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I rigged up an old dust cover over some racquet balls that are held in place by cupped foam pads. It totally blows anything away... just kidding.Anyone interested in pics?
I was trying to get rid of the footfall problem since my only place to mount the TT is the top the the Music Direct album shelves I have... It works for that, for the most part.
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Superballs are superb isolators, but they isolate only. They do not absorb or damp vibrational energy. They stop it from passing through and send virtually all of it back from whence it came. Thus they are great for isolating TTs from footfalls on a floor. They are also great for isolating a speaker from a suspended wood floor. If you want to "drain away" vibrational energy, they are the wrong thing. In this case you need something that doesn't bouce, like sorbothane or a number of other materials that absorb or damp vibrations.Thus it is important to think clearly about your application. I found that superballs between my speakers and their stands were bad. They just bottled up all cabinet vibrations in the speakers. In my case it is much better to drain the cabinet vibrations to the Sound Anchor stands, which are very good at dissapating that energy. I have superballs between the stands and the suspended floor, which got rid of the tendency of the floor to act like a sounding board, with a tighter bass as a result. I've been playing around with a multi-layer sorbothane-superball "sandwich" that can give you the best of both worlds. Maybe someday I'll see if there is any interest in such a device and make them available, but right now I'm just having fun (albeit what many would consider a peculiar kind of fun- slicing up superballs, etc.).
cleanly. Sharp knife blade or saw blade thanks .Norm
The bouncy balls have a seam line. Once you start to separate them along that line they come apart pretty easily.
If you are doing it for the first time, you should be aware that this material can be a bit "crumbly." Cutting along the seam is ideal for maximizing the structual integrity of the pieces. Otherwise the cut can be a bit uneven and shed bits of material.
Actually, the cheap versions called "bouncy balls." I use the smaller ones in Vibrapods under turntables (TTs without their own suspensions) and cut the larger ones in half for use under electronics. Have experimented and compared quite a bit with Isoblocks (cork/rubber devices) and tend to prefer the balls most of the time. I also tried some racquet balls and Symposium Roller Block Jrs. but went back to the bouncy jobs. Works for me, YMMV.
Dave let me in on this DIY, as I was having a problem with isolating (test) thumps coming from the shelf below the TT. The bouncy balls worked, as the test thumps never resonated through the TT.
When dropped from waist level, they bounce about 2" high and stop. They absorb more energy than racquet balls. I have a Cloud 10 under my table, and I like it a lot. I use squash balls under my preamp and CD player.I cut indentions in small scraps of wood to keep the balls from rolling. Racquet balls can be used as well. They are similar to Ginko's mini-clouds. I don't sell them. Ginko lawyers leave me alone.
The balls Ginko uses are smaller than racquet balls and specially made.
Couldn't resist. Shows my true mental age. Did you glue the balls to the block are screwed from underneath? Thanks
The balls just sit in indentions. I made some that sat lower and some higher. The ones pictured are the taller ones. I made quite a few and have given some to people. Some folks like them and some don't. I think all of these tweeks are system/component dependent. They really did a good job on my preamp when I had some microphonic tubes in it- not so much for my CD player.
Was using three tennis balls, set in black plastic abs couplers from Home Depot. Used with two different much heavier (than my current) tables. Not the last word, but no great harm to the music. On balance, I ever so slightly preferrred them to inner tubes. Which were simply a pain.The racquet balls (nice green color), set atop white pvc coupler/adapters (Home Depot), give a nice measure of musical freedom. Like tuning an instrument. Less balls/couplers (three), ya get some loosey goosey base. Four (what I'm now using), tighter, but still plenty tuneful. Heavier table? Maybe add one more? Or two?
A good balance between compression/isolation and stability/firmness. Costs nothing, easy to try. Pretty much agree about system/component dependency. What works in one's system, may not bring it for another.
Just remember that sofy, squishy things can often make the sound sound ... soft and squishy. Perhaps that is what your system needs, but if it starts getting muddy then I would stringly suggest looking at DIY Rollerblocks. Good isolation but a sharper focus overall.
Been thinking about building one. A friend of mine built his a couple days ago. He used a clear acrylic box, sort of a kitchen drawer organizer. He put the racquet balls in the box, held them in place with little rubber furniture pads, sort of like small Vibrapods; and topped the thing off with a large, clear acrylic cutting board. It actually works and looks great.
Since Vibropods are pretty cheap I was actually thinking about putting those underneath the racquet balls..
Yeah they are affordable, I may do the same thing. I think the whole thing cost him about $50.
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