Quote:
Originally Posted by PHC1
It would have an unpredictable sound effect. First the rumors and listening impressions would need to circulate and set the tone for the rest of the audiophiles. Then all the adjectives of praise and new vocabulary would follow. The higher the cost, the more perceived effect. Obviously.
|
Serge, with all due respect, this is simply not true.
The EVPs from A/VRoomservice are quite affordable as far as they go and provide very effective
isolation.
Stillpoints work well, too, but the primary benefit is they provide
mechanical grounding. Different device generally need one or the other.
EVPs generally work well for providing isolation for devices that are already well-damped mechnically, e.g. Shunyata power distributors and Constellation gear, for example. They also work really well under loudspeakers on slab floors because they prevent coupling of the floor's resonance with walls made of drywall, which resonates at 70Hz. My understanding is that Isoacoustics devices also work well in these applications.
Stillpoints work well to provide
mechanical grounding to a higher mass support (e.g. hardwood or granite slab) for devices that have little to no internal damping. In my case, they work very well under my network audio bridge on rock maple. EVPs and Stillpoints both work pretty much equally under my Gumby DAC, but the Stillpoints are just a tick better-sounding. Both trounce the stock feet and Herbie's Tenderfeet.
As for the rubber and cork antivibration pads that Jim was referring to, they are a very affordable solution for providing vibration isolation under mass-loaded platforms, but not as effective under components as Herbie's Tenderfeet and nowhere close to the isolation that EVPs provide. They are most effective for providing isolation of mass-loaded platforms on an audio rack shelf or similar.
Horses for courses, but both of the different classes of "footers" mediate different functional responses with respect to vibration management, and for different reasons. Each type is likely to be more effective under different devices when used in specific settings, and for the most part, the benefit one class would bring over another would generally also be for different reasons. And, in some cases, depending on the device, they may be quite comparable in the benefit they bring, e.g. under my Schiit DAC or a Shunyata PD, which comes with stainless footers that provide excellent mechanical grounding. These response(s) can be measured and charaterized with a transfer function.
BTW, vibration management is also important for power cords, which is why the new Shunyata XC and NR PCs from the Alpha line on up utilize genuine carbon fiber connectors which are also potted internally.