Can you over damp with isolation products? If so - How do you know you've done it?

Whether it’s viscoelastic materials, cork, graphite composites, crystals, specialized tapes or mass loading, they all have downsides, some more than others, usually by reflecting energy back into the system. It’s what the excellent Japanese audiophile company, Acoustic Revive, describes as “over dumping” in their literature. A comprehensive program of vibration isolation and use of cones made of very hard materials to allow rapid exit of stored energy is preferable to most damping methods. Isolation itself is effective in damping the component.

geoff kait
machina dynamica
advanced audio concepts

No, not with isolation devices. You can over-damp with some damping devices or materials but real isolation devices, I.e., mass on spring devices function one-way only as mechanical diodes 🔜. They do two things at once - isolate the component or speaker from seismic type vibration AND dissipate any residual or inherent vibration of the component or speaker.