CDP isolation platforms

Sorry, folks. I forgot to give a price range. I'd like to keep it under $200. Thanks.

I believe what you're trying to isolate is the vibration casued by the rack/floor and your environment. First you need to decouple from the rack/floor using a point which a cone or nail on 3 or 4 corners would do. You also want to let the CDP to float in order to minimize the horizontal forces. That if your can somehow let your CDP float on air would be perfect. Failing that you want to allow the whole unit to sway with as little force as possible. You have the choice of an air bladder, tennis balls or silica gel. I use hard wood sitting on round crystal. Let me know what you have settled with.

I haven't really tried many commercial isolation products. But I did some research on the internet and found a DIY project for isolation platforms. You could easily build platforms for your entire system and spend *much* less than $200. The basic ingredients are a bicycle inner tube (I used 12"), an MDF shelf (you can experiment here with various materials e.g. corian and maple), 1 QT ziplock baggies, and sand. Partially inflate the inner tube and lay it on a shelf in your rack. Place the MDF shelf on top of it and put two baggies filled about 2/3 full of sand (be sure that each baggy has an equal amount of sand) on the shelf - the baggies should be sealed with tape. Remove the stock feet from your component and place it on top of the "shelf". Place two more sand filled baggies on top of the component. Make sure the entire structure is level. Also, don't cover-up any vent holes. You can modify this isolation platform to your hearts content. Please note that I cannot take credit for this recipe. I discovered it while searching the equipment review archives at www.soundstage.com.

Bill, I have also used the bicycle inner tube platform and it works fantastic. You can construct a platform that cosmetically can look nice on your rack by doing the following. I simply screwed together something like a picture frame with four pieces of wood and inflated the inner tube just about 75%. The height of the wood needs to be a bit taller that the inner tube after it is inflated. I then cut out a piece of MDF that is just a bit smaller in dimensions then the opening of the frame that you constructed. The MDF is now the platform that sits on top of the innertube. Make sure that the MDF does not touch any part of the frame and your component does not touch the frame. I would recommend a dedicated isolation system for every component that you wish to isolate. The DAC or CD player is the most important piece in your system to isolate. By the way, check out www.vibrapod.com. I am in the process of building a new system with them. Good Luck! Denis