How Good Is A Marble Slab at Deadening Vibration


I have a marbles slab that is approx. 42" X 16X 2". A left over insert from a coffee table. I would like to lay it on top of a plant stand table that is 50" X 18X 30" The slab weigh about 70 lbs. II think I have enough space laterally to position a Rega turntable, a Bel Canto line stage, and Rega Apollo CD player and a pair of Red Dragon monoblocks, that could easily be stack vertically if necessary.(Also could place them on the bottom shelf which has a slight V-shaped dip ...probably a run off channel. This would save me three feet of speaker cable on both channels is placed near the bottom)

The plant stand is made of wood and has fairly massive "L-shaped" legs. The table weight is about 40 pounds.

My thinking is that a marble slab should provide excellent isolation from vibration. The only drawback is the left side of table will only be a foot from the right speaker. So I would start the progression of components from right to left to increase the distance to the speaker in question. Would like opinions from members about the pros/cons of this set-up. Thanks, Jim
sunnyjim
Depends. The term 'deadening device' speaks to resonance frequency, and all 'things' have a resonance frequency. Resonant frequency of materials is a function of mass, shape, and modulus of elasticity, not just the material itself. As relates to 'deadening', the lower the resonance frequency, the better. Best to just try the marble and see what if any improvement, or not, in sound results. One thing you don't want to use, that is glass, in any shape or form. Ideally wood seems to be best suited to be used in platforms of audio equipment, the thicker the better. Maple gets a lot of use in high end audio platforms.
Everybody is right so far.

And: if you rest that massive slab on some manner of damping footers -- and your wife likes the way it looks -- your stereo will sound better to you than it does now.
No. 'Decoupling' device, such as magnets or what I use which are soft fiber scratch pads about 3/4" thick under the feet of my gear. I cut them to about 2"X2" squares. They work very well. But I'm interested to know whether the platform would play a role when using these, if someone has experience.