Best building material for vibration free shelving


I am building some built into the wall shelves for my VPI Classic 2 SE turntable, amp, preamp, CD player, and old Burwen TNE 7000A transient noise eliminator (that’s one for you old-timers to remember), as well as my DISH Network receiver box. The shelves must match in appearance the typical looking built-in wood bookshelves already in the room. The shelves will be located directly under my 45" wide flat screen television. They will be wide enough to hold two components side by side, other than the VPI turntable which will have the top shelve to itself due to its extra width. I will be building the shelves high and deep to allow for plenty of air circulation around the components. They will be painted.

My question is, what materials might you suggest building the shelves with to minimize vibration? If they were for books I’d normally build the sides, and top out of 3/4" birch sided plywood, the back out of 1/4 inch luan plywood, and the shelves out of oak to deal with the weight of the books without bending. I will be adding vibration damping feet under each component and am not looking for suggestions along those lines, only material and perhaps design recommendations to reduce vibration.

I was researching this last night online and on site, and saw recommendations to use four thicknesses of 3/4 inch High Density (HD) MDF, also to use granite or marble under the turntable, among other recommendations. I was wondering how birch veneered plywood would work too, as it’s ply’s, I believe, have their grains running in opposite directions. Maybe there’s some way to isolate the uprights from the horizontal shelves to reduce vibration transmission.

What would you think would work best for these built-ins. I’d appreciate any recommendations you have or your experience on this subject. Thank you for any ideas.

Mike


skyscraper

Showing 2 responses by rcronk

I just finished converting a built-in box or cove that held a big old TV.  It put an open box in the room and is a nightmare for audio perfection.  After lining the sides and top with carpeting I have add 12' x 12" accoustic tiles to back and corners.  The base is a 3/4" plywood sheet that sits on braces on each side.  I built a laminate of my own.  First layer is 1/4" cork, then a layer of rubbery shelf sheeting, then carpet, then a 3/4" finished poplar board (well varnished), then the 2' x 1' ceramic tile that I glued a layer of felt to the back so it would not scrape the wood.
My TD-160 now sits on Vibrapod risers that sit on this sandwich that has NO significant vibrations at all.  If you don't have a slab of marble the 2' x 1' pieces are about $3.00 each and easy to stack a few up if you want the real heavy weight.  A slab of marble would not be any better performer than a well thought out layering and lamintion.
Add on:  instead of spikes on my 4 foot homemade towers I have baking pans that fit the 12" x 18" footprint of the 100+pound speakers and filled them with sand.  On a carpeted, poured concrete basement floor the vibration issue is 'dead' in the sand.  
Hi Mike,  It sounds like you are on your way.  My hightech consultant emphasized the need to 'fill the hole' because all kinds of reverb gets collected in there.  I was advised to fill that hole above the TT and behind the TV.  Even if you just filled a pillow case with packing peanuts or puffy packing material or an old blanket and hang it behind the TV you can take the space away from the echo.  The biggest source of vibration comes first from your machines and second from the sound waves generated, especially the bass.  Where ever you can dampen those waves the better the room.  If those waves are 'in the box' they are banging up against your stylus and platter too.  If there is a whole lot of shaken going on I want it to be on the dance floor.