To isolate or not to isolate, that is the question


HI Guys,

I'm sorry about the Shakespeare misquote.
I've had some really good advice from this forum so I thought I'd run something else by you. I live right down in the south of Spain in and old house built of stone and concrete. It is all open plan with high ceilings and marble floor. My hi-fi currently sits on an old glass multi shelf rack from the nineties.
I'm in the process od doing some renovations and was thinking of building a couple of marble shelves to put the Hi-fi on, but I have a couple of questions.

1. Should I make the shelf as solid as I can or should I try to isolate it? I have some silicon feet it could sit on and I've been told that sitting it on half a squash ball would work.

2. Will it make any difference?

3. If I listen to equipment in a dealers with carpets, soft furnishings etc am I right in thinking that it might then sound a little bright when I get it home due to the acoustics of my house?

Thanks again and keep the excellent advice flowing.
rob-in-spain

Showing 1 response by lewm

Glass shelves are generally not a good idea. You might look at stands made by reputable audio companies, like Adona and others I cannot recall, at least for an idea about proper shelves.
You want the stand to be as solid as possible. If your marble flooring is sitting on an earthen slab (no cellar/basement underneath, just solid ground), then you don't need to isolate the shelving, in my opinion.
Yes, obviously, your house will be "brighter" than almost any audio emporium; you might consider hanging some carpets here or there to soften up the reflections. Absent such decorative carpets, there are commercial products for room acoustic treatment.