In the 90’s when wood furniture stands and shelves transcended into equipment racks designed to control vibration, the audio world began to form methods of understanding how additional materials will alter performance in sound reproduction and have become the gospel for treating vibration in audio. These learning curves, most of which were adopted from other scientific and practiced applications of vibration control were largely borrowed from other industries.
Every equipment racking company in audio has theories as to how their products perform. Not one of them including Star Sound has produced any type of third party testing. There is no standard methodology recognized for testing products for comparisons sake.
Every equipment rack at one point or another does some of the same things attempting to manage vibration. Some employ absorbents such as sand, lead, Sorbothane® or types of rubber and foams used as damping materials where some use various stones, acrylics, others use carbon polymers and woods that have various effects on performance but the vast majority of racking has ‘one’ material in common with each other and that is metals.
Star Sound products and designs employ metals only. A Sistrum single shelf is a speaker, amplifier, component platform. The rest of the industry uses multiple combinations of various other materials to achieve their product and performance but are left with a technical approach that cannot service all equipment profiles.
What some readers may be missing is steel and brass also damp energy as each metal and alloy has specific damping factors based on their chemical makeup (damping charts are easy to research). Steel and brass also provide diffusion and phase cancellation where energy is converted into heat so we are not much different than other product in the marketplace other than we employ a mechanical grounding device designed to vibrate in a sonic environment.
We are not focused on where vibration comes from or how much vibration is created or what types of vibration disrupt product operational efficiency that negatively affects components, speakers or listening environments sonic. Star Sound products become infused as part of the overall vibration formula – joined at the hip.
In answer to the questions listed below: Star Sound comments posted here are with regards to Live Vibe Technology™ is assumed that our technology is in place inside the equipment, below the equipment, adapted to musical instruments and/or building structural frameworks.
It is also assumed that all applications and statements are determined in a musical reproduction environment. Earthquakes, locomotives, 4 Hz frequencies, earth’s crust rotations, etc related to other sciences are beyond our studies and research criterion. Star Sound limits in house testing to audio/video equipment and the sound room relative to human hearing capability.
Question: “Hey, what happened to the vibration coming up from the floor? That's a much bigger problem than anything the component can dish out. And that what the rigid rack amplifies. Hel-looo!”
Answer: With our technology implied, energy formed from vibration coming from the air, flooring, walls, and ceilings, mechanical, electromechanical or acoustic means is not an issue. We approach managing vibration as a single concept versus categorically analyzing it coming from one location or one form or one direction at a time.
We experimented with springs many years ago and determined a soft float design establishes greater amplitudes of lateral motion causing changes in speed and decay. When applied in combination with steel shelving, additional materials were required to maximize the effort as the direct instrument chassis contact area was too linear. The formula became extremely complex and the sonic results varied due to various types of equipment’s chassis mass. Rather than build products specific to weight restraints or choosing various springs for each type of component, this highly functional concept was placed aside.
The Sistrum rod assemblies and Audio Points provided a much higher speed of energy flow with no weight restrictions.
Our reply to the latter portion of this question is how can one provide proof that a Sistrum Platform ‘amplifies’ vibration from the flooring or any other source for that matter? We understand where ‘rack chatter’ originates when using wood blocks and shelving as vibrating wood produces an audible range of frequencies hence the comparisons in the sound between MDF, maple and other exotics are discussed often on this forum but having a bit of trouble in hearing noise amplified by heavy dense steel.
Question: “The stand does have it's own resonant frequency, as absolutely everything does, so it's very likely, that it transfers that own residual (it cannot dissipate a 100% of it) resonant frequency back into the component, therefore adding that resonant frequency to the sound made by the component itself.”
Answer: Yes, every form of racking design no matter what materials and processes are employed will do this. In our opinion - based on physics, laws of motion, and gravity in combination with the phenomena known as Coulomb friction the geometry of the Sistrum design maintains the majority of resonance flow towards ground. Please review previous information with analogy on our response here, dated 7-18-15 (water flow and fire hydrant).
It is also the opinion of the company that the minute amount of energy ‘feeding back into the equipment’ will not affect the sonic merit of the equipment nor infuse a hardness in sonic or ‘metallic sound’ when placed atop a Platform. The resonant frequency of the Sistrum Platforms is well above and below human hearing while functioning in a listening environment. Naturally if you hold up a metal shelf and whack it with a hammer there is quite an audible frequency ring and that will vary depending on the material used to make up the hammerhead but that situation and self generated frequency does not relate to a listening room.
We would never argue that you did not experience total satisfaction from the Sistrum performance. I began my career with this company discussing systems with hundreds of listeners and audiophiles having attained tremendous amounts of knowledge over the years. I also learned through this experience there were other variables related to system synergy such as audio components, cables mix, power and distribution, mirrors, picture frames, bookcases, lamps, rugs, curtains, windows, speaker placements, rooms, etc., creating problems that were first realized in tandem with our products.
Star Sound averages two refunds per annum for dissatisfaction in performance. With sales well into the thousands of units, we remain highly motivated by public response and acceptance. We also fully and openly admit there are unknowns that exist within our understanding and that of our systems performance. In 1999 we were the first company providing a trial period with refunds for every product ever sold. To the best of our knowledge in 2015 Star Sound the first company paying for third party testing in order to evolve the science.
Over time we have improved greatly upon the technology and overall sonic performance as demonstrated with the newer Sistrum Apprentice and Rhythm Platforms compared to the fifteen year older original Platforms and would jump at the chance to possibly get our second generation products back into your system for an audition.
Thank you for a providing good questions and participating in this thread.
Robert Maicks
Star Sound Technologies, LLC
