Rack Stack Vibration Isolation advice

I've never had much faith in ball bearings as isolation components, at least in the vertical deflection range.  Amazon also sells spring based units which will do the job.  You will want to dampen them a bit with some soft foam between the shelf and the component.  

The thing to understand is vibrations travel through a medium until it encounters a second medium of a different density.  Then it reflects in the direction it came as a ratio of the two densities.  Since the reflection and the travel through the medium is inherently lossy, eventually the vibration energy is spent.  So, if you use butcher block and put 1/2 inch of felt ---  well, you can see where this is going.  Aim for 1,000:1 attenuation based on the densities.  You will want two or three layers to get those numbers.  Do the same thing on the shelf to rack and shelf to component.  

Don't make this more complex than it is, it really is simple physics.

+1 @slaw regarding Townshend. I recently purchased their isolation platforms and they are amazing. I’m a convert to decoupling over other methods. On the very low cost side I’d try the springs that are found on Amazon. I purchased a 4 pack and you can remove springs to get the appropriate resistance Vs weight. I’d put the Townshend’s under the rack and experiment with springs under individual components provided you have enough clearance. Happy Hunting , Mike B. 

… so Townshend pods beneath the wooden butcher block… and the stack audios beneath the marble for my components on the rack?  
 

spatial king… I cannot read between the lines…. So how would the felt perform? And what do you mean by layers?

thabk you,

Richard. 

Cork Pads are one of my go to separators and used as a tier in the Support for the Sub-plinth my Racks sit on.

Years ago Spent Squash Ball as a Half Ball were used as footers under equipment. I was always led to believe Spent Hockey Pucks were similar in their managing energy, these would be a good dimension as a Rack Footer.

Do consider for the Rack Support, a Sub-Plinth built on top of a few tiers of different separator materials.

IsoAcoustics Mini-Pucks and Oreas work well under my main electronic components. At the suggestion of a friend, I use little squares cut from Ikea Gunstig pot stands under my power amplifiers. These are cheap enough to try under all components. When cutting, care needs to be taken with the metal magnets in the Gunsigs. Multiple layers of these cut squares can be used.

I did see a photograph of a rack that had been fitted with IsoAcoustics Gaia loudspeaker feet. For racks that take threaded bolts, this looks like an elegant vibration control solution. I think they would work for my Quadraspire racks and I have trying this out on my to do list.