Quiz about adding dense mass to a vibration isolation application!

I posted a phot of my DIY cable risers in the cables $2500 thread on or about Sunday. Just to give some ideas.

I tried all of this not with a dac but a AR XA Turntable I modified. I finally found that leaving all of the nobesound springs in, so that it’s stiff, was the best option. Taking springs out only caused lateral movement, swaying and, general instability. Adding more weight would cause things to get worse. That’s my experience with these springs. 

JW:

My electronics are located outside the listening room (in a hall closet located behind the speaker wall in the living room).

I drilled 4 small holes through the double wall to run speaker cable to the living room.

Various footers and shelves placed under my TT/CD decks do alter the sound (same with a DAC when I used a seperate one).

You can experiment with items you probably already have around the home...

For soft footers cut up an old mouse pad.

For hard footers try matching ramekins, shot glasses, bat gammon pucks (you get the idea).

I finally ended leaving the gear stock (footer wise) and placing them on specialty shelves custom made for my rack.

Tried EAR, Mapleshade, Racing Cone, et cetera, footers, but never tried springs. 

DeKay

One thing that makes me happy with this subject is that people are paying attention to measurements! I can't say I've been able to identify a sonic issue related to DAC vibrations myself. Regardless, the process of achieving vibration isolation and measuring the results with accelerometers is interesting to me. It would be fascinating if someone could show DAC output measurements that correlated to the improved vibration isolation. A simple listening test could involve attaching an exciter or bass shaker to a DAC to see just how bad it can be made to sound.  Maybe very specific frequencies are problematic, others completely benign. Maybe some frequencies help! You never know until you try.

Love these threads! 

To couple or decouple, that is the question.

That and mass loading :)

I keep coming back to the same answer. Whatever unwanted vibrations that exist in the component, they need to go away. So, couple the component to something of a significant enough mass and of an appropriate material that will absorb those unwanted vibrations. Then decouple all of that so no external vibrations make their way back into the component.

But, is that even right, and how to do that effectively?