I was searching for info on equipment 'feet' but didn't find an awful lot, so I though it might be a good topic for a thread
Firstly material? A quick look in Mr Percy's catalogue shows a myriad of products; 'decouplers', 'Vibrapods', sponge feet, spiked feet, conical pointy things etc. etc.
I would be interested to hear from members which is their preferred type, and the equipment that they are using it on.
I would think that a rubber or de-coupling type feet would be great on tube amps to minimise transformer vibration and tube microphony.
So what about CD players, vibration is an important factor, are rubber feet better then?
Are solid state amps, DAC's and tuners more suited to cones and spikes? Audio Sector amps come to mind...
Second quantity? Will it be three, four or more? Is quantity related to some spiritual belief? (sorry to bring religion into this) or do people have uneven shelves!
I know the Chinese think that 4 is an unlucky number, I think it stands for creation or death whereas the number 3 means understanding, communication, interaction and neutrality.
The Japanese also don't like the number 4, but I think that has something to do with how it is pronounced in Japanese.
I guess that three is used to make the item more stable, if this is the case, I would think that some care should be taken with the design of the chassis to make it sturdy enough for three mounts.
Any thoughts?
Firstly material? A quick look in Mr Percy's catalogue shows a myriad of products; 'decouplers', 'Vibrapods', sponge feet, spiked feet, conical pointy things etc. etc.
I would be interested to hear from members which is their preferred type, and the equipment that they are using it on.
I would think that a rubber or de-coupling type feet would be great on tube amps to minimise transformer vibration and tube microphony.
So what about CD players, vibration is an important factor, are rubber feet better then?
Are solid state amps, DAC's and tuners more suited to cones and spikes? Audio Sector amps come to mind...
Second quantity? Will it be three, four or more? Is quantity related to some spiritual belief? (sorry to bring religion into this) or do people have uneven shelves!
I know the Chinese think that 4 is an unlucky number, I think it stands for creation or death whereas the number 3 means understanding, communication, interaction and neutrality.
The Japanese also don't like the number 4, but I think that has something to do with how it is pronounced in Japanese.
I guess that three is used to make the item more stable, if this is the case, I would think that some care should be taken with the design of the chassis to make it sturdy enough for three mounts.
Any thoughts?
For units that have hard-drives or CD/DVD players, I use Sorbothane feet from Edmund Optics:
Sorbothane Bumpers, Hemisphere Foot
(Package of 4) NT35-264 $16.50
Sorbothane Mounts - Edmund Optics
Sorbothane Bumpers, Hemisphere Foot
(Package of 4) NT35-264 $16.50
Sorbothane Mounts - Edmund Optics
For many years I have experimented with different ways of supporting equipment.
There are 2 different strategies.
One is isolation where the equipment is supended on some sort of suspension, effectively isolating it from any vibration present in the supporting structure, that is above the resonant frequency of the suspension.
The unit its self must resist resonating with any airborne frequencies.
The most obvious example of this is a suspended turntable.
(low frequency suspension - non resonant structure).
To make this work you need a compliant suspension. You can also reduce the resonant frequency by adding more mass.
The second strategy is high mass / rigid support structure, and mechanically referencing the equipment to 'ground' any vibration. Usually this invoves agressive looking spikes. I have found that almost any point will work. Given that the working end of a spike is tiny there is really no advantage in making your equipment look like some medeval torture device! For best peformance the spike should rest on someting hard.
The best high mass rigid structure in many domestic enviroments is usually a braced shelf mounted on a supporting wall.
There really should be 3 spikes - If 3 is not enough for stability then try 5!
Why😕Because 3 points will never rock or need adjustment (Think tripod) The equipment is mechanically referenced in space.
5 point support basically works as a tripod with 2 added stabilizers for safety.
I have found that high mass / rigid support, and pointed feet give the best results with the majority of equipment. The effect is not minimal.😀
There are 2 different strategies.
One is isolation where the equipment is supended on some sort of suspension, effectively isolating it from any vibration present in the supporting structure, that is above the resonant frequency of the suspension.
The unit its self must resist resonating with any airborne frequencies.
The most obvious example of this is a suspended turntable.
(low frequency suspension - non resonant structure).
To make this work you need a compliant suspension. You can also reduce the resonant frequency by adding more mass.
The second strategy is high mass / rigid support structure, and mechanically referencing the equipment to 'ground' any vibration. Usually this invoves agressive looking spikes. I have found that almost any point will work. Given that the working end of a spike is tiny there is really no advantage in making your equipment look like some medeval torture device! For best peformance the spike should rest on someting hard.
The best high mass rigid structure in many domestic enviroments is usually a braced shelf mounted on a supporting wall.
There really should be 3 spikes - If 3 is not enough for stability then try 5!
Why😕Because 3 points will never rock or need adjustment (Think tripod) The equipment is mechanically referenced in space.
5 point support basically works as a tripod with 2 added stabilizers for safety.
I have found that high mass / rigid support, and pointed feet give the best results with the majority of equipment. The effect is not minimal.😀
For power amps, a nice big round steel foot does the trick.
I made this one myself, and the amp has been held away from the floor for several month by now.
I think if it does not hit the floor in another couple of month, I'd say it's a real good equipment foot.
Sounds fantastic, with an open sound stage, and great transparency, maybe lacking a bit of air, but not much.
Ohh, and it contains the PSU as well, neat huh?
See pic.
Magura 😀
I made this one myself, and the amp has been held away from the floor for several month by now.
I think if it does not hit the floor in another couple of month, I'd say it's a real good equipment foot.
Sounds fantastic, with an open sound stage, and great transparency, maybe lacking a bit of air, but not much.
Ohh, and it contains the PSU as well, neat huh?
See pic.
Magura 😀
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Not entirely feet, i kinda tried to use most methods at once, high mass, suspension, spikes.
My components sit on a granite slab (£10 Tesco chopping board) on half cut squash balls x3 (£3) all on top of a simple spiked oak frame, 5 tiers. Cheap, effective and in my opinion visually pretty.
My components sit on a granite slab (£10 Tesco chopping board) on half cut squash balls x3 (£3) all on top of a simple spiked oak frame, 5 tiers. Cheap, effective and in my opinion visually pretty.
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A steel tube of this diameter is a very rigid support.
My speaker stands have a column made from 100 X 200 RHS box steel 6mm thick.
My ideas for equipment support were developed back in my clubbing days. We used to struggle to reduce the feedback on Technics record decks.
I designed and built an steel angle frame table, all crossbraced. 450mm x 1350top to take 3 x double concrete 450mm square slabs.
The table had 5 braced legs all with adjustable feet. Each deck then had a 75mm thick stone slab underneath. The stone slabs were isolated off the concrete slabs with 3 points.
Given a concrete floor, you could set this up in front of a 8kw PA, & turn the mixer up, with the needle resting on the record with no feedback.
Where there was no solid floor, we would try suspension, one favourite was bubblewrap between the slabs. This would work OK utill you hit the resonant frequency of the suspension, or untill the DJ touched the record deck injecting more vibration.
One thing to note is the table is still in use, even though these days mostly with CD players!
Following on from this I found that when using a compliant foot, dressing of the cables has an effect. The cables should be tied back to a rigid point to sink any vibration.
I am reminded of a AR / Merrill modified tuntable I once owned. I was struggling to get a good clean sound untill I realised that I was getting more microphony effects from the Musical Fidelity Preamp that was on a cabinet.
Moving the preamp to a dedicated shelf with spikes made all the diference!
All this (and more) led me to come to the conclusion that the best performance comes from supporting the equipment rigidly and sinking any airborne vibration.
Tripods?
Thanks for your input Xoc1, interesting stuff. My initial comments about three mounting points were 'tongue in cheek'...
A few years ago I built some home theatre rear speakers on stainless steel / timber stands, the bases for these are triangular and have spikes through carpet to the concrete floor, they work well.
I like the idea of having a three point mounting for equipment, but from the ones that I have seen are pretty large leaving a large air space between the equipment and the supporting structure / other equipment. (OK I guess if you need a lot of air flow!)
Are there any low profile adjustable conical feet available? I guess the feet could be recessed into the equipment, but this may need to be given consideration early in the build.
Thanks for your input Xoc1, interesting stuff. My initial comments about three mounting points were 'tongue in cheek'...
A few years ago I built some home theatre rear speakers on stainless steel / timber stands, the bases for these are triangular and have spikes through carpet to the concrete floor, they work well.
I like the idea of having a three point mounting for equipment, but from the ones that I have seen are pretty large leaving a large air space between the equipment and the supporting structure / other equipment. (OK I guess if you need a lot of air flow!)
Are there any low profile adjustable conical feet available? I guess the feet could be recessed into the equipment, but this may need to be given consideration early in the build.
The problem with adjustment is that requires depth.
Do you need adjustment with a 3 point support?
I made some simple feet many years ago from 25mm steel bar.
Mount the bar in a lathe and machine a simple point with a parting off tool , then slice off the back disc with the same tool. The points were case hardened.
I place 3 of them under the equipment point down. The disc makes them self-aligning.
Easy, simple and safe.😀
Do you need adjustment with a 3 point support?
I made some simple feet many years ago from 25mm steel bar.
Mount the bar in a lathe and machine a simple point with a parting off tool , then slice off the back disc with the same tool. The points were case hardened.
I place 3 of them under the equipment point down. The disc makes them self-aligning.
Easy, simple and safe.😀
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