Getting granite tomorrow.

A few years ago, I hired a water-jet company to cut some slate slabs for me in order to make turntable plinths (for my own use, only). During one of my visits, I noted that they had stacks of very dense yet very light styrofoam-like slabs lying around, some about 3 inches thick and some about 5 inches thick. I use the term "styrofoam-like", because this stuff is much tougher than styrofoam and does not flake or fall apart, unlike the styrofoam we are used to. In fact, I use a handsaw to cut it. It's also black instead of white. They informed me that the stuff was packing material for heavy but fragile items that were sent to them for processing. They also invited me to take as much as I want. I am using it as an element of a vibration-absorbing structure under my SP10 Mk3. I would not claim that the net effect of my construct is superior to a Vibraplane or MinusK platform, but it works impressively well. (The Mk3 sits on 3 Stillpoints which ride on half-inch thick lucite plates that in turn sit atop the mystery packing material, which sits on a granite shelf dampened by a hardwood backing [an Adona shelf]. All of that sits on an Adona rack.) To give you an idea of the structural integrity of the packing material, it does not crush or bend in any way under the ~100-lb weight of the Mk3 in its slate and wood plinth. Yet each piece is "light as a feather", a favorable property; it would tend to dissipate energy, rather than storing it.

I realize now I should not use the term "dense" to describe the material mentioned above, since that suggests high weight per unit volume. In fact, it is very light in weight per unit volume.