isolation

Vibration is everywhere and comes from various sources. It could be from the ground, it could be airborne, it could be from the components themselves. I used to work for a high tech company and every single piece of equipment in every lab sits on some type of vibration table. It could be a 300lb slab of rock, a sand box, or it could be a air-based or mechanical-based vibration table.

I had a similar experience as Don s described. A friend of mine had tried several platforms and ended up with a 300lb slab under his tube amp. He purchased some Grand Prix Audio stands last year. They were made of some light carbon fiber material with stell tube legs. When I held one in my hand, I was thinking how something like that could be good for an amp. Well, after we put the amp on the stand, all of our eyes were ready to pop out. There were 4 of us in the room, and we went back and forth several times.

I would also echo Don s' point that different devices have different effects. I've always placed my SS amp on a BrightStar base, which is essentially a sandbox. After my recent amp change, I noticed the sound was slightly "lifeless". I think the sand was actually draining some of that top energy. The problem was solved after I swapped out the sandbox for a SolidTech amp stand.

As for racks, don't underestimate the effect. I've been using sand-filled SolidSteel and Lovan Sovereign modular stands, which I had considered doing a good job with vibration. Recently I switched over to a SolidTech Reference component stand after hearing what the Grand Prix stand was doing for my friend's system. I had always thought that my big projection TV was the culprit for my "flat" 2-dimensional soundstage. But with the new stand, I now have a 3-dimensional soundstage despite the TV sitting somewhat in between the speakers. (I'm sure if I remove the TV, it would sound even better.)

FrankC

I think it is the most worried about problem in all of audio. The differences I have heard are insignificant or minor at most and no my hearing isn't damaged . The isolation choices and looks are great, the thick wood or stone slabs, the brass spikes, the gel pad,air pillows, Hocy pucks, racing carbon fiber rooling balls , miniature shock absobers all give the audiophile yet another way to spend a lot of money. The best isolation is to really go all out mass loaded RMI RFI and gamma irradiation proof. Thus dig a bomb shelter in your base or build at least 100 yards from any potential vibration. Have a very meticulous builder who knows how perilous vibration is make the shelter at least 4 feet thick on all sides using alternating layers of cement, copper, silver, Bbubble wrap big bubble inly, rubber and cement each layer about a half inch thick repeatedly until 4ft, thick use a small dor size made from the same embed all electric wiring cable etc through the walls the carefully put each component on a steel platform supported by a solid lead block use stel and lead to make a cover over each piece. It cost a lot but it was worthit the toughest thing is dipping the specker cables in molten glass and lead connecting them at over 10,000 pounds each was a bear. But now I can honestly say the black is blacker now the system is much clearer the bass is dynamic and punch yet musical. I am hearing things in the music I never knew were there, and that darned freight train sound I had all the time is gone.

lol. I just finished building my hometheater room if only i had known.

I agree with the spirit of Mechans' comments. Not that vibration and isolation are not an issue, but that with a few inexpenisve approaches you can address a lot of the problem without obsessing over it - the rest is dependent on the manufacturer building with approoraite internal isolation materials and mechanical integrity.

People can try to explain this away however much they want.. Fact is that a good platform (or rack) does wonders to most equipment. The differences are NOT subtle in my experience.

Just because you can't find a logical explanation for why things improve sound, doesn't mean it's not there. Science may be good for some things, but it has no place in the listening experience.