An ignorant question for IsoAcoustic Feet Fans

[JDC]

So, I have the appropriate feet under my three pieces of gear:

- CD transport
- DAC
- Integrated amp

But I haven't taken the time to unscrew / take off the original feet, so I just have those original feet sitting on the Isoacoustics..

Would it be better to get rid of the original feet and just put the Isos right under the pieces?

I think I know what I'm going to hear for answers but just want to be sure before I have to deal with lifting things and taking the time..

Thanks,
J

 

[Hear Here]

I suspect you'll get "yes" answers, but I have to ask if you'll benefit from installing special feert under electronics. Turntables and speakers certainly, but I'm dubious that electronics will benefit at all. I'll be interested to see what others say, but I am using Gaia 1s under my speakers and they do improve the clarity and detail in the bass.

 

[Michaels HiFi]

So, I have the appropriate feet under my three pieces of gear:

- CD transport
- DAC
- Integrated amp

But I haven't taken the time to unscrew / take off the original feet, so I just have those original feet sitting on the Isoacoustics..

Would it be better to get rid of the original feet and just put the Isos right under the pieces?

I think I know what I'm going to hear for answers but just want to be sure before I have to deal with lifting things and taking the time..

Thanks,
J

I've tried over 12 different products both screwed in and not.

In the end in most cases the flexibility of being able to tweak and move the position of the new footers to find the ideal spots outweighs and sometimes slight gain by replacing the feet.

Also depending on gear, sometimes it's more than a matter of simply unscrewing feet.

BTW, I've tried 8 different IsoAcoustics products. IMO personal opinion they are bested by both Stack Audio and Graphite Audio.

 

[JDC]

I suspect you'll get "yes" answers, but I have to ask if you'll benefit from installing special feert under electronics. Turntables and speakers certainly, but I'm dubious that electronics will benefit at all. I'll be interested to see what others say, but I am using Gais 1s under my speakers and they do improve the clarity and detail in the bass.

I (think I) noticed an improvement under the components, but that's certainly no blind or statistically significant study... - But I paid money for them so they must make a difference...

Yeah. I'm looking at the Gaia neos for the speakers. I like the height adjustment improvement they mention. My speakers are on a tile floor where there's always one or two spikes in the grout, which is lower. I'm too old to deal with tilting them or laying them on the floor to adjust the feet. Currently my speakers' spikes can be adjusted from the top. A very nice feature.

 

[JDC]

I've tried over 12 different products both screwed in and not.

In the end in most cases the flexibility of being able to tweak and move the position of the new footers to find the ideal spots outweighs and sometimes slight gain by replacing the feet.

Also depending on gear, sometimes it's more than a matter of simply unscrewing feet.

BTW, I've tried 8 different IsoAcoustics products. IMO personal opinion they are bested by both Stack Audio and Graphite Audio.

Thank you Mike. I follow your reviews. You've listened to a lot of good stuff and I assume have good ears.
- appreciate your thoughts. I'll check out the brands you mentioned.

 

[Speedskater]

As above: Turntables and speakers certainly.

Components with moving parts like CD/DVD players, hard drives or fans, often true.

Placed over other components with big power transformers, maybe.

 

[Michaels HiFi]

Thank you Mike. I follow your reviews. You've listened to a lot of good stuff and I assume have good ears.
- appreciate your thoughts. I'll check out the brands you mentioned.

Happy to help.

The Stack Audio is the budget king - great performance for "relatively" modest price.

The Graphite Audio bests everything else I have tired as a a single item solution. What I mean is the only way I have bested the sound of the Graphite Audio is when I start to mix two different types together under one piece of gear. But that gets expensive quickly.

 

[Mr Peabody]

I suspect you'll get "yes" answers, but I have to ask if you'll benefit from installing special feert under electronics. Turntables and speakers certainly, but I'm dubious that electronics will benefit at all. I'll be interested to see what others say, but I am using Gaia 1s under my speakers and they do improve the clarity and detail in the bass.

Components do benefit from isolation in my experience. I put HerbiesTender Feet under my preamp and ACS10, one at a time, it did improve SQ. Not night and day but enough I bought them and kept them in place.

 

[Spock]

So, I have the appropriate feet under my three pieces of gear:

- CD transport
- DAC
- Integrated amp

Would it be better to get rid of the original feet and just put the Isos right under the pieces?

Thanks,
J

Absolutely.

From my experience, all components benefit from good support feet, especially if the originals are just plastic wheels...

 

[Michaels HiFi]

Absolutely.

From my experience, all components benefit from good support feet, especially if the originals are just plastic wheels...

I agree.

I will say that if you don't have enough feet for all the gear, try and rotate as some pieces will benefit more than others. The biggest surprise in my years of experimenting was the benefit of adding vibration control under my network switch. Of course I tried 10+ combinations to settle on the right set up, but the difference is substantial.

 

[Mr Peabody]

I was a vibration skeptic. My friend has Herbies products and hearing them in and out of the system prompted me to try. The Stackaudio was an amazing transformation, I wished I had them along time ago.

In short, as in many things audio you have to try for yourself. Enough companies make that possible with return policies.

 

[JDC]

I agree.

I will say that if you don't have enough feet for all the gear, try and rotate as some pieces will benefit more than others. The biggest surprise in my years of experimenting was the benefit of adding vibration control under my network switch. Of course I tried 10+ combinations to settle on the right set up, but the difference is substantial.

View attachment 35023

Ha. Great pic. You're a nut, man
Much farther down the rabbit hole than I am.
I'd be interested to learn about your ratio of $ for your favorite / current system (gear, speakers, wires etc.), or your opinion on $ ratio for a good system. . Dollar amounts are not necessary, just %..
J

 

[Michaels HiFi]

Ha. Great pic. You're a nut, man
Much farther down the rabbit hole than I am.
I'd be interested to learn about your ratio of $ for your favorite / current system (gear, speakers, wires etc.), or your opinion on $ ratio for a good system. . Dollar amounts are not necessary, just %..
J

I've never denied being an audio experimenting nut.

I honestly don't have a % and here's why - I have found it is *SO* rack and gear dependent, there has been no hard and fast rule.

I would also say if you have first taken the time to really dial in your system (the Jim Smith book Get Better Sound was super helpful for me), then you are not going to realize the full potential of any vibration control.

As an example - I have a very nice German digital level I use to adjust the angle of my speakers. I can literally tell when they are 2nd decimal place out of alignment. So for instance if I like them at 3.85 degrees, I can tell if one of them has sagged a bit to 3.80 degrees. I never thought that to be possible, however when you REALLY get it dialed in to the room, then it makes a difference.

And remember, I have a mixed use room vs a dedicated room. So great sound is possible in a mixed use room.

Once it it is dialed in, it becomes a matter of how much resolution is your gear capable of. For instance on the $1500 switch I had the Stack Audio (I think they are only several hundred dollars for the set) made a nice difference. When I got a much more expensive switch, the same $$$ footers made a much more noticeable positive difference. So the overall % of vibration control $$ to the gear %% it was on when down significantly, but the resulting benefit was noticeably better.

BUT more $$ does not mean better. It really is a matter of finding the right match. I initially like the RevOpods, but as my system grew, I began to notice they did a lot of things right, but there was one thing about the sound I could not escape nor liked. When I tried the Graphite Audio footers - half the price of the RevOpods - the sound again was a big improvement to my ear.

So that is a really long winded way (probably full of typos) of me saying I personally have found there to be no magic %.

 

[JDC]

I've never denied being an audio experimenting nut.

I honestly don't have a % and here's why - I have found it is *SO* rack and gear dependent, there has been no hard and fast rule.

I would also say if you have first taken the time to really dial in your system (the Jim Smith book Get Better Sound was super helpful for me), then you are not going to realize the full potential of any vibration control.

As an example - I have a very nice German digital level I use to adjust the angle of my speakers. I can literally tell when they are 2nd decimal place out of alignment. So for instance if I like them at 3.85 degrees, I can tell if one of them has sagged a bit to 3.80 degrees. I never thought that to be possible, however when you REALLY get it dialed in to the room, then it makes a difference.

And remember, I have a mixed use room vs a dedicated room. So great sound is possible in a mixed use room.

Once it it is dialed in, it becomes a matter of how much resolution is your gear capable of. For instance on the $1500 switch I had the Stack Audio (I think they are only several hundred dollars for the set) made a nice difference. When I got a much more expensive switch, the same $$$ footers made a much more noticeable positive difference. So the overall % of vibration control $$ to the gear %% it was on when down significantly, but the resulting benefit was noticeably better.

BUT more $$ does not mean better. It really is a matter of finding the right match. I initially like the RevOpods, but as my system grew, I began to notice they did a lot of things right, but there was one thing about the sound I could not escape nor liked. When I tried the Graphite Audio footers - half the price of the RevOpods - the sound again was a big improvement to my ear.

So that is a really long winded way (probably full of typos) of me saying I personally have found there to be no magic %.

Thank you for the thoughtful / insightful reply. I may PM you about my system and room for a few thoughts if you've got the time. And thanks for the book recommendation. I'll get it. If you're ever in SoFlo I'll buy you a beer!

 

[Michaels HiFi]

Thank you for the thoughtful / insightful reply. I may PM you about my system and room for a few thoughts if you've got the time. And thanks for the book recommendation. If you're ever in SoFlo I'll buy you a beer!

Absolutely! Happy to help in any way I can.