Shelf Material

Caterham1700 - thanks for your generosity, if you will allow me to be a little generous in return. I will send you an email directly. Recres - I have heard similar comments about Corian, but am curious to try because I think it will ping less than perspex. On the other hand "slow" is what I fear most about it as a material, being so dense and heavy. Did you use up-turned spikes underneath the Corian? Great to hear confirmation of the butchers block idea, and given Albert's recommendation I have tried to source some locally. However, I have found that no one brings it in and that our native South Island Beach is used universally in this country. If I can get some I will try it - but I think I will now have to begin investigating bringing some Maple in from the US. Dekay, I definitely recommend you use up-turned spikes between lips and shelf for your plan B, over any compliant material. But so far plan A (ie. suspension) sounds better still. Apart from issues of stretching, is there any reason to believe that a taut wire like the piano wire you mention will sound better than a wire that has a little give, such as the nylon I have used? Oh yeah, Gthirteen, this really defines the freaks among us, but whether it is my room or my hearing, this area of vibration appears to me to be as utterly critical as room treatment, yet unlike room treatment in that there does not seem to be any conventional wisdom on the best strategy. As I indicated when starting this thread, this is the one area of this hobby where I feel I am still way off achieving decent results (let alone understanding). I did try plexiglass and found it to be better than glass but not as good as perspex, but I might try a thicker piece and see what happens.

Redkiwi: I do not know what sonic difference the solid core piano wire will offer. I suspect that any braided or elastic cable whether metal or nylon will stretch from the weight of the gear/platforms and that the amount of stretch will not be uniform per cable. This stretching would necessitate constant leveling of the platform on which the CD player rests. I was just trying to be "practical" with the suggestion. ROFL. And yes, spikes sound like a good way to go with plan B. The aluminum sheeting on the bottom of the shelves should hold up to them.

Redkiwi: I should warn you that I designed and built all of the curtain rod/window treatment accessories for our apartment and ended up using blue rubber "dog balls" for the finials in the dining room. I do have a tendancy to cut corners.

What about the polycrystal and black diamond products in the audio market? Are these worthwhile?

While I won't pretend to have an ability to attribute sonic characteristics to any of the proposed construction techniques; I will make the following comment. Anything that increases the mass that does not have a corresponding increase in stiffness (high Young’s modulus) will result in an increase in the amplitude of deflection. In simpler terms, as stiff as possible, without unnecessary mass. Kevin Halverson