Isolation platforms

Ohhh just did some googling:

Seems to be the case.

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Yep. The force of the object is still pressing down. And the table is still pressing up, suspending the object. It’s just the ‘connection’ is the magnetic force rather than, say, some feet.

If you take it to extremes you can see this must be true. Otherwise you could sit a whale on your light wall shelf

Yep … equal and opposite reaction.

It just makes me wonder more how it actually works. Are the magnetic lines more like stiff invisible threads …. Need to do some reading on electromagnetism.

That goes beyond my O Level physics. From memory ‘magnetic’ is one of the five (?) forces. But my knowledge stops there.

I’m pretty sure Newton’s third law was in the O level physics syllabus!

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:grinning:

Yes I understand the equal and opposite bit. It was the next bit on “How do magnets work?”

I think two opposing magnets are simple enough to see as equal and opposite forces in balance with each other. Electromagnets, on the other hand… :woozy_face:

Xanthe created at thread 2 years ago for acoustic isolation platforms using brass plumbing stop ends, silicone nitride balls and glass shelves. The idea was to provide acoustic reflection using different materials. This principle is critical to the whole idea. and is completely different from vibration absorption, ala isocoustic etc.

I completed mine about a month ago and can confirm that it made a significant improvement to my humble NAC62 / NAP140 / HiCap. Everything improved: clarity, micro detail, timbre, layering and depth. It was immediately obvious and I now hear things in music which I’ve played for 40 years which were not just veiled before but actually not audible at all. Quite a revelation and a big thank you to Xanthe.

The 62/140, LP12 and dac sit on an abortion of a built in unit which covers the sloping roof of the stair-way behind it. As it’s a bit warped, the 62/140 and home made wooden platform with adjustable feet for levelling for the LP12, sit on a 14mm piece of slate to provide a level platform.

I didn’t use glass for the isolation shelf, instead I just used ceramic tiles - glazed side down - and with tape wrapped around the edges to hide the top surface of the tiles. I have no intention of changing it to glass as it sounds so good. Plus the whole lot cost about £20

I did try a (very large) tile under the LP12 but it made no difference (the brass stop ends in the photo are cosmetic only). In fact it made the TT unstable as the tile wobbled on the ball bearings. The HiCap sits on the floor but didn’t try one under it.

My means are limited so I’ve never got into “upgradeitis”, rather making the most of what I have by tweaks, paying attention to set up and cable runs, and careful choice of ancillary items. The sum of all the incremental changes I’ve made are additive and I really think I’ve got a genuine synergy with my set up and just love it. It’s way better now than it ever was and it never ceases to give me shivers when I listen. The word “Exquisite” comes to mind.

Naim just keeps on giving, even humble CB kit. It’s all in there. You just have to unlock it.

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I am thinking. Some Turntable manufacturers market their use of single point ceramic ball contact for the plate. Maybe custom made feet with place to put one small ceramic ball will be a good thing to try out. Use three of those feet under a thick and heavy platform. And then sandwitch different materials: acrylic wood and stone in-between with rubbery feet? The rack has to be able to handle this, which makes it a “no go” for my nightstand.

Guess my Ikeas bamboo cutting board with four small dots won’t do any justice in this thread, even they were mighty €15 or thereabouts.

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Hi @Ivo

See the other threads on isolation platforms and supporting an LP12!

Turntables? I went through these experiments on how to support my LP12. Despite many using glass and metal balls (with cups to hold them) on the Naim Fraims, I found them far from the best for an LP12, whether the cups and balls were on the classic ‘light and rigid stand’ or on a slab of granite.

The best solution I have found so far for my LP12 involves multiple layers of different materials - brickwork in the wall/ metal Targett stand with spikes/ granite slab/ clever rubber & aluminium combo from HRS/ laminated glass/ LP12. @916SPS uses the HRS platforms so he too is mixing granite and clever rubbery stuff on a floor-mounted rack.

Unsuspended turntables seem to fare much better on the maker’s own wall-bracket or on a good platform from HRS or several other makers.

Having heard many variants on what to put under Naim electronics, my favourite sound comes from granite (platform, shelf or slab) and HRS Nimbus feet. Lots of people have a glass & metal or wooden rack - there are good examples of both, but I notice that platforms (home-made or massively expensive) are used to support hi-fi boxes by a large proportion of people
who have actually tried them. This is not limited to those with (a) no money and only tweaks available or conversely (b) more money than sense.

@PerF, there is no snobbery here - what works for you is what counts. This is also one of those areas where returns diminish quickly with rising spending and a ÂŁ10 tweak (or indeed a free tweak like moving boxes further apart or getting the speakers another 15cm away from walls) may have a big impact and be all the improvement needed.

Bamboo is a good starting point acoustically anyway - see expensive Quadraspire stands or the Boo plinths that some have on LP12s. What do the dots do?

Finally, I assumed the magnets-dissolving-mass stuff was all tongue-in-cheek!
Of course, the weight is still transferred down - only the method of transfer has changed.

Using magnetic levitation looks a great idea here, but it doesn’t actually mean that nothing can be transferred across the ‘ether’ - if you move magnet 1, you move magnet 2 - so I suspect that the benefit here is in the wide range of frequencies that don’t get through.

What interests me rather more on the magnetic approach is a much simpler issue. Can it really be a good idea to have a strong magnetic field a few inches from an MC cartridge? And a piece of metal moving in a magnetic field makes a current, so doesn’t that mean that any vibration that remains (airborne?) becomes a more complex problem? More generally, if big magnetic fields were not a problem, why do we position power supplies and power amps away from the sensitive stuff at all?

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Raise and support the platform

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I strongly recommend the MANA turntable stand for LP12.

Where and when did you get it? Did you try mana’s preferred approach of having many layers os their stands under a turntable?

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I got it used in the US. No other Mana items with it. Sold it a few years ago with the LP12/Ekos. The LP12 is much improved by the Mana stand. I never found that to be the case with Naim gear.

@3401 thanks.

Many swear by Mana for suspended tables - wall shelves if you have a bouncy floor or one of these if you don’t.

I have been surprised by the improvement on my more basic wall shelf by adding just the sort of thing that Linn don’t recommend - granite and rubbery feet.

I am also surprised that the resurgence of vinyl has not led to new shelves and stands appearing for turntables. Many of the best-regarded wall shelves are still second-hand only, and many resort to using the top of a rack, sometimes with a lump of wood on top.

How best to support amps and the like is a different issue, and the difference it makes is typically smaller, though some of us still find that isolation platforms and the like improve things even with a good rack. Given that, I am not surprised that you found different answers for LP12 and Naim boxes.

Are you now all-digital?

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yes- Naim CDS3

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