Best building material for vibration free shelving


I am building some built into the wall shelves for my VPI Classic 2 SE turntable, amp, preamp, CD player, and old Burwen TNE 7000A transient noise eliminator (that’s one for you old-timers to remember), as well as my DISH Network receiver box. The shelves must match in appearance the typical looking built-in wood bookshelves already in the room. The shelves will be located directly under my 45" wide flat screen television. They will be wide enough to hold two components side by side, other than the VPI turntable which will have the top shelve to itself due to its extra width. I will be building the shelves high and deep to allow for plenty of air circulation around the components. They will be painted.

My question is, what materials might you suggest building the shelves with to minimize vibration? If they were for books I’d normally build the sides, and top out of 3/4" birch sided plywood, the back out of 1/4 inch luan plywood, and the shelves out of oak to deal with the weight of the books without bending. I will be adding vibration damping feet under each component and am not looking for suggestions along those lines, only material and perhaps design recommendations to reduce vibration.

I was researching this last night online and on site, and saw recommendations to use four thicknesses of 3/4 inch High Density (HD) MDF, also to use granite or marble under the turntable, among other recommendations. I was wondering how birch veneered plywood would work too, as it’s ply’s, I believe, have their grains running in opposite directions. Maybe there’s some way to isolate the uprights from the horizontal shelves to reduce vibration transmission.

What would you think would work best for these built-ins. I’d appreciate any recommendations you have or your experience on this subject. Thank you for any ideas.

Mike


skyscraper
@williewonka, the brass cones look beautiful. A set of brass "audiophile approved" cones would fetch hundreds of dollars. Great that they’re performing so well, and well done on admitting you've made mistakes along the way.
Lots of good reading on your website as well.

I went all in on maple platforms for my components after reading so many recommendations. It’s like I upgraded my components; the imaging is very focused with XL separation of instruments, micro-dynamics such as the attack and decay of drums are now more revealed, and the top-end of my digital sounds smooth and organic. Music is much more realistic.
I’m using the suggested setup of hard footers under the components which drain vibration into the maple plinth. Then pliable damping material between the maple board and the wood shelf.


@lowrider57 ,

Might I suggest, if you have room enough....below your maple plinth, recess springs into another recessed hole into the wood shelf.
Slaw, I dont have room to try springs in my rack which has fixed shelves. On each component I have damping weights on top, next are the footers, a 1 inch maple plinth, then a decoupling layer. I also need space for the heat from tubes.
For footers I’m using some DH Cones and also footers utilizing brass bearings.
https://edensoundaudio.com/shop/category/terrastone-footers/terrastone-roller-bearing/

Between the maple and shelf I’m using Herbies Grungebusters which are compliant and recommended for platform decoupling. I’m not damping the entire platform, only the four corners to get a lively sound from each component.


My springs are smaller than DH Cones so can usually fit under components in tight situations. Having said that, I’m a big fan of DH Cones and usually use BOTH springs and DH Cones in critical installations, springs to decouple and the cones to couple.