with other materials (composite and / or layered) for better results.

It reduced bloat. But the notes did not decay enough - I realized this only after I put Townshend platforms below. The way Townshend is structured, it had a hold in the middle of the platform, so that raised the distance from the woofer to the ground, and bass and musicality was set free. it just played so much more easily. Now the Townshend are 1000 quid for the pair. But when I took them off Townshend and put them on Auralex platforms which cost 70 quid, I retained most of the virtues. After that granite sounded really bad. It's quite possible different granite platforms could sound different.