Audiophools...

[cptgone]

Well the material is about the same as your average squash ball (I actually have sliced squash balls under the monitors in my studio).

Oh is that right?
I might try that as well...

Squashing and then slicing your balls to put them under monitors? OMG these audiophile freaks are awesome!

[Kingston]

..helping to maintain a fertile studio environment.

[Hypertone]

I put a couple layers of carpet underlay under my monitors, it made a big difference. And my 14 guage lamp cord sounds awesome, you should witness the added presence and clarity when compared to the 16 guage stuff. It's awesome.

[jmh]

We've gone through this audiophile stuff a couple of times... and still, nobody has been able to top this one:

http://www.diamondcenter.net/digitalstress.html

No wonder the industry is going into DSD.

But the challenge remains - top this vitamin supplement for stress induced by listening to PCM audio, and I'll... don't know what I can promise, as I've so far haven't had to think about seeing anything better

JMH

[Peel]

at the age of seventy, when some 50% of American males are already dead, some 80% of musical conductors are still alive...

OMG! You mean 20% of conductors are zombies?

[nuffink]

Don't attempt to decouple your monitors with squash balls, carpet underlay etc. It's a bad idea.
It sets up a low pass mechanical filter with a corner frequency of f=1/2Π√(MC) where M=mass and C=compliance. This will give you unpredictable frequency peaks and troughs around the knee frequency (which you dont know unless you've measured the compliance of a squash ball recently).
It also invariably leads to transient blurring throughout the stop band.
Many respectable monitor manufacturers do precisely the opposite by providing spikes to couple rather than decouple your speakers to mechanical earth.

[Hovmod]

"JOHN DIAMOND, M.D.,
D.P.M., F.R.A.N.Z.C.P., M.R.C.Psych., F.I.A.P.M., D.I.B.A.K."

OMG - talk about an AUTHORITY!


edit: a favourite species of mumbo jumbo - the "science is the wrong tool to measure the effects of [your pet theory here]" defense:

I am more aware than any pro-digital advocate of the shortcomings of the test. And I would like nothing more than to be able to read a meter instead. However, although many electronics experts have tried to help me to design such an instrument, they have never been successful. They finally realize that perhaps the body itself may be a better test device than any instrument that we can make. Will we ever measure the difference between violins, or poems?

[Hunter]

Don't attempt to decouple your monitors with squash balls, carpet underlay etc. It's a bad idea.
It sets up a low pass mechanical filter with a corner frequency of f=1/2Π√(MC) where M=mass and C=compliance. This will give you unpredictable frequency peaks and troughs around the knee frequency (which you dont know unless you've measured the compliance of a squash ball recently).
It also invariably leads to transient blurring throughout the stop band.
Many respectable monitor manufacturers do precisely the opposite by providing spikes to couple rather than decouple your speakers to mechanical earth.

But hang on there is one big monitor company that recommends blu tack under your monitors instead of ceramic cones etc, can't recall which one but i remember reading it in SOS and chuckling because thats what I do already...

[nuffink]

But hang on there is one big monitor company that recommends blu tack under your monitors instead of ceramic cones etc, can't recall which one but i remember reading it in SOS and chuckling because thats what I do already...

More than one. It acts like a constrained layer.
Constrained layer damping is what all the monitor manufacturers would be doing if Sony didn't hold the patent on it. The sad thing is that Sony don't utilise it and it's probably an unenforcable patent due to prior usage. But who can afford to take on Sony's lawyers.

[Hunter]

But hang on there is one big monitor company that recommends blu tack under your monitors instead of ceramic cones etc, can't recall which one but i remember reading it in SOS and chuckling because thats what I do already...

More than one. It acts like a constrained layer.
Constrained layer damping is what all the monitor manufacturers would be doing if Sony didn't hold the patent on it. The sad thing is that Sony don't utilise it and it's probably an unenforcable patent due to prior usage. But who can afford to take on Sony's lawyers.

Oh so blu tack is OK? Cool. I just assumed that if carpet/squash balls are bad then blu tack must be too.

<pepe voice>Oh Mr Nuffink you are so learn-ed!

[nuffink]

Oh so blu tack is OK? Cool. I just assumed that if carpet/squash balls are bad then blu tack must be too.

blu tack's very cool. It has a measurable beneficial effect. Make sure that it's less than a millimeter thick though or you could end up with the same problems that I outlined above.

[Josmoker]

Hunter wrote:
But hang on there is one big monitor company that recommends blu tack under your monitors instead of ceramic cones etc, can't recall which one but i remember reading it in SOS and chuckling because thats what I do already...


More than one. It acts like a constrained layer.
Constrained layer damping is what all the monitor manufacturers would be doing if Sony didn't hold the patent on it. The sad thing is that Sony don't utilise it and it's probably an unenforcable patent due to prior usage. But who can afford to take on Sony's lawyers.

Sooo, what should I put under my new monitors (will have them on my desk) - or should I just not put anything underneath them?

Cheers, Jo

[nuffink]

Hunter wrote:
But hang on there is one big monitor company that recommends blu tack under your monitors instead of ceramic cones etc, can't recall which one but i remember reading it in SOS and chuckling because thats what I do already...


More than one. It acts like a constrained layer.
Constrained layer damping is what all the monitor manufacturers would be doing if Sony didn't hold the patent on it. The sad thing is that Sony don't utilise it and it's probably an unenforcable patent due to prior usage. But who can afford to take on Sony's lawyers.

Sooo, what should I put under my new monitors (will have them on my desk) - or should I just not put anything underneath them?

Cheers, Jo

Depends on the desk.
If it's likely to act as a sounding board then decoupling may be your only option. Ideally you should buy or make some stands. The kind that can be sand-filled. If you've heard (or measured) the difference a decent pair of stands can make you'll realise they're one piece of audiophile gear that isn't voodoo.

If you do have to put them on a desk place them, if possible, over a leg.

[Hunter]

Depends on the desk.
If it's likely to act as a sounding board then decoupling may be your only option. Ideally you should buy or make some stands. The kind that can be sand-filled. If you've heard (or measured) the difference a decent pair of stands can make you'll realise they're one piece of audiophile gear that isn't voodoo.

If you do have to put them on a desk place them, if possible, over a leg.

I wonder how my solid wood stands standing on 2 inches of expanded polystyrene on a wood floor fare....

[nuffink]

I wonder how my solid wood stands standing on 2 inches of expanded polystyrene on a wood floor fare....

Ditch the polystyrene. Spike the stands into the floor and I reckon it should sound considerably better.
On the other hand I'm not one of those claiming to have some kind of golden ears.
You might well be better advised listening to one of the number of self appointed audiophiles on the forum.