Amp stands- Do they work?

Nanderson, perhaps you live close enough to me to listen at my place. I can assure you that if you have not ever heard benefit from stands or other forms of isolation under amps, then you have an interesting experience ahead of you. In fact if you really believe your statement, and it is the result of testing on a sound system, then you have never heard a high quality system. In my system (and I believe, most other posters at this site) it is absolutely no problem to hear the difference between various materials, such as spikes, and in addition, there are several layers that can be inserted, I.E.: (Starting top to bottom) (1) Amp, (2) feet, (3) stand, (4) feet, (5) floor. In the text where I have inserted "feet" the material can be any one or multiples of the following: wood, carbon fiber, Sorbothane (Audioquest) Soft Shoes (McCormack), Delrin (Simply Physics), Valid Points (Walker), stainless steel spikes (various), air bladders (various), sand bags and/or sand trays, etc. ALL of these products sound different. Mind you, I would not argue about the outcome of testing these individual pieces in a system, because depending on the equipment involved, the construction of the floor, personal taste, etc., arguments would break out about which one is the winner. In any case, there is indeed a HUGE difference in stands and other coupling/ decoupling devices. The question is NOT whether these devices work or not, this is not an issue! The question is, which device works in the particular system that is being improved upon.

Albertporter send me an e-mail and we can discuss a double blind test. Please understand I don't have an axe to grind except to blow the smoke from the obvious nonsense. I have been involved with hi-end audio for 3 decades. My equipment I listen to and when I visit others starts in the Levinson, Krell, Audio Research, Magnan etc league. I don't want to get emotional (defensive) about this so I won't add more to that. I always love the double blind test with those who scream out, insist that they are right. We'll see. It is most important in all things in life to be honest to ones self and others. Double blind testing does that.

I bet Nanderson and all doubters are listening in dirty living rooms. All the junk laying around is enough to distract their attention form the improvement that the amp stand is giving to them

Nanderson; I don't believe that double blind testing can take the place of long term (days, weeks, months), relaxed, listening to music that the listener is intimately familiar with. I would rather trust my ears (and eyes) and make my own informed judgments and choices. As far as I'm concerned, aesthetics and common sense alone dictate that a hot running amplifier(s) should not sit directly on carpet, and if music quality is improved so much the better. Aside from that, when I spiked my speakers and weighted the bases, bass tightened up distinctly and mid-range detail improved noticeably. Vibration control certainly can produce noticeable results-- or maybe not; depends on circumstances. But in any event, why would you get pleasure from "sending audiophiles home with their tails between their legs"-- sounds perverse to me. I also believe in the "Placebo effect", as do many doctors. If people enjoy this sort of thing (tweaking etc.) why do you feel the need to ridicule them? I say again-- blind testing is NOT the same as LONG TERM, RELAXED LISTENING.

Thank you Garfish, your response was excellent, I wish I had written it. The blind testing itself can become the object of the session, especially if the goal is to prove ones intellectual superiority. I personally am interested in learning from music, and that requires knowing exactly what is happening with all the components in the system, right down to the last piece of wire. If a tested component does not work, those of us who truly care about our systems ability to produce music do not need a double blind test to add to our problems. I for one admit that I have failed literally hundreds of times with changes in my system. However, I would not want to be in any doubt as to which of my actions were responsible for the failure. Additionally, blind tests put pressure on the listener to perform correctly in front of an audience. In fact, the listener literally becomes the object of the test, rather than listening to the quality of the music. To add to this misery, as simple a procedure as swapping a set of isolation feet under an amp will cause the interconnect and/or the speaker wire to be moved sufficiently to require additional break in time before the system returns to its original level of performance. The confusion of having to listen past this type of two fold obstacle is another factor that only long term, relaxed listening will cure, just as Garfish has already suggested we do. I agree, it's the only way I listen to music and the only way to decide on a change.