cones or amp stand-???

I just read it. It appears the article was written with the express intent of promoting certain products which kept getting mentioned over and over again.

Of course, I could be "biased". :^)

A couple of points I noticed. He is quite right about some things like the need for rigidity and structural integrity of solid type stands. He's also quite right about some of the various damping materials and their limitations.

Where I seem to have difficulty agreeing with him, are the parts where he seems to be convinced that vibrations can be transmitted up from the floor, but cannot be transmitted down from the equipment "like a hose"(as he puts it).

Part of his reasons seem to stem from his description of "cones" as having a good function at the tip, but a poor function at the broad top surface. This is actually one of the main aspects that we(Starsound) address in our product(Audiopoints) design.

The Audiopoints design uses reduction of the Coulomb Friction at the top surfaces of the "cone" to improve the ability of these vibrations to move continuously(in real time)from the component through the Audiopoint. A high coefficient of Coulomb Friction at the top of the "cone" will cause delays and inefficiencies in this vibration transmission, reducing effectiveness. By lowering Coulumb Friction(using proper materials and mechanical grounding) this allows a real-time continuous transmission of vibrations without the buildup or reflection of the vibrations back into the component. Additionally, the use of rubbery materials or air bladders just aggravates the problem instead of curing it, by creating more resistance(Coulomb Friction) in the juncture, and thus causing the equipment to behave as a "resonance capacitor" or resonance storage device, storing and returning the vibrations back to the equipment instead of effectively dealing with the airborne resonance problems.

For another bit of interesting reading, complete with mathematic scientific calculations and proofs about how reducing Coulomb Friction can improve vibration management in the audio environment, please refer to the Coulomb Friction White Paper on our website, written by a Mechanical Engineeer.
http://audiopoints.com/coulomb.html

As you can see, there is more than one side to this story, and much has transpired since that Stereophile article has been written. Perhaps the author himself may even have some different opinions today.

Tom Lyons
Starsound Technologies

Since the entire house/apartment structure is moving due to the sesimic vibrtation, rigid structures will only ensure the component vibrates along with the seismic motion. That is the point of Shannon Dickinson's article! -- that something besides rigid structures is required to isolate the component from the very low freq. vibration (0-10 Hz) caused by traffic, Earth's crust motion, etc. Recall this article was published soon after advent of Vibraplane, perhaps the first highly effective isolation device, one that set audio on its ear (as it were) as isolation was quite a new concept back then.

Geoff Kait,
machinadynamica.com
Machina Dynamica, maker of Nimbus Sub Hertz Platform

Right Geoff, and I also noticed Dickson's references to the lowest frequencies(like you mention) are not at all effectively dealt with by the rubbery stuff which passes whatever is below its resonant frequency( and also reaches overload very quickly in the freq's that it does work at).

It seems as though this issue quickly becomes one of what vibrations we would like to deal with. If we "isolate"(using traditional methods) we interfere with the normal vibration pathways that would allow an escape route which could be faster than normal decay patterns. If we use rigid frames, we are subject to the movement of the earth's crust.

Our approach is to deal with the most prevalent vibrational effects which occur during audio playback(which is really the only time we are concerned about it). These effects are primarily airborne effects of large amplitude which, in turn, excite everything in the room. We have chosen a method which very effectively deals with this issue, while maybe not being ideal for controlling the movement of the earth's crust. It was our premise that providing a good solution for the airborne resonances to be evacuated was more important to system performance overall than de-coupling from the earth's crust motions. As an engineer, I'm sure you are very familiar with the process of deciding which aspects are the most important to deal with, and leaving other aspects as secondary.

While some may not agree with our premise that airborne vibrations are the most important ones to deal with, it is the basis of our designs, and we executed a design which was primarily focused on this significant part of the problem. Note that we do not state that our products will ever be 100% effective at dealing with all vibrational issues, rather only that it is quite effective at dealing with the ones which we see as the most detrimental ones to the audio system reproduction.

We are well aware of the excellent designs which are meant to "isolate" machine equipment or electron microscopes from floorborne vibrations in industrial applications. They do that job quite well, and are good at it. Our audio applications are quite different, and we differentiate which vibrations that we will deal with, in order to maximize our designs in certain parameters, primarily airborne vibration management affecting the audio band. We have found that these designs do in fact provide very good audible results, because of how we designed and executed them. Are they perfect? No. Are they good enough to be consistently considered as contenders for the best performing stands available? Yes.

So, while people may differ with our premises, and the solutions that we implement, the end result of our efforts is as valid or applicable in real-world use, as anything used for audio purposes today. The systems that deal with floorborne vibrations typically fall somewhat short in dealing as effectively with airborne-induced vibrations. Our design which is maximized for dealing with internal electromechanical,and airborne resonances may be somewhat less productive against earth's crust movements. It was an issue of what made more impact on the audio system performance, and we made our choice.

Storage and re-circulation of the vibrations which is typical in "isolation systems" today, made no sense to us. The Zener Viscoelastic Model shows us that this is what happens in practice.

So basically, we "paid our money" and took our best shot, using different ideas than were normally accepted in this industry, but which have a basis in science. And they work. Whether this is exactly what any particular consumer wishes to purchase, is up to them individually.

We have a concept, scientific foundation, and products which are based on these. We offer them to the public for sale. The eventual success, or failure, will be determined by how well it performs in the eyes(ears) of the consumers.

As far as anything else is concerned, there's always tomorrow, and there's no telling what we might learn that can help us to provide even more satisfaction for audio listeners. We are always listening to the input from our customers, and the industry.

Sincerely,
Tom Lyons
Starsound Technologies

Respectfully disagree that airborne vibrations are the chief culprit in most audio systems. In fact, I would go so far as to say that airborne vibrations are significantly less critical than seismic vibrations. So we disagree substantially on this point.

Machina Dynamica isolation stands actually address vibrations higher up the frequency scale (as well as the very low seismic type) produced by airborne or motor noise, etc. by utilizing "selective frequency damping" techniques (for both Nimbus Sub-Hertz Platform and Promethean Base.) So I won't say airborne vibration is a non-issue, only a "secondary" one.

Geoff Kait, Machina Dynamica

Geoff Kait, Machina Dynamica

Well Geoff, differing viewpoints are the spice of life. That's why there are many different products of all types on the market.

We wish you all the best in your endeavors, now, and in the future.