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Sheesham / Indian Rosewood Platform
76.28.209.43 |
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Posted on February 1, 2017 at 14:21:54 | ||
Posts: 17117
Location: Pacific Northwest Joined: August 25, 2002 |
Notice the rubber gripper pads at each corner on the bottom of the board. These should be removed and replaced with audiophile-quality footers/pads. The stock grippers suppress the sonic qualities of an otherwise musical sounding tonewood. Otherwise, it's a waste of funds to invest in the use of the board as a custom system tuning tool. I came across a new tonewood board while at Pier One Imports. After the proverbial knuckle-test, which produced a quite musical tonality with a strong initial attack and subtle level of sustain, I knew it was a keeper to give a try under a preamplifier unit with outboard power supply, which already has a carefully configured vibration control platform for use under the external power supply. So the particular board is for placement under the preamplifier unit. BTW, a two-piece audio component can benefit from different vibration control footers and platform approaches under each piece for fine tuning that's considered better optimized to one's ear. The board is a striking looking and rather dense two-tone wood from India called Sheesham or Indian Rosewood. At 16" W x 12" D x 1" thick, the footprint is a bit smaller than a typical audio component, but there's plenty of room to place a set of footers both above and below the platform. And as to this, it makes substantial difference when carefully-considered footers are used with the board. In my case, a customized tripod set of three 40mm x10mm Carbon Fiber Discs, with a Herbie's Audio Lab Thin grungebuster Dot (black version, with optional adhesive backing) affixed under each Carbon Fiber Disc, with a BDR Black Diamond Racing Cone adhered with Liquid Nails silicone adhesive to the top of each Carbon Fiber Disc. The rounded tips of the inverted BDR Black Diamond Racing Cones make contact with the metal enclosure bottom rather than a wooden rack shelf or platform surface, while the Carbon Fiber Discs function as a resonance dissipating and vibration wave blocking base for the cones + discs. I find this custom footer to sound very dynamic when placed under my preamplifier unit, and also my power amplifier, which is placed on a thin Hickory board. When the Sheesham board is allowed to resonate without dampening its natural-sounding sonic characteristics, it helps present assertive dynamics and a full-bodied tonality without stepping on more subtle listening cues. Allowing such a thing in this case also involves the use of yet another set of 40mm x10mm Carbon Fiber Discs, this time a set of four adhered under each corner of the Sheesham board, with an Everbilt 1.5" thin anti-skid pad affixed under each Carbon Fiber Disc. Again doing the proverbial knuckle-test showed that the sonic signature of the Sheesham board is better removed from the influence of the MDF rack shelf that it's placed upon, and that the board resonates with a more pronounced tonality and sustain. Comparing the different stages while configuring this vibration control platform was yet another confirmation that attention to detail can make all the difference as long as each layer is carefully evaluated before the next step is taken, and before one jumps to conclusions. In my case, the use of tonewood boards with Carbon Fiber Discs + anti-skid pads is a vital custom system tuning tool. |