Component Isolation

[pitch perfect]

Originally Posted by lowens

Hi Matt:

I have no doubt that Ken Shindo is a master at circuit design and layout using various chambers to reach his goal. But if you look at his footers, they
certainly don’t appear to be anything special.

The same can be said for the basic a/c cords that are included with the Shindo products. They are all designed for the equipment. Leave well enough alone, from my experience.

Originally Posted by lowens

Also, what is your take on Silent Running Audio (SRA) & HRS isolation platforms. I have seen Shindo equipment utilize these many times to great effect.

These are the antithesis of what I recommend. The SRA stands have never helped Shindo products truly be what they can be. See other threads to see what equipment supports, I recommend, that are ideal for Shindo.

Best,
-M

[pitch perfect]

Originally Posted by lowens

Aftermarket footer manufacturers claim that "they don't color the music or change the tone/harmonics, they reduce distortions caused by micro-vibrations, resulting in a truer rendering of the music, more faithful to the components' intent"

Pure BS. As if footer manufacturers would dare market themselves as changing the sound? Of course they change the sound. You are EQ'ing the sound... Why else use them?

Folks need to stop listening with their eyes.. There is a reason for every material and component that Shindo is using.

It's not necessary to spend money on these sort of tweaks..... You should be thanking me.

-M

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by pitchperfect

Pure BS. As if footer manufacturers would dare market themselves as changing the sound? Of course they change the sound. You are EQ'ing the sound... Why else use them?

Folks need to stop listening with their eyes.. There is a reason for every material and component that Shindo is using.

I'm telling you not to waste your money on these things. You should be thanking me.

-M

Of course everything can change the sound in a system. If you buy into what Shindo is selling and how his gear is voiced/colored/pick your term, then why would you want to swap out power cords, roll tubes, add isolation etc. Just stick it in your rack and you have found Valhalla. It is just that most people in this crazy hobby want to tailor the sound to what they want to hear, not what someone else likes. So we tweak.

Jim

[lowens]

Matt:

Thanks for your insight. Given your thoughts what does the LingoLab equipment support do? If it causes such an improvement in the sound of ones system, then surely it is acting as some kind of isolation enhancement device? I see it has these big, round feet to support the rack.

P.S. I am not a tweeker, I generally let things be and have never really utilized aftermarket footers, spikes or anything. But I have often wondered.

[TommyC]

From Matt's posts, my impression is that an aftermarket tweak can change the sound, but not improve it.

[Shindoug]

I guess the difficulty with equipment isolation is that there is little uniformity between the environments in which we place our systems, so we are all going to get slightly different results from different isolation devices. I agree that all isolation devices are probably acting as equalization products – but in some cases a particular equalization may be beneficial in compensating for an environmental deficiency and may consequently appear to “improve” the sound. So there will always be differences of opinion here. Presumably the better the equipment rack is at eliminating the environmental differences the more uniform our results will be. To that end I’m sure we’d all be getting very similar results if we all had the amazing Lingo Labs racks (I can’t imagine how much they cost – perhaps we could get a bulk discount if we all ordered one) Until then various “magic” isolation gizmos will work for some but not for others. In my system – spikes under my turntable platform sound horrible but Herbies tender feet sound fantastic – unfortunately all that speaks to is the deficiencies of my rack rather than the superiority of Herbies feet.

Doug

[Masterlu]

Plink... Welcome!

[pitch perfect]

Originally Posted by lowens

Matt:

Thanks for your insight. Given your thoughts what does the LingoLab equipment support do? If it causes such an improvement in the sound of ones system, then surely it is acting as some kind of isolation enhancement device? I see it has these big, round feet to support the rack.

P.S. I am not a tweeker, I generally let things be and have never really utilized aftermarket footers, spikes or anything. But I have often wondered.

Hi Larry,

The footers, in conjunction with the stand, do a great job at isolating the equipment from the environment, down to about 3Hz from my understanding. It's as if the equipment support is literally 'floating'. It sways slowly and gently if pushed, for example, but is solid in normal use. I provide one of three spring compression ratios to provide proper resistance for a range of weight variations.

-Matt

[Shindoug]

Interesting, I didn't know one could purchase the LingoLab footers separately. I wonder if one could modify a box furniture rack to accept these: adding some weight to the lower shelf to get appropriate mass. This might make for a workable, relatively cheaper solution than getting the whole LingoLab rack. Anyone ever looked into that?

Doug

[pitch perfect]

Originally Posted by Shindoug

Interesting, I didn't know one could purchase the LingoLab footers separately. I wonder if one could modify a box furniture rack to accept these: adding some weight to the lower shelf to get appropriate mass. This might make for a workable, relatively cheaper solution than getting the whole LingoLab rack. Anyone ever looked into that?

Doug

The special footers plus a double wide three shelf Sapele finished Box rack are only about $1,800 less than the price of a LignoLab in Birch finish (comes in Walnut and Birch & Walnut), so it's really not cheaper.

If you are going to 'do it' at this level, you go all the way...

-Matt