Any comments on Vibrapods? (1 Viewer)

[Jake T]

Considering these. How much of a difference do they make on speakers?
Thanks,
Jake T

 

[RicP]

On Speakers? Not much. On equipment? A little better.
Why do you think that you need vibration isolation for your speakers? Are they bookshelf or floor standers? Speakers should be tightly coupled to thier stands if they're bookshelf, or tightly coupled to the floor if they are standers.
Some philes have reported good experiences using a partially filled bicycle inner-tube to "float" their speakers. This WILL result in a loss of bass response however. Best bet it to couple your speakers tightly to their stands and use vibration isolation on your gear..amps, cd players and the like. They are much more susceptible to vibration distortion.
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http://www.ricperrott.com
Ric Perrott

 

[Brian OK]

Yes, under speakers.
I use 6 pods each under my Monitor 7's main floorstanders and they do wonders tightening up the bass response. I had tried spikes/pennies combo on my hardwood floors but just was not satisfied--- bass was flabby and the overall sonics just lacked focus.
I even use pods under my sub. If you have hardwood floors, vibrapods under your floorstanders and sub just may work for you. I use blue tack under my surrounds (which are stand mounted) and just don't feel pods would work with stands.
And I use pods under my Pan RV80 DVD player -- and what an improvement that brought to the soundstage.
Anyway, Greg Weaver at www.soundstage.com has a piece on pods and speakers (Jan 99), as does The Absolute Sound (June/July 1999). Good experiences from those folks as well.
Good Luck,
BOK

 

[Jake T]

Brian,
I read a review on these somewhere and the guy said that it leaves black marks all over. Is this true?
Jake T

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

Actually, Ric, there is data to indicate that spikes may not be as good for your overall sound as it first appears. Granted, the one source I can recall offhand is potentially biased since it's from a company that makes vibration absorbent feet for speakers and equipment.
http://www.sonicdesign.se/sdfeet.html
Still, I've long been suspicious of the claim that spikes + pennies are somehow different from plain old plastic feet. Spikes without pennies, sure, because the tips of the spikes dig into the floor, but... add pennies and you no longer have that narrow tip digging into the floor holding the speaker steady, after all.
And the claim that spikes will make the floor more actively make noise sounds quite plausible to me.
Ah well.
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/Kimmo

 

[Brian OK]

I have read such accounts myself of this staining. But my experience is that worst case, the pods give off a slight oily residue, but no stain.
The trick is to place wax paper under the pod (and on top of the pod if you are finicky) so that the wax paper is between the material you are concerned about staining.
Once done, the stain fear is gone. I have used pods for months and have yet to see any stain on my equipment or hardwood floors.
And I have just today moved all my gear down to my new HT room in the basement. And I checked all my gear and flooring ........ not a stain of any kind. Use the wax paper with the pods and be amazed what these decoupling devices can do.
BOK

 

[Jake T]

Thanks for the info guys.

Jake T