Good or Bad Vibrations?
 

Got a question for the collective brain trust here. We are told that vibration is bad for components and we should use products like
Stillpoints to eliminate it. I have heard the benefit so I don't need to be convinced. But nearly all high end amplifiers do emit a very modest, low level hum such that you can tell that they are on but not so much that you can hear them from the listening position. That is, not dead and inert like a rock. That you can hear the hum means it's probably pretty low frequency. My question is why. Is some kinds of vibrations like ones you can faintly hear ok but others problematic and need damping? I read somewhere that vibration products like Stillpoints work above 20kHz and shift the vibrations in frequency to where they do not matter. So is the answer that what matters is the frequency of the vibrations? Maybe just high frequency vibrations are the kind that hurt electronics?

Hi arises,
Some amplifiers will emit a mechanical hum initially when powered up for the first time, but should not be audible a few seconds after the power settles in. If the mechanical hum is audible a step back from the amplifier then it possible stray DC current might be on the AC power line the amplifier is plugged into. This stray DC current can cause a transformer in the power amplifier to emit the mechanical hum you describe. One of the most popular sources of DC current on the AC line is from light dimmer controls within the home.

I can't speak to the engineering behind vibration control products, but vibrations into any and all audio gear can have an effect. I personally have know way of knowing if low or high frequency vibrations have significant impact on audio products, but if your power or pre amplifiers have tube sockets I imagine there is a range of vibration frequencies that will impact the tube sockets more than others. In digital products such s DACs and CD/DVD/SACD players there would be a range of frequencies that would impact the ability of the crystal oscillators inside that gear to stay on the correct frequency resulting in high levels of jitter, negatively impacting the audio quality.