Isolation platform and such devices

To add, the thicker the sand pool, the level of warmth, body, weight and timbre will increase and the control/ grip and imaging will suffer, unless compromised by better control/detail feet. I've found that 2 to 2.5 inch thick sand pool is optimum for most equipments.
The process of purifiying/cleaning and drying the sand is very sweating and time consuming job unless you could buy the expensive readily processed sand.
Usage of sand pool will make your sound more analogue and quieter background. Usage of sand pool on speakers however should be done with serious audition because the bass control and imaging will suffer although overall sound is very analogue and pleased to the ears.

Ok I get it. Thanks.
Just to share, the best fine white sand I found is at Kelanang Beach, Banting Selangor.
Take the dry one on the upper part of the beach but you still have to wash it down thouroughly to remove any trace of salt and dry it in the garden, and overnight in an aircond room before use.
Cheers.

hughesths wrote:Appropriate usage of sand pool is considered a must, it will improve the sound -more bodied, weightier, slightly warm, natural, better timbre. It should be compromised by the usage of feet.

Do you mean "complement by the usage of feet"?

Anyone tried iron filing instead of sand?

Dear Tycham,

Usage of sand pool without any tweaking feet will normally sound warm, good instrument body, weightier, quiet, more low frequency bass ,but the bass will be less controlled thus good imaging will be affected ( unless the equipment is very bright and detail ) The use of some feet which sound controlled and clean should be used to tighten the less controlled bass, then only that the overall sound will be more perfect/balance.
Sand is more preferable instead of iron or brass, it damps better and sounds more natural, less hardening the overall sound and less oxidation/corrosion issue.

Phew, not if sure sand gives analogue sound. If I put my CD Player on sand then it should sound like my turntable?

Is the sandpool anything like the above?

Of course it will not give 100% like turntable sound, it will only make cd/sacd sound less digital and more analogue.

Hi hughesth

Thanks for the clarification. Is it somthing like this?

Dear Tycham,

Yes it should be the sand pool. Ya, the sand box is best made of wood but the "top cover/plate" is best using 3-4mm glass for even surface. Too thick the glass will harden the overall sound.
You will get better sound with individual equipment on a sand pool rather than whole rack on a sand pool. The variables is more which means more sound tuning can be done to make overall sound more perfect. Of course the more effort needed for more auditions of the sand pools, the feet and the equipments matching.

Tycham,

I think Hughesth meant one each for all components. Not underneath a rack like your drawing. Nice drawing though, autocadd?
Cheers.

Example of cdp & power conditioner on individual sand pool.

What grit sand do you use ?

isoblock from mapleshade. this guy said he has tried everything and this is what he ended up with and sells it for US$24 per set of four.
it is a six-layer laminate of some kind of rubber and cork. i'm sure we can diy this at less than RM24...

tx

silica, the fine white sand, the finer the better.

If you have tried all sort of branded isolation platforms which would cost you $$$, you will still end up more satisfied with the above mentioned DIY sand pool, I dare say.

hughesths wrote:silica, the fine white sand, the finer the better.

Pantai Kelanang, Banting guys. Plenty there, youll be amazed, white fine sand in the West Coast!

The DIY sand pool won't cost you $$$ but cost you big effort.... collecting sand, cleaning/flushing-higher water bill, filtering with fine mesh filters, drying -frying it in the wok for fast dry, filtering.....making sand pool box.....and you will be greatly impressed by the end result.

Hugh, cooltube,

Been toying with the idea of using sand not long ago but scared it might be messy. Thanks for the tips and info guys. I'm planning on making a composite sand tray instead of two for a neater installation. That Kelanang place I know where it is. We shot a music video there 3 years ago.

runemaster wrote:
Oh ya, about the spikes you use....is it you buy from hifi shops, or just normal legging?

Spikes are the same as those found in the generic hifi racks.

Yes, it is quite headache dealing with the sand leakage. It can be solved by tape sealing on the gap between the wood and glass plate.
Precaution for own safety must be taken during sand collection at the beach.
Cooltube, you may meet a lot of audiophiles collecting sand at the "pantai" you mentioned

some say Amang also works very well .... but kinda hard to get lately ... gotta go visit Tin Mines or something.

.. or instead of Banting, maybe Sunway Lagoon's white powdery sand might do the trick ?

Amang? whatzatt? That tailings stuff you mean? Hmm that's interesting.

Wan Azami Hamzah wrote:Amang? whatzatt? That tailings stuff you mean? Hmm that's interesting.

the leftover blackish greyish sand after they filter out the tin oxides or tin ores.

Suppose to be very dense (more dense than basic silica sand) but slightly radioactive as well (by gamma emission). Sought after in the manufacture of CRT screens for the rare-earth elements... if i remember correctly.

http://myais.fsktm.um.edu.my/1061/

Maybe it'll make the speaker stands glow in the dark?

Foo,

Think that's the same stuff they use to fill ashtrays at hotel entrances right?, sometimes they press the hotel logo in it. Yeah that stuff looks heavy though very very fine, otherwise they get blown away easily. And yes they kinda glow too. You have any idea where I can get it?

Cooltube wrote:Foo,

Think that's the same stuff they use to fill ashtrays at hotel entrances right?, sometimes they press the hotel logo in it. Yeah that stuff looks heavy though very very fine, otherwise they get blown away easily. And yes they kinda glow too. You have any idea where I can get it?

Not sure if that's the same as used in hotel ashtrays or not. Wow!! did u notice them glowing in the dark? Which hotel did u see it at ? I wanna go check it out too.


Where to get amang? .. hmmm.. lets see... near the Tasek Cement factory north of Ipoh could be a good place for it.
Otherwise, dunno if there are any tin mining activities in Selangor still, maybe the Balakong or "Mines" aka Palace of the golden Horses area ?

BTW, don't blame me if u get cancer from the Γ radiation... You all have been warned.

But i'd think that the speaker stand's steel enclosure would be more than sufficient as a radiation shielding given the extremely mild levels of γ-radiation in the amang sand. I dunno, if in doubt, just take it that i am also talking c0ck here.

Foo,

Aaya....No need to get upset over comments about you. There are people here who find your posts informative or otherwise just amusing.

Oh, that alang thing. Don't know if they glow in the dark unless the hotel has a blackout. The last time I saw it was at Mandarin Oriental at KLCC.

You sure they cause radiation or prevent radiation rays. Seen that black stuff coated behind crt tv screen tubes, if that's alang at all.

Cooltube wrote:Foo,

Aaya....No need to get upset over comments about you. There are people here who find your posts informative or otherwise just amusing.

Oh, that alang thing. Don't know if they glow in the dark unless the hotel has a blackout. The last time I saw it was at Mandarin Oriental at KLCC.

You sure they cause radiation or prevent radiation rays. Seen that black stuff coated behind crt tv screen tubes, if that's alang at all.

Who's upset ? Not me...

Yeah its the black stuff that they extract out and manufacture the phosphor elements inside the CRT tube to get them glowing.

I dunno how hazardous is Amang actually. My "Geiger Counter" broke down recently. Can anyone pinjam me theirs ?

Hmm, I have done a DIY isolation platform a few years back based on a commercial product that claimed to be floating on air using opposing poles of 2 magnets.

I bought 8 pieces of 25mm disc like rare earth magnet. I managed to get a plastic shop to fabricate 2 acrylic 12mm thick platforms with proper machining to create cavities for the magnets. In addition, I used 2 sliding sleeve bearings sliding on 2 6mm steel shaft to keep the platforms aligned. Once properly assembled, the 2 platforms are held apart on the magnets & the only contacts the steel shaft is with the balls in the sleeve bearings. This setup on take 7kg or more.

I'll try to post a pics later.

Regards,
Joe Ling

joeling wrote:Hmm, I have done a DIY isolation platform a few years back based on a commercial product that claimed to be floating on air using opposing poles of 2 magnets.

I bought 8 pieces of 25mm disc like rare earth magnet. I managed to get a plastic shop to fabricate 2 acrylic 12mm thick platforms with proper machining to create cavities for the magnets. In addition, I used 2 sliding sleeve bearings sliding on 2 6mm steel shaft to keep the platforms aligned. Once properly assembled, the 2 platforms are held apart on the magnets & the only contacts the steel shaft is with the balls in the sleeve bearings. This setup on take 7kg or more.

I'll try to post a pics later.

Regards,
Joe Ling

Clearaudio also makes such things en masse.
Check out :
http://www.clearaudio.de/eng/z_iz_minimagix.html
http://www.clearaudio.de/eng/z_iz_magix.html

If u can make them cheaper than Clearaudio ... u can consider starting some home-brew hifi accessory supplies. Sure alot of people will be keen to buy. No voodoo gold or silver resonance plates or plasticky circular stickies that look like fridge magnets or Mentos candy, or some Mpingo God-of-wood bullsh!t, just plain and simple physics of opposing magnets. Straight to the point.

One of these days I may try design and fabricate a custom stand incorporating 4 suitable Kayaba brand strut shock absorbers.

cmboy wrote:One of these days I may try design and fabricate a custom stand incorporating 4 suitable Kayaba brand strut shock absorbers.

Cool, u do Kayaba, i do Tein. Ride and height adjustable too just for the heck of it. Then later we compare see which one sounds more analog-like. Sounds like a plan?

Get the adaptive damping system used in the new S-class lor...
Magic carpet ride..

As promised, here are some pics :













This is inspired by an isolation product called relaxa. Here is review of the genuine article :

http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/relaxa1_e.html



Regards,
Joe Ling

hughesths wrote:

Example of cdp & power conditioner on individual sand pool.

How is the performance of the Purepower 1050? I am thinking of getting one.

Dear Tycham,

If you want the best performance from PurePower and for your system, I would suggest you get the Purepower 2000i which has more power reserve from its 6 x 12v batteries. You can power your hifi system using its battery mode ( unit completely unplugged from wall outlet ) for min 30 minutes to 5 hours max depending on your load, listening level and battery charging level.
My 1050i is powering my smaller system and I recently bought the black finish 2000i which has greatly impressed me by its stunning sonic/video performance and longer battery mode listening period.
I had used PS Audio P1000 and PPP before, I immediately switched to PurePower after AB comparisons.
Purepower improves overall sound...quieter background, wider/deeper stable soundstage, airier, more controlled low bass/detail/refined/focus/dynamic, better separation/definition. It sounds neutral will never sound bright, dry, dark, cold, harsh, mechanical and thin. Place it on a sand pool to get natural, more body/weight overall sound.
It will protects your tubes, projector bulb, speakers tweeters in the event of sudden power failure/blackout when your hifi/av system is in operation.
Please bear in mind that its batteries replacement is needed after few years usage.
PurePower should pay me commission by promoting its products .

Totally agree. Price difference between the smaller & bigger unit not that great lah. Just get the bigger one. Also can specify the output of the unit to be 240V. I was told factory can adjust between 220V to 240V.

Compartively, the older power plant can be mechanically noisy.

Downside is that the big unit got fan inside. Put it further away to avoid hearing the fan.

hughesths wrote:Dear Tycham,

If you want the best performance from PurePower and for your system, I would suggest you get the Purepower 2000i which has more power reserve from its 6 x 12v batteries. You can power your hifi system using its battery mode ( unit completely unplugged from wall outlet ) for min 30 minutes to 5 hours max depending on your load, listening level and battery charging level.
My 1050i is powering my smaller system and I recently bought the black finish 2000i which has greatly impressed me by its stunning sonic/video performance and longer battery mode listening period.
I had used PS Audio P1000 and PPP before, I immediately switched to PurePower after AB comparisons.
Purepower improves overall sound...quieter background, wider/deeper stable soundstage, airier, more controlled low bass/detail/refined/focus/dynamic, better separation/definition. It sounds neutral will never sound bright, dry, dark, cold, harsh, mechanical and thin. Place it on a sand pool to get natural, more body/weight overall sound.
It will protects your tubes, projector bulb, speakers tweeters in the event of sudden power failure/blackout when your hifi/av system is in operation.
Please bear in mind that its batteries replacement is needed after few years usage.
PurePower should pay me commission by promoting its products .

Regards,
Joe Ling

Hi Joe Ling,

Thanks. The Power Plant also generates lots of heat which could save my gas boiling eggs. Its life span especially the capacitors had greatly shortened by this heat.
The PPP has many quality issues nowadays, made in China is the main cause.
Exactpower also had quality issues and its regenerator products were already discontinued. Regards.

Ya, talk about exactpower. Lightning strike took out mine after 5 years of faithful service. Luckily bought from local shop. Sent it to him to send to KL but 6 months have gone by no response on when it will be fixed. Local shop very embarrassed.

No need to unplug the purepower as I understand it. The output is generated from the battery anyway. Mains just used for charging battery.

hughesths wrote:Hi Joe Ling,

Thanks. The Power Plant also generates lots of heat which could save my gas boiling eggs. Its life span especially the capacitors had greatly shortened by this heat.
The PPP has many quality issues nowadays, made in China is the main cause.
Exactpower also had quality issues and its regenerator products were already discontinued. Regards.

Regards,
Joe Ling

I normally stop listening and unplug all equipments when it is heavy rain and not in use. I never want to risk my gears although my RGPC 400Pro/1200s/Substation and PurePowers have lightning surge protections and Richard Gray from RGPC and Richard Jansen from PurePower have suggested me to leave their products plugged/switched on. Nobody could guarantee the safety of our equipments from the uncertainties of lightning strike.
But I am very pleased now with PurePower battery mode feature which allows my system still in play even it is heavy lightning strike out there.

This is very relevant as monsoon season is upon us. Thanks.

hughesths wrote:I normally stop listening and unplug all equipments when it is heavy rain and not in use. I never want to risk my gears although my RGPC 400Pro/1200s/Substation and PurePowers have lightning surge protections and Richard Gray from RGPC and Richard Jansen from PurePower have suggested me to leave their products plugged/switched on. Nobody could guarantee the safety of our equipments from the uncertainties of lightning strike.
But I am very pleased now with PurePower battery mode feature which allows my system still in play even it is heavy lightning strike out there.

Regards,
Joe Ling

How much different between 1050 & 2000?

I heard about Rm3K+ only. Can't remember exactly. I only remembered when my dealer quote me on both models, I went for the bigger one as there was not too much price difference.

tycham wrote:How much different between 1050 & 2000?

Regards,
Joe Ling

joeling wrote:I heard about Rm3K+ only. Can't remember exactly. I only remembered when my dealer quote me on both models, I went for the bigger one as there was not too much price difference.

tycham wrote:How much different between 1050 & 2000?

Regards,
Joe Ling

So it about RM15000 for the 2000?

Dear tycham,

Mr Eng quoted me 1050i for rm10.5k and 2000i for rm13k+ before.

If you surf in web, you may find that the PurePower model 1050 "before year 2009" has few issues but PurePower had rectified them and said the "year 2009" 1050 model is free from previous issues. The PurePower 700 and 2000 are stable and free from any issue as reported by users.
I don't mean to scare you but just for your info. Therefore it is recommended to consider 700i or 2000i rather than 1050i. The 700i is only suitable for small load. Regards.

Just found this thread. Regarding isolation, anybody tried those sorbothane hemispheres?

http://www.sorbothane.com/blog/vibration-isolation-pad/

Am now using the Finite Elemente Ceraball underneath my Saturn. My review:

The tweak session almost didn’t happen as I kept playing track after track to hear more of the amazing Scorpios. Managed to settle myself after 2+ hours and Andre immediately slipped the Ceraball under the Primare. Before I continue, let me first describe what a Ceraball is. It is essentially an equipment footer and functions as a vibration/resonating control device. The Ceraball’s aluminum casing is split into 2 halves with a ceramic ball bearing in between.

Under the amp the Ceraball produced a very very minute (to my ears) improvement. The imaging was the wee bit clearer. To put a better analogy it was like changing to new engine oil on your car. Not worth the ~RM650 asking price. Andre also put an interesting disc shape device on top of my amp where the main PCB is. This device is called the Resonator and its function is to dissipate resonance. With the Resonator the sound quality took on a strange effect. The sound became smoother but it was like the soundstage had moved backwards. Without the resonator I was in the first 3 rows of a concert hall but with it I had move 20 rows back. I immediately requested for the Resonator to be removed and instantly I had moved forward into the soundstage. The Resonator cost > RM1K so save your money. Perhaps the effect would have been more positive had it been on top my transformers but who knows. For me though I’m not willing to spend such a large amount of money on a "disc".

I next requested for the Ceraball to be placed under the Saturn. I wanted to use only 3 Ceraballs (2 in front and 1 in rear in a triangle formation) like how the feet are on my Primare but the Saturn has a shitty design whereby Rega apparently saw fit to have “cooling fins” under its higher end CD players. This cooling fin was in the way for better placement so I ended up with 4 Ceraballs in between each side on the stock footers. Owners of the Apollo/Planet and non Rega midrange CD players (Saturn & Jupiter) should be able to get away with only 3 Ceraballs. Cheaper too as the Ceraball is sold in sets of 3 or 4. Immediate the improvements are apparent and in much larger spades than when the Ceraballs were under the amp. Imaging became more focused with better definition of individual instruments and smoother top end. Bass was fuller, richer and with a tad more extension. I had the Ceraballs removed to see if I was imagining things but the differences are immediately apparent so I put back the Ceraballs and told Andre I was buying the set.

thank for llsaw, nice review.

Anyone here using the Finite Elemente Spider(tm) equipment rack ?

dixchen wrote:

Later suggested the same to another audiophile friend, the description from him after a night's listening session was exactly the same.

I guess the material of which is used for the footers or isolation feets are very much important and wood obviously does not work.

The amazement of a simple tweak like that sometimes!

hi dixchen & all

i hv deployed wood cones beneath my cdp which work well enough tho cones of other make may chance bttr results

one critical point as to "workability" of cones cld be config of the cones since diff config yield diff weight distribution onto the platform on which the cones rest!

my cpd has been "floated" with 1 cone each at the side of cdp in such position tt the cdp topples fwd with very light force while the 3rd cone (pointing upward) is to support the cdp from toppling

the touching point btwn the 3rd cone & cdp is very "light" in order to achieve the "floating" effect which cld be essential in my case to emancipate the cdm from rigid "coupling" when spinning cd, which also means tt my cdm is allowed to spin with "floating freedom"

with this "floating" technique, i've gained apparently bttr imaging/s'staging, separation, airy highs & bass definitions without losing the robustness of sonic body or in fact i enjoy lean bodied sound as opposed to colored thin sound (colored by the rigid "coupling" alas mistaken as thick sound )




thx for reading my mediocre experience


rgds
tlkoo