Anti-Vibration Pads

Keiko

Someone recommended these. Dirt cheap compared to what some sellers ask for their specialty pads specific for audio. Ima gonna get some to experiment with. No brainer at this price. See what you think.

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Bluefin-VPRC-300-Rubber-Cork-Anti-Vibration-Pad-3-x-3-x-7-8

motorstereo

They can't possibly work for audio applications as they're not expensive enough

But; but....... just what if they do work well? Good luck to you on seems like a fun and cheap experiment

Gardenstater

That's what people often start out with but a pad like that was really designed for heavy machinery and has a really high "spring" constant k. There are also the similar ones with the blue foam instead of the cork, which may be a bit softer. There is an advantage of elastomers in that they have internal damping which a spring used alone does not, but something like both of those will actually amplify lower frequencies and will give some isolation at higher frequencies. What I would do if you want to try the elastomeric route for audio use is to use the sorbothane calculator to design ones that will really isolate whatever you are isolating. You should put an excitation frequency of 8Hz (OK maybe 10 is more doable with elastomers) or lower for vibrations coming from the environment.

https://www.sorbothane.com/technical-data/design-guide-calculators/vibration-calculator/

Keiko

Gardenstater wrote: »

That's what people often start out with but a pad like that was really designed for heavy machinery and has a really high "spring" constant k. There are also the similar ones with the blue foam instead of the cork, which may be a bit softer. There is an advantage of elastomers in that they have internal damping which a spring used alone does not, but something like both of those will actually amplify lower frequencies and will give some isolation at higher frequencies. What I would do if you want to try the elastomeric route for audio use is to use the sorbothane calculator to design ones that will really isolate whatever you are isolating. You should put an excitation frequency of 8Hz (OK maybe 10 is more doable with elastomers) or lower for vibrations coming from the environment.

https://www.sorbothane.com/technical-data/design-guide-calculators/vibration-calculator/

They have the blue foam too. Thanks for the input/info on the sorbothane. KABUSA has some nice aftermarket footers for the Technics 12xx turntables that use this material, but cost isn't in my budget right now.


https://www.supplyhouse.com/Bluefin-VPE-300-E-V-A-Anti-Vibration-Pad-3-x-3-x-7-8

https://kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/ISONOE.htm

Gardenstater

I believe the blue foam ones are softer and I think they claim they have a better damping factor vs the cork. They no longer have the tech data sheet for the cork ones or at least I can't find it.

But these are way too stiff for our typical audio uses IMO. I don't know what weight of equipment you are going to put on it but just for example, if you used 4 of these to support a 40lb piece of equipment and the contact area of the feet of the piece of equipment was 1 sq in. that would give you 10 psi at each foot. From the graph they have in data sheet that would be a spring constant k of 250 lb/in., which is very stiff. For example, if I was going to pick a compression spring for that situation I would try to get one with a k of around 3.3 lb/in. So that gives you some idea of how it will not isolate for lower frequencies and you will actually have amplification in that area but it will be limited in amount by the damping factor of the isolator. It is usually the lower frequencies that are the problem in our audio setups.

https://www.diversitech.com/en-US/item/pads/anti-vibration-(av)-pads/eva-anti-vibration-pad--MP-2E

https://www.diversitech.com/en-US/item/pads/anti-vibration-(av)-pads/rubber-~-cork-anti-vibration-pad--MP-3C

I would be thinking more in terms of selecting an appropriate compression spring and if you wanted some damping factor, to use the spring on top of one of these pads perhaps.

maxward

Very good points there^^^. But they are dirt cheap.

Keiko

Gardenstater wrote: »

I believe the blue foam ones are softer and I think they claim they have a better damping factor vs the cork. They no longer have the tech data sheet for the cork ones or at least I can't find it.

But these are way too stiff for our typical audio uses IMO. I don't know what weight of equipment you are going to put on it but just for example, if you used 4 of these to support a 40lb piece of equipment and the contact area of the feet of the piece of equipment was 1 sq in. that would give you 10 psi at each foot. From the graph they have in data sheet that would be a spring constant k of 250 lb/in., which is very stiff. For example, if I was going to pick a compression spring for that situation I would try to get one with a k of around 3.3 lb/in. So that gives you some idea of how it will not isolate for lower frequencies and you will actually have amplification in that area but it will be limited in amount by the damping factor of the isolator. It is usually the lower frequencies that are the problem in our audio setups.

https://www.diversitech.com/en-US/item/pads/anti-vibration-(av)-pads/eva-anti-vibration-pad--MP-2E

https://www.diversitech.com/en-US/item/pads/anti-vibration-(av)-pads/rubber-~-cork-anti-vibration-pad--MP-3C

I would be thinking more in terms of selecting an appropriate compression spring and if you wanted some damping factor, to use the spring on top of one of these pads perhaps.

I was thinking about isolating my Technics SL-1210M5G and using these to dampen my RTi bookshelves. Not that I have any issues, (as far as I can tell anyway) but being so cheap, I figure these would be good to experiment with. I use tube dampening rings from Herbie's Audio and a Way Excellent Turntable Mat also which have given me good results. I was thinking about placing these under my Dared SL2000A and Yaqin to see if that helped to dampen the tube gear even more. Even under my Cambridge blu-ray player. I know some people swear by isolation, so this would be a cheap way to find out. Reading some of the feedback, looks like quite a few positive reports by other gear heads. Might be placebo, but cheap enough not to break the bank. Thanks again for the input.

Gardenstater

Let me know if you want to design something that would isolate a 26lb turntable. My audio bud Steve just got his dialed in and although it may look a bit DIYish (lol) it is sounding better than he has ever heard it. I'll PM you the photos he sent me only because I haven't asked his permission to post in a public forum.

He has a VPI turntable I believe with a silicone oil trough damped tonearm and underneath that he is actually using some DIY made roller blocks comprised of ball bearing riding in soup spoon attached to 2" x 2" Diversitech rubber/EVA pads with a dab of flexible adhesive. Underneath that is a pretty massive block of thick maple and he has some outriggers underneath that with compression springs selected to tune for 2Hz resonant frequency based upon the weight of everything above.

xschop

You guys need to work out a good design so I can copy it lol.

A system with interchangeable springs/rates for different weighted tables would be ideal.

Keiko

xschop wrote: »

You guys need to work out a good design so I can copy it lol.

A system with interchangeable springs/rates for different weighted tables would be ideal.

The images he sent me were pretty sweet. That maple butchers block is likely worth a kidney.

I have a slab of material my wife brought home from one of her clients when she used to provide caregiver services. It's about half inch thick and looks like some sort of countertop material, maybe. Looks almost like a hard plastic, but different. It's very solid & rigid and looks cool. Not exactly sure what the material is, but I think it would make for a decent turntable platform.

I was thinking about spikes until I was introduced to these anti-vibe appliance pads. Ima cheap bastage and haven't been in any real hurry to do this, but since I got introduced to these, it's been speaking to again.

I'm more curious to try these under my bookies that aren't supported at all by any footers or pads. They sound great as is, but having some anti-vibration support under them would help theoretically, I imagine. I dunno, these are cheap and I figured cheap enough to experiment and play around with. I'm a believer in small, inexpensive tweaks here and there to get the most out of my gear. Something I learned from places like this forum and others.

You don't have to spend big bucks to get big sound. For example, listen to this. Comment on what you think and ask me about the source and how it was recorded after.

http://gofile.me/6AjXC/W9mnH6Cyz

VR3

Sounds like you are describing Corian

Gardenstater

I believe Corian would be somewhat non-resonant in nature. Barry Diament advises trying to obtain large marble tiles (the thick ones) and hand selecting them by tapping them in the store to find the deadest sounding ones, which he says definitely gets some weird looks from any onlookers

pitdogg2

Well until you've heard rock ring like a church bell you'll get those looks. Silica based, iron based all rings completely different.