chowkwan%priam.usc.edu@usc.edu (Raymond Chowkwanyun) (02/28/91)
This is a review of how various mechanical isolation devices sound to me on my system and in my room. However, I've had the conclusions confirmed by an audiophile friend and various laymen (no laywomen - they fled the room at the first opportunity). A mechanical isolation device is designed to either absorb mechanical vibrations or to mechanically couple equipment to whatever is holding it up. All tests were done with Audioquest 7000/SAME V/TNT front end, MA Luminescence Pre-amp, VTL Ichiban Power amp, B+W 801 speakers. Cardas Hexlink Golden 5 cables used throughout. Let's cut to the chase: 1. All-time champion mechanical isolation device: the MOB Technology plate coupled to the equipment with ball bearing feet. I believe the "B" in MOB stands for Brasfield. When I slipped one of these under my MA Luminescence pre-amp, the music just started pouring out of my system. Transparent, musical, whatever word you want to use, the system just came alive. It was one of those quantum leap system improvements that make you want to play every album in your collection to hear what they'll sound like. The sound that emerged from the system became *commanding*. In that room, with that system, I could not think of doing anything other than listen to the music. On Mel Torme's Reunion, Mel was in the room with us. I think it has to do with getting tonal accuracy right. IMHO, many audiophiles spend too much effort fussing about imaging. Yes, the system may portray Mel in all his 3 dimensional finery, but he's singing to us over a telephone. What is truly riveting is to hear Mel as if he were standing in the room with us. Just try having someone stand between your speakers and talk to you. Then play some music with singing or perhaps someone talking to introduce the band. Does your system sound as natural as the sound of the human talking to you? It sounds simple but very few systems can pull this off without sounding somehow electronic and hi-fiish. The MSB plate is a sandwich of iron plates and magic stuff. The plate sits on top of small plastic feet. Between the plate and the pre-amp sit three ball bearings. MSB supplies plastic rings to prevent the bearings from rolling around. I found these ball bearing feet to achieve better mechanical coupling than German Acoustics cones (which are breathtakingly beautiful). With the cones, the magic just vanished. The sound was good but not as compelling. I also tried Goldmund Cones. Again these did not work as well as the bearings. No bearings also didn't work as well either. Without the bearings, the sound becomes muted, the sense of palpability and immediacy is lost. I also tried the MSB plate under my power amps which are VTL Ichibans. Contrary to my expectations, the sound got worse. The music sounded smoother, but the sense of immediacy was gone. i.e. some of the dynamics had been lost in the smoothing process. I think the peculiar (if not downright weird) architecture of the Ichibans has something to do with it. These are split-level amps with the power supply on a lower level and the tubes and output transformer on the upper. Each Ichiban weighs 90 lbs., with most of that weight on the lower level. i.e. the architecture already provides a good deal of mechanical isolation for the tubes. I also tried putting the Ichibans directly on the plate without the ball bearing feet as well as ball bearing feet only. No dice. These amps like their own feet thank you very much. I wonder if the MSB plate might not work better with a more conventionally designed single level amp. On the other hand, I escaped having to shell out for two more of these plates. Which brings us to the big drawback of the MSB plate: their big price tag - a wallet-emptying $500.00 each. Gotta pay for that "magic stuff" sandwiched between the iron plates, I guess. I used the large, thick plate. MSB also makes all the other combinations of thicknesses and sizes: Small Plates: Thick Plates: ------------- ------------- 12" x 15" x 1/2" (25 lbs) 14" x 19" x 1/2" (35 lbs) 12" x 15" x 1" (30 lbs) 14" x 19" x 1" (45 lbs) 2. Goldmund Cones. Before I heard the MSB plates, I wouldn't have believed anything could sound better than the Goldmund Cones. Slipping a set of these under the Luminesence, cleared up the musical image. Instruments became more clearly defined. The Goldmund Cones produce sharper imaging than the MSB plates but the plates induce more tonal accuracy. A clear tradeoff - your choice. Actually, it's not quite as simple as it sounds to slip the cones under your favorite pre-amp. With the tip pointing down, the Goldmund Cones are very top-heavy making it difficult to keep them standing up. Get a small child's wood block and put it under one end of your pre-amp. Then slide two cones under the other end. The weight of the pre-amp will keep the two cones standing up while you deftly slip the third one in place of the wood block. As noted above, Goldmund Cones and MSB plates don't mix. The combination is less than the sum of the parts. With Goldmund Cones between the Luminesence and the plate, the sound became mushy - the worst of both worlds with neither the imaging of the Cones nor the glorious musicality of the plate. The Cones are also wallet-emptying at $250.00 for a set of three. And the price keeps going up by the *month*. October: $180, January: $220. 3. Monster Cable Tranquility II Base and Navcom Silencers This base and silencer work well together. But the effect falls far short of what you can get with the Goldmund Cones. With a combined cost of $220.00, they are simply outclassed by the Cones. Bottom line: an MSB plate under your pre-amp is the biggest tweak-type improvement you can make to your system short of a record cleaning machine. -- ray