cones or sorbothane or both?

Hey, what about sorbothane layers between stainless stell washers (the interface between different materials should send a reflection of the vibrational wave back into the sorbothane for further dissipation). The place stainless steel ball-bearings at the top to couple your system to the washer-sorbothane sandwiched structure. I think ones can do this for about $8 for four sets with three layers of sorbothane. I am tring it this weekend.
Salsero

You can either transmit vibrations, or absorb them. Most soft or rubbery materials absorb the vibrations, and then re-release them back into the equipment. If you provide a direct coupling to allow the vibrations to exit, then you do not re-release them back into the equipment. I use Audiopoints, which are more than a simple cone, and are patented and engineered to do the job of evacuating the vibrations better than others I have tried. They look like simple cones, but the materials and geometry make the difference.

Correction to TWL. If a rubbery material absorbs the vibration, the energy is disipated in the form of atomic vibrations. Once the energy is absorbed, it will not be "re-released". This is based on the visco-elastic model of vibrations. Some energy will make through the rubbery material either if it is in a frequency where the material can't absorb it (i.e. the resonance frequency) or if the energy coming into the material is to high for complete dissipation.

Salsero

Salsero, I think your last statement is the critical one. According to my understanding of the Zener model, the damping must occur completely during the relaxation time of the material in question, or the vibrations will not be fully damped. In such a case the remaining portion of the vibrations will be re-released into a suitable adjoining layer.

Earthquakes can be felt hundreds if not thousands of miles away from epicenter. Is the Earth direct coupled or is it absorbent under these circumstance? Molecular transmission? Yea I think so! Where did all that energy go? You are still living with the effects. You cannot isolate anything. Direct audio coupling to Earths ground is the most effective path to the best of sound. Mixing one ineffective material with the science of resonant energy transfer makes for a misguided and misjudged outcome. Tom