How much difference does an anti-vibration audio rack make

Yes vibration control makes a big difference but like everything else you have to try before you buy because not everything works, some make things worse, and price is no indication of performance. The most consistently high value I know of are BDR Cones, Shelf, Pits and Those Things. These are all carbon fiber, which is an inherently stiff and vibration damping material, but not all carbon fiber is created equal. A big advantage of BRD Cones etc over a rack is the Cones can be used under everything forever while the rack may not fit or work in every situation. This becomes important as things change over time.

How big a difference does it make? I once brought a component home to audition and being a bit lazy and pressed for time decided to just hook it up and listen. Even after a good warmup I was sorely disappointed. Of course I was comparing it sitting on its lame little rubber feet to my component sitting on a BDR Shelf with Cones and Pucks. Once I swapped all the BDR over the new piece sounded quite good. Get the right stuff and it is worth way more in performance than you can get with the same money spent on a better component. Plus its forever. I've had my BDR well over 15 years now.

The Aeon rack you are considering looks nice, but seems absurdly expensive. For the same budget you could buy Black Diamond Racing Cones, Shelf, Those Things and Pucks for every component, plus a Source Shelf for your turntable (or CD) and have guaranteed (not iffy) results with money left over. Not to mention BDR looks better. And is way more versatile. And, with Mk3 and Mk4 Cones you can even fine tune a little.

BDR has been around for like 20 years. They have sold a ton of product. Which you almost never see for sale used. Because the people who get it realize its the best, and you don't sell the best. When they do, they get pretty darn near full value. Let that sink in. Choose wisely.

This is a very important subject and definitely makes a huge difference if done properly. We’ve been developing our own brand of furniture using solid maple. Initially this was suspended on each corner by a silk thread and worked very well. Then we replaced the silk thread suspension with hard steel balls in cups and this produced even better results. We also use the same ball and cups under each piece of equipment and that results a great increase in performance. They are made by Ingress Engineering and are now available in the U.K. through us. Damping by applying slate plates on top of your equipment can also help. Next I’ll be trying slate plates plus ball and cup isolation plus changing the balls to tungsten highest grade. The current balls are grade 10 hardened steel.

I went from a pretty solid mdf/ metal tube rack with spikes to a sexy and cool looking all metal Boltz rack with no spikes. It freaking rings like a bell and if it’s thumped hard while a record is playing(TT is on a spiked butcher block), you’ll hear the thump through the speakers. Having said this, I hear no difference between the two racks. I don’t think it makes much of a difference. I’m a firm believer in spiked speakers and subs though. Tighter, more coherent tunes. 

El control de vibracion es tan importante como el acondicionamiento de la sala en mi caso pase de varios Finite Elemente Master reference muy buenos a un triple rack Artesania Audio Exoteric la mejora fue muy importante.                                   Lo considero una mejora tan grande como cambiar un componente, al estar las electrónicas suspendidas el desacoplo es total con también el punto a favor de que conectas el Rack a la toma tierra con lo que sobre todo mi plato Kronos Sparta que ya tenía un silencio abrumador mejoro a un más. Lo recomiendo a un sabiendo que no son baratos, pero un buen equipo bien lo merece

Just to illustrate how much folks can strongly disagree on things I find carbon fiber to hurt the sound quite noticeably. Especially those BDR cones, both types. When BDR cones are compared to harder cones like steel or ceramic there is no contest, sonically. From my experience in isolation and coupling, more than the average bear, I think I can draw the following conclusions, no offense to anyone or any company.

The harder the material the better the sound. Hardness can be established from the Moh hardness scale where 10 is diamond which, by the way, makes great coupling device. That is why Shun Mook uses a Diamond tip on their Diamond Resonators. The Golden Sound DH (Diamond Hardness) Cones are NASA grade ceramic, next hardest material to Diamond. I’m not a big fan of brass cones, either, which by no coincidence fall rather low on the Moh scale of hardness, along with Carbon Fiber. I’m not saying the BDR cones don’t look good and have a nice sleek space age profile. 😀 By contrast, tempered steel is high on the Moh scale, so would make an excellent cone. The DH Cones are the best, by a considerable margin. Which reminds me, shape of the cone is important, too. For example the Jumbo DH Cone is an excellent sounding cone. The Super DH Cone, which is essentially the same weight and size, has a more ballistic shape, and sounds better than the Jumbo.

I recommend using very hard Cones with isolation stands, coupling the component to the top plate and coupling the iso device to the floor or rack. Do not (rpt not) place iso devices directly on carpets or use cones with rounded tips as the carpets act like springs and interfere with operation of the device. Some cones can penetrate the carpet. Use those.