Tweakers' Asylum

Myrtle blocks are not isolation....

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mattcecil1@yahoo.com

In Reply to: RE: What is your setup with Herbie's isolation stuffs, especially cdp and amp? posted by michaelv20850 on June 14, 2007 at 09:15:55

definitely give Herbie's products a try...90 days??? Steve is a great guy and will help you if you drop him a line. Some of his products are for pure isolation, others, like the balls & pucks are esentially coupling and isolation in one tiny & neat package.

myrtle blocks are straight coupling though. If your rack's shelf is MDF, try and put a layer of thick, rigid paper in between your gear and the MDF..MDF is toxic, yo. i stick empty LP album covers and they sound great. thin cardboard, construction paper or poster board might also work.

i've used maple blocks but had to go with the expensive Ultimate Triplepoint footers to make 'that' form of tweaking work to my liking. Don't do this!! its expensive and a bit whacky. :)

Follow Ups:

RE: Myrtle blocks are not isolation.... - michaelv20850 20:49:17 06/14/07 (3)
Thanks.

If a component is heavy enough, i don't think vibration is an issue anymore.However, i still see audiophiles isolate or couple the component to the either floor or platform surface.

There are many different types of isolating /coupling devices on the market so that i won't be able to try them all , otherwise, i'm broke...:) Putting LP cover is great idea and cheap to try. Does it affect only to tube? LP? how about SS?
- RE: Myrtle blocks are not isolation.... - mattcecil1@yahoo.com 07:53:21 06/15/07 (0)
  The LP covers will work for all your gear...makes no difference what type it is as long as it makes music. :)
  
  Literally i have 6 or 7 LP covers just sitting on my racks shelves...my gear simply sits on top of them. This is some form os isolation, but moreover its a way to mitigate the damage that MDF does to the sound in my room.
  
  i imagine the paper trick works for most surfaces like glass, stone, etc, etc.
  
  bartc's suggestions are excellent. All there is to do is experiment. A turntable has difft needs than a cd player. An amp is difft than a premp, and on & on & on.
  
  have fun & learn to critically listen, but don't get too caught up in tweaking.
- Of isolation and coupling - bartc 05:35:16 06/15/07 (1)
  Sad thing is that there seems to be no way to predict what combination of isolation and/or coupling will work for you. Each situation is idiosyncratic. It's an experimenter's dream (and a poor guy's nightmare, believe me!)
  
  The way around this is to DIY, which is what I've done with much success.
  
  In some places in my system isolation works, in others coupling, but in most it's a combination.
  
  I use dead balls (norsorex, which I think is better than sorbothane) as a vertical dimension isolator under my shelves. I use symp clone type shelves, which are seismic sinks. I use mostly roller block clones between my shelves and component bottoms for rotational/horizontal dimension coupling. Under this kind of setup beneath my sub I use an additional layer of sandbag. I've tried weights and various top damping mechanisms, but none as satisfying as judiciously applied Dynamat. Under my speakers I use hardwood half spheres with a layer of Herbies between that and the speaker bottoms (similar to his ebony and elastomer system). So my system has reponded to a mixture.
  
  Pretty much all of the above is home-made and that saves a bundle. It allows me to test out concepts easily and cheaply with stuff from my hardware store. I'm sure that I get no more than 75-80% of the value of carefully constructed commercial products, but I'm paying less than 10% of their cost most times! So who's to complain. And I don't go through my yearly budget every time just to try something small out.
  - Absolutely... - dave c 07:15:27 06/15/07 (0)
    ... my experience as well.
    Even if I have used different combinations of materials and products.
    I know I could do better... if I spent the big bucks... but frankly I would rather spend money on music so DIY is often my preferred route.
    Many of Herbie's products are the best intersection on the performance/cost graph that I can find. And he is as helpful as anyone I have met working in this area.

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