Sorbothane Feet Dampeners
zingo
Posts: 11,258
I been playing around with Sorbothane feet dampeners on my electronics, and I like it! The different feet and dampeners were ordered from Buy.com and Luminous Audio, and have made a difference in my system in two different ways. First and most noticeably, my cable box which has a fan in it, was vibrating and causing a resonance in my cabinet which I could hear on the other side of the room. After putting four 1.25" domes under it, it vibrates completely independent from the shelf it's on eliminating the noise, which I'm sure helps sound quality a little as well by not vibrating all the rest of the equipment. I also put .75" domes under the Blu-Ray player to help out the disc, but haven't noticed a difference yet. However, the other difference I did noticed was placing .75" Sorbothane pads under my 35lbs DAC, and then placing 1.25" domes under the amp that sits on top of the DAC. This caused increased bass response as well as a slight increase in the overall clarity of music. This component stack now breathes better and is far less effected by vibrations, etc which the tubes thank me for.
All the feet cost me around $50 which was worth it alone for removing the shelf resonance with the cable box; the increased sound quality was just a bonus! I highly recommend you give Sorbothane feet a try as they are cheap and can be found all over the internet. They provide great vibration protection and isolation, and even a little elevation if you have cooling issues. One word of caution though, the feet I have came in two different densities: 30 durometer and 50 durometer; the higher the durometer the denser the material. The 30 durometer domes are fairly soft which means they transfer very little movement, but they also only hold a few pounds each. Make sure that you buy feet of the appropriate density (durometer) for the weight and needs of your components as over compressing the Sorbothane provides no benefits. Each foot or pad usually has a recommended weight, just make sure read the product description. I also prefer the taller dome feet to the discs as their is more material to absorb vibration, but the discs seems to make a better base for heavy products and multi-stacks, so get a few different kinds like I did and experiment.
All the feet cost me around $50 which was worth it alone for removing the shelf resonance with the cable box; the increased sound quality was just a bonus! I highly recommend you give Sorbothane feet a try as they are cheap and can be found all over the internet. They provide great vibration protection and isolation, and even a little elevation if you have cooling issues. One word of caution though, the feet I have came in two different densities: 30 durometer and 50 durometer; the higher the durometer the denser the material. The 30 durometer domes are fairly soft which means they transfer very little movement, but they also only hold a few pounds each. Make sure that you buy feet of the appropriate density (durometer) for the weight and needs of your components as over compressing the Sorbothane provides no benefits. Each foot or pad usually has a recommended weight, just make sure read the product description. I also prefer the taller dome feet to the discs as their is more material to absorb vibration, but the discs seems to make a better base for heavy products and multi-stacks, so get a few different kinds like I did and experiment.
Post edited by zingo on
Comments
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Thanks Jake! I always love the sobothane products.
You can also order the sobothane risers from this website. I think he sells on eBay too.
The guy is a fellow Carver fan.
http://avrisers.com/order.aspxTrying out Different Audio Cables is a Religious Affair. You don't discuss it with anyone. :redface::biggrin: -
I have used the audioquest feet for years. When I bought mine from HCM audio they bought them in bulk from Audioquest and sold them for 1/3 of what AQ wanted. AQ got wind on it and put the stop to that. I know for a fact you can bodyslam someone next to your CD player and it wont miss a beat
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Great stuff, just be aware that sobothane transfers its goo to whatever they come in contact with. This can be problematic with painted and clear coated surfaces.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Especially if they are exposed to any kind of heat. And it don't just come right off. So if you really dig that uber finish on your rack or have a nice walnut case on that old vintage...
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Good advise Jesse. In places where I have the feet on the wood of the cabinet, I first stuck the bottom to plastic wrap, then trimmed around it with scissors to match to diameter of the foot/pad. This will keep the Sorbothane off anything you don't want it to touch without much hassle.
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Smart man, Jake.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
I'll snap a picture of the feet installed tonight as per CP standards, it hasn't happened yet...
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My vibrapods also leave a ring so I put a card underneath the vibrapod which resolves the problem.
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