Do equipment stands have an impact on electronics?

Dave wrote,

"Coincidentally, I mentioned to another audiophile friend of mine that we used an air table sitting atop a huge slab of granite underneath the electron microscope we used to perform ASIC post-mortums in my electronics manufacturing division and suggested that he consider an air table underneath his digital source in his ultra-high-end system. His response was that that type of vibration-control technology was extremely outdated. I begged to differ and we ended that discussion by agreeing to disagree."

When you say air table I trust you mean airspring table. Things are more complicated than I’ve let on, aren’t they always? and any type of iso stand can be tricky if one wishes to obtain the best possible performance. That’s why isolation is an art as much as a science. For example, some air spring have more internal damping than others. Minimizing the number of airsprings improves performance all things being equal as does selecting proper means of interfacing the component to the top plate and interfacing the stand itself to whatever surface it sits on. As I also already mentioned different types of isolation can sometimes be mixed, providing additional gains in performance. Of course the spring rate of whatever steel springs or air springs are employed must be matched to the load of interest.

dlcockrum

... My lead-and-sand-filled rigid-steel Sound Anchors component stand sits on cones atop my home’s concrete slab foundation and I can easily feel vibration sympathetic with the sound by placing my hand on the stand.

Really? That's simply amazing! Are you talking about just low frequencies here, or do the sympathetic vibrations feel like they span a wider range?

When energy is applied to soft spongy materials that are used in combinations with springs supporting a loudspeaker, everything supported remains in a state of continuous motion. By doing so, this negates the operational efficiency of a voice coil as the coil itself becomes subjected to this secondary flexing. Ultimately, the voice coil drives the entire speaker assembly and has to overcome the added inertia presented by the motion of the springs and soft materials upon which the cabinet rests. The constant motion and flexing with this type of isolation device manifests inefficiencies within the operational design of the voice coil. Tom. Star Sound Technologies

"Really? That's simply amazing! Are you talking about just low frequencies here, or do the sympathetic vibrations feel like they span a wider range?"

Hi cleeds,

My "hand test" is not calibrated. lol

Yes, The deep bass frequencies do generate more perceivable vibration into the stand, but I think some of the harmonics of string instruments and drums transmit also.

High volumes are required to feel this.  I have my Thiel CS5i's and dual REL Stadium III subs spiked to the concrete slab as well, so lots of low bass (and other) frequencies are being transmitted into the concrete.

I should point out that here in Texas, we have "trampoline" foundations whereby steel rebar cables are laid and put under tension   within the foundation prior to pouring the concrete in order to allow the foundation to move with the soil. Perhaps the scientists involved here can posit on the effects of this "trampoline" on vibration transmission.

Best to you cleeds,
Dave 

Theaudiotweak wrote,

"When energy is applied to soft spongy materials that are used in combinations with springs supporting a loudspeaker, everything supported remains in a state of continuous motion. By doing so, this negates the operational efficiency of a voice coil as the coil itself becomes subjected to this secondary flexing. Ultimately, the voice coil drives the entire speaker assembly and has to overcome the added inertia presented by the motion of the springs and soft materials upon which the cabinet rests. The constant motion and flexing with this type of isolation device manifests inefficiencies within the operational design of the voice coil."

i have been preaching pretty much the same thing, I.e., use only very hard materials for interfacing with iso systems. I actually don't know of any isolation devices that employ soft spongy material with springs but maybe there are some, who knows? This concept of soft spongy materials is somewhat related to the idea that one should not use spring type systems in series, for example arbitrarily using a spring-based iso device with a turntable with springy or rubbery feet. I have constructed dual layer mass-spring systems but certain precautions must be designed in to prevent interactions between layers.