tweeks that work - hearing is believing

[Briz vegas]

Visited a fellow audio club members house last night to hear his latest tweek.

Basically it was these BIG isolation feet "magix" by clear audio that he was using under virtually everything. His source was a Denon 2900 without modifications. Sitting on his top shelf the sound was a little on the harsh side and the clarity could have been better. His other kit was top quality - Classe integrated and mid range Martin Logans.

We listened to four tracks it total -then he added the tweeks - the magix feet, a sort of weegee board made my a local tweeker, plus felt and weight on the top of the player to reduce vibrations.

Well all I can say is it worked. Music was much more listenable and entertaining, harshness was replaced by smoothness and detail increased. On my Blind Willie Johnson CD originally recorded in 1927 the vocals were significantly clearer to the point where previously hard to understand lyrics were clearly legible with little effort. All three of us in the room agreed that the difference turned the edgy sound into something that made you want to keep on listening track after track.

The price of the feet was frankly silly but the improvement could not be denied on the Denon. If you are having harshness/detail issues with your digital source I strongly suggest you try this sort of tweek. In at least one case it was working a treat.

Has anyone else had similar revelations with this sort of tweek?

[zmanbands]

What is the silly price.

Who sells it? Contact???

[dtb300]

Many items by Herbie's Audio Lab here in the US are great tweaks for very little cost - and they work. For those in the Digital World, give the "Black Hole" CD Mat a try. I use the Tenderfoot along with DH Squares under my CD Player, and Pre Amp. Great stuff.

Here is a link to the site and the footers page: http://herbiesaudiolab.home.att.net/footers.htm

[Russ L]

My dealer put some Audioquest Q Feet under my CD player when I was demoing at his store. Lowered the noise floor and increased the seperation of instruments in the soundstage. I was more than skeptical when he suggested them. They work under my high end CD player and my inexpensive Yamaha Universal player. But really are more noticable on the high end player. Really are a must-have to get the most of your investment. $100 for a set of 4. Who woulda believed? Hes says they help amps as well but I don't see how. -Russ

[Briz vegas]

Who sells it? Contact???

They are by clear audio

In Australia I understand the original price was $500AU each. This website says $200 US each - which means $800 for a CD player and up to $2400 for a heavy turntable, where I understand up to 12 are required.

http://www.needledoctor.com/Clearaudio-Magix-Magnetic-Levitation-Isolation-Feet

Expensive - but in a high end system they were pretty darn impressive (Denon 2900 - high end ???)

[NMyTree]

Or as a substitute............

Buy yourself eight small neoprene mouse pads, the ones without the plastic layer on top. Get the ones with a cloth layer on top.

Stack two mouse pads under each foot of your component.

Place the "weight" on top of the component.

Take the the ton of money you saved by not buying the Clearaudio Magix Magnetic Levitation Isolation Feet........

....and buy yourself some music......or take the wife/girlfriend out to a nice dinner......Or take your kids for a nice day out.....Or save the money for future speaker/component upgrades. Whatever.

If you feel like you haven't spent enough money on a significant tweek, then, order yourself one of these.......

http://www.cookwareessentials.com/Totally-Bamboo-20-3100-TBM1037.html

Place component (with mouse pads under each foot) on top.

Place weight on top of component.

For just under $200.00 you can accomplish the same results, as you would have for $800.00.......on those Clearaudio Magix Magnetic Levitation Isolation Feet.

The "Magix" is watching your money disappear right before your very eyes :E :B

"Friends Don't Let Friends Waste Their Money On Absurdly Expensive Rip-Off Tweeks. And Friends Don't Let Them Drive Afterwards, If They Ignore Our Advice and Go Ahead and Waste Their Money, anyway! "

:B

This message is brought to you by Sanity In Audio, a non-profit, public service organization.

[Glen B]

He says they help amps as well but I don't see how. -Russ

Isolation from microphonics. Classé obviously recognizes this as an issue by using feet made of Navcom material under their Delta products.

[gd]

Hey... kick it up a notch and get an Emeril-brand cutting board... think how cool that will look with your Ayre uni-player.

FWIW, I got modest-cost iso-pads for my 2-ch rig years ago... if there is a sonic improvement, it's going undetected by my ears... but they certainly don't hurt, and at the very least create a little more ventilation space between stacked components.
.

[RobP]

:laughat: the only bad thing is that everytime he yells "BAM!" the cd skips..............................

[PewterTA]

:laughat: that's priceless... :rofl:

I got the Vibrapods and they did make a noticeable difference in my CA 640c V2... So for the $25, it was well worth the price. I also put a set under my Xbox360 and the CD player on the thing quieted down and I haven't had a disc misread since...

Also put a set under my center channel and it's made the center sound more similar to my mains (not sure why that is though). Center is B&W LCR600, mains B&W 604s.

[JudyLou]

Try Vibropods - they are only only $25.00 for a pack of 4 and they work magic. If theirs a dealer close - go and take a listen.
We use them under the DVD, CD, AMPS, and subs. The main speakers are next. :T

Lourens

[NMyTree]

I also have some of these IsoBlocks and they work very well.

http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/audioproducts/isoblocks.php

I especially like how when placed underneath the chasis of a component; they lift them up and allow for better air-flow and more breathing room for the component.

Sound-wise, they basically give the same results as placing two mousepads underneath each foot.

Sheets of sorbothane work very well, too.

http://scientificsonline.com/Product.asp?pn=3037000&sid=google&cm_mmc=google-_-cpc-_-edmu-_-sorbothane&bhcd2=1189177879

Two sheets ($19.95 per 12"x12"x1/8" sheet) should do for all of one's components. You can cut small circles or squares to place under each component's foot. You can even double or triple up for CD players and pre amps, which would give you 1/4" or 3/8" of sorbothane thickness under each foot. Works beautifully!

Certainly a much more worth while effort, than spending $800.00 bucks (per component) on those ridiculous Clearaudio Magix Magnetic Levitation Isolation Feet.

[dtb300]

I also have some of these IsoBlocks and they work very well.

For even cheaper tweaks, try some different pieces of wood under your components making sure not to touch the built in feet. While helping to improve airflow around as the other posts talks about, each type of wood has its own characteristic - Maple, Pine, Popular, Oak, etc.

[Russ L]

Isolation from microphonics. Classé obviously recognizes this as an issue by using feet made of Navcom material under their Delta products.

I tried the Audioquest isolation feet under my amp and power conditioner. In addition to already having them under my CD player. Sounds like I upgraded my amplification by $1000-$2000. Amazing difference. Even larger difference than when I put the feet under my CD player. Thanks for the heads up :T :T -Russ

[jim777]

Once this guy in an audio show insisted on "demagnetizing" each CD by pressing it between some foil. I think I could hear a difference but it is the kind of tweek that works well because you can't "remagnetize" the CD to compare again and again.

Another tweek that surprised me was a power cable. There was maybe 200 feet of cable in the walls, another 300 feet to the nearest power tranformer and how many kilometers from baie james (were the hydro electricity comes from), and another long length of cable in the amplifier's xfo. The guy changes 6' of cable between the wall and the amp (like if the cable in the wall had no resistance or anything), and it was a night and day difference. Ok maybe the fact that it was a tube amp (McIntosh MC275) had something to do with it, but again, I was surprised. And that, we could go back and forth from the stock cable to hear if there was really a difference.

And I do have Vibrapods under my CD player, and my oppo! but only because I needed the extra height for my setup to look good, never took them off to compare!

[JudyLou]

And I do have Vibrapods under my CD player, and my oppo! but only because I needed the extra height for my setup to look good, never took them off to compare!

Hi SHLM Jim

Do yourself a favor and take the vibrapods out – it sound like someone pulled a blanked over the speakers! And that’s not my imagination – I took a teenager that plays guitar but has no knowledge in AV and all the gimmicks that goes with it – without telling him what I planned to do just asked him to listen - I asked him to close his eye, put some music on let him listen for about 1minute – took the vibrapods out and played the track again. He asked me what I did, because the music sounded now more flat! Now that is everyone’s reaction so far. We now went so far as to put some vibrapods under the subs – boy, what a question! Its just getting better. :T
Today we are going to put some vibrapods under the 603’s that are already on plinths! Let you know what happened.

BRK
Lourens

[JudyLou]

Ok - done the B&W603 mains now also - amazing - althought the vibrapods under the subs are % a bigger upgrade - under the 603's it also great - about 70% of that of the subs.

[zmanbands]

Vibrapod cones

Judy have you tried these cones with the pods anywhere?

[JudyLou]

Yes - and the combination is even better - only problem is, it's not always practical because of the height(if inside stands) and then the balance factor on heavy equipment - but that it sound even better - no doubt!

[JudyLou]

We use the pod/cone combination with the cd & dvd players.

[jim777]

Do yourself a favor and take the vibrapods out

Well it is a bit complicated to do so because my player is in a cabinet.

I'm surprised that the pods help for speakers, because I got an improvement with spikes over rubber feet with my 703's. And my spikes are on some feet to protect my floor, and I got another improvement when I changed for some feet that are much harder.

But one thing is sure, it's a cheap tweek and it looks great :T

[PewterTA]

Has anyone messed with the Mapleshade's Isoblocks? I've been tempted to try them as many people have told me they are much better than my Vibrapods, but I'm just not sure if I want to put money out for them to not get any (or very little) improvement...

http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/audioproducts/isoblocks.php

[JudyLou]

I'm surprised that the pods help for speakers, because I got an improvement with spikes over rubber feet with my 703's. And my spikes are on some feet to protect my floor, and I got another improvement when I changed for some feet that are much harder.

But one thing is sure, it's a cheap tweek and it looks great :T

Hi SHLM

Yes Jim, don’t ask me how the science work in this case, no explanation :huh: – we played around – the plinths under the 603’s made a huge difference – it’s spikes the wood base with metal plate then 4 sort of hard resin cones on which the speakers rest – we then took only the 4 resin cones of and replaced them with the vibrapods – one doesn’t have to wonder, the difference(for the better) is immediately hearable! :T

No all this still makes sense to me, but when we took 4 vibrapods and put it underneath the Furutech power connector/conditioner, and it also immediately sounded better – that was just to much for my brain to comprehend. It’s plain electronics – how the heck resonance could such a big influence on something like a power conditioner is above me. But it works – like I said to my partner - you know what, even if it’s all in the mind, it doesn’t matter, the point is it’s better, and for the price of the vibrapods – it’s good mind therapy.

Hi Pewter – haven’t tried the Mapleshade's Isoblocks, not available in South Africa – but I see on the net they are the same price as the vibrapods – well you haven’t got much to loose, if they improve the sound the same way it’s fine, if they are better it’s a bonus! I must again stress if your equipment allows you to add the vibracones to the vibrapods, go for it, it’s a greater positive jump than one gets with pods only. :T

BRK
Lourens

[zmanbands]

PewterTA

I just ordered a bunch of vibrapods and 4 cones. Mapleshade will be exchanging a few CD's for me and I'll have them include some isoblocks. Will post results in about a week.