Tiptoes vs rubber bottle stoppers: When?


I have a Sony SACD777 that was on one side of setup on a very solid cabinet. Then I moved it to a rack, not so solid. The bottom faded after the move... Tried tiptoes, naaah. Then put size 10 rubber bottle stoppers under feet and WHAM, back comes the bottom stability and "solid" musical bottom end. So??? the question is, what general guidelines does one follow? (besides: what sounds best!!!) and does anyone know the correct amount of weight for a #10 stopper to maximize the vibration dampening properties? and how about a #8 stopper? (I got mine at American Science and Surplus 10's for $1.25 each and 8's for .80...) I use some AQ sorbothane pods under my preamp too.
elizabeth

Showing 1 response by redkiwi

I only have my opinions Craig and Elizabeth, and what I have to say will probably not go down too well in this instance. I don't doubt what you say you hear, or that you preferred the weightier bass Elizabeth. And if I was there I expect I would agree with that preference.

But (and you knew that was coming), as I have reported elsewhere, I have gotten fooled by this same thing, and eventually saw through it. Using heavy shelfs and certain types of rubber footers will add bass weight, but they do this by moving resonance points into the bass region and lengthening (smearing) bass transients). But if the flipside is using light and rigid supports, and having no bass weight (cause the real thing has bass weight), is it any better? Well there are some solutions that can give you bass speed and bass weight. There may also be iisues with the rack you are using Elizabeth.

I know I am suggesting a u-turn from the path you are on. Do a search on "Shelf" and you will see how much I have been ranting on this topic. But perhaps something you may be happy with is a suggestion you use the E-A-R feet, which give a good bass result while retaining good articulation, and which I reckon are overall way better than any rubber foot - they are a polymer of some sort, look like a rubber footer, are not very big, come in two sizes depending on weight of the component (and you must use the correct size for good results) and are cheap. Found at www.sonicfrontiers.com.