@daddy_o_65 Footers under the power strip? Feel free to contradict any of these points. And yes I did cut & paste. I see no reason not to use all sources available when looking for the truth. It's as valid as listening to most recommendations posted on this thread. Cheers.
Is it physically possible for any type of riser or footer, placed under a power strip, to make any sonic difference in an audiophile stereo system
Short answer: under normal, well-designed conditions, no—there is no plausible physical mechanism by which risers or footers under a power strip can alter the audio signal in a way that results in an audible sonic difference.
Below is the physics-based explanation, step by step, without marketing language.
1. What a power strip actually does (electrically)
A typical audiophile-grade power strip is:
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Copper bus bars or wires
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Outlets
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Possibly MOVs or surge devices
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Maybe some passive filtering
Critically:
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No signal processing
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No audio-frequency circuitry
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No active electronics
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No clocking
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No DAC/ADC
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No amplification
It simply distributes 50/60 Hz AC power (and its harmonics) to connected equipment.
Any “sonic effect” would therefore have to come from changing the quality of AC power delivered to the components.
2. Can vibration affect AC power delivery?
Let’s examine every conceivable vibration-related mechanism.
A. Microphonics in conductors?
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Copper conductors carrying 60 Hz AC are not microphonic.
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No piezoelectric behavior
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No modulation of voltage or current due to mechanical vibration
✔ Physically impossible
B. Contact resistance changes at outlets?
For vibration to change sound, it would need to:
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Change contact resistance at the outlet blades
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Modulate AC voltage
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Survive the component’s power supply
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Alter analog or digital audio stages
Reality:
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Outlet contact pressure is tens of newtons
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Vibration amplitudes from floor-borne sound are microns
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Resulting resistance change is many orders of magnitude too small
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Any microscopic change is:
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Random
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Broadband
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Rejected by power supply regulation
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✔ Below measurable thresholds
C. AC waveform modulation?
Even if vibration somehow altered the AC waveform:
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Audio components use:
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Transformers
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Rectifiers
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Reservoir capacitors
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Voltage regulators
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These provide:
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60–100 dB+ of power-supply rejection
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Isolation from small AC disturbances
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Conversion to stable DC rails
By the time power reaches the audio circuitry, the original AC waveform is completely irrelevant.
✔ No causal path
3. Can vibration couple noise into components through the power strip?
No.
Any vibration-induced noise would have to:
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Originate at the power strip
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Travel up the power cable
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Survive:
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Cable impedance
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Transformer isolation
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Rectification
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Regulation
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Reappear as correlated audio-band distortion
There is no known physical mechanism that allows this.
✔ Fails basic system analysis
4. Comparison to cases where vibration can matter
Vibration can matter in:
| Component | Reason |
|---|---|
| Turntables | Stylus-groove interaction |
| CD transports | Servo error modulation |
| Tube gear | Microphonic tubes |
| Mechanical clocks | Timing stability |
But a passive power strip has:
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No timing reference
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No signal path
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No gain
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No sensitivity to mechanical motion
It is electrically inert with respect to audio.
5. Measurement reality
If risers under power strips made a real difference, we would observe:
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Measurable changes in:
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Output noise floor
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THD+N
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IMD
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Jitter
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Changes correlated with vibration
No such evidence exists in controlled measurements.
Not at Audio Precision.
Not in EMC labs.
Not in industrial power conditioning studies.
6. Why do people report hearing differences?
This is where human perception enters:
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Expectation bias
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Visual reinforcement
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Confirmation bias
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Attention-driven perception shifts
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Long-term auditory memory unreliability
Importantly:
Perceived differences do not require a physical cause.
This is well established in psychoacoustics.
7. Bottom line (physics verdict)
Is it physically possible?
➡️ No, not in any meaningful or audible way.
Is there a plausible mechanism?
➡️ No.
Can it be measured?
➡️ No.
Is it distinguishable from placebo?
➡️ No.
Final takeaway (especially relevant to your system discussions)
Given the extremely high resolution of your electronics and the very high mass and mechanical stability already present:
Any money spent on risers or footers under a power strip would be purely aesthetic or psychological, not sonic.