€ 23 DIY isolation platform

Vibrations in audio equipment do degenerate the sound quality as we have seen in a number of reviews I did recently. In this video a € 30 solution for sources and amps.

Contents of this video

00:00 - Intro
00:20 - Start of program
00:34 - The piezo effect
01:57 - Capacitors too
03:28 - New rack
04:30 - What to use?
05:50 - How tested 1
06:45 - Sound quality 1
08:03 - How tested 2
08:24 - Sound quality 2
08:47 - Buying advice
09:40 - The wrap

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[rndm]

How refreshing - A subjective review by someone that clearly knows how and when to apply measurements to draw conclusions (and when not to). Well done!

[Audiorevue]

you know one thing I love about you Hans is your consistent quality and your ability to not only tell me something but also scientifically show me why that something is beneficial.

[merakrut]

I tried all kind of damping boards for my equipment, by nothing were good. I went the opposite way and put heavy 10kg stainless steel plates 330X300x13mm on top of my amplifiers and on my SACD-player. It was a huge improvement in sound quality in the same way Hans described. Now I understand why expensive high end audio components often are so heavy.

[flanders]

as a drummer with experience with moongel, it deteriorates in time (uv light makes it go bad fast) and could make some pretty bad stains depending on the surface .. i'd use two cuttingboards and sandwitch the moongel cause id forget about it in a week and never change out the gels.. hehe. real good video! thx!

[skviki]

Thanks Hans! Love a little bit of DIY, especially when it works as good as this! I am using three thin, double layer bamboo boards with two layers of moongel in between them for my Arcam rDAC to sit on. Two small doorstops, 0.7 kg each on top of DAC. This has not only made the bass firmer, more defined and vocals more natural but also opened up the soundstage which became very three-dimensional. I would say this has worked better than expected, and is comparable to upgrading to a higher class DAC.

[ning]

Thank you Hans. Hope you are keeping well. Love the channel. Much appreciated.

[riccitone]

Ok, so I was excited to try this cheap and cheerful diy trick, as I already had some moongels on hand. Found some small ikea bamboo chopping boards that would fit nicely under my allo digione and my dac. Placed the gels under the boards in the same manner, and wow. I’m noticing serious improvements in microtonal shading, etching, image, low and mid bass clarity. This partly solved some of the issues with resonances effecting clarity in my small listening room. Hans, can’t thank you enough! 🙏🏼

[novisnick]

You a wonderful person Hans. Over and over you raise the bar! Keep enjoying the music! ❤️

[pegun]

3:48 aesthetics committee 🤣🤣🤣 that's a good one!

[Chris.from.]

Thanks, Hans! Simple, clear, low cost, and well thought out. Bravo!

[markphilpot]

This isn’t typical audio review. The gear rack change can yield stability and that allows you to experiment with either dampening or coupling issues. Flimsy platforms cause a great deal of problems, but you could easily do a video on that alone. There are few inexpensive solutions in audio, but this solution has merit. Well done Hans! Stay safe my mates!😊👍🏻😁I prefer granite to bamboo. The granite is less prone to vibration. If used as a shelf as opposed to a stand alone platform, the granite offers a very stable platform. You may then use isolation feet or ball bearing feet depending on whether the equipment needs isolating or coupling. Experimentation is how we learn. Only then can we find the equipment’s true colors. Stable platform is the starting key. Learning can be fun. Addressing equipment anomalies isn’t snake oil. It’s reality. There are more than one correct answer to problems. The fun comes in learning where the weaknesses are and addressing them. It’s up to the individual to decide what is too much and what is enough!🧐

[bulldozer]

Hi Hans! Thanks for pointing out these gel packs. I bought quite a few after I got my turntable on them. I sandwiched them between two 1“ bamboo boards and there’s no noise/vibration transfer now.
As to how much weight they can hold, I put 12 packs under a board and put my 45 pound tube amp on it. It works fantastic!

[Miersemann]

This is a great solution.
I put this DIY bamboo board with the moongel under my Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo turntable and the result is wonderful.
The music sounds more open and you can hear the vocals more clean.
Thanks for this super tip.👍

[vmpty]

I have Steel Points under my amps, brought improvements. Placed a wooden block with the drum gel pads below and it improved even more. Thank you for this great tip!

[cobar]

Thank you Hans. I have been using Ikea bamboo boards with drummers gel pads too and find it effective and not costly, So I am with you!

[richardgadsby]

Not every solution has to cost a fortune. Excellent!

[gerardaltena]

Hi Hans, thanks for this invention!
I put this 'Beekhuyzen board' under my recordplayer and its effect was stunning!
My Pink triagle Anniversary/Sme v/van den Hull frog has a very good vertical isolation thanks to the lightweigt subchassis hanging from 3 springs.
But your board gives also horizontal damping and that's needed against the soundwaves hitting the player. This results in a rockstable stereo image and also bass. Before cd sounded more stable but now vinyl is the winner. Advised for every recordplayer weighing less then a ton! Thanks for making my 30 years player a winner again.
Regards,
Gerard A.

[alextan]

I tried the Moon Gel pads under my existing bamboo cutting board which supports my DAC and there was a noticeable improvement in focus and density of the music. The biggest area for me was in vocals. Thank you for the super inexpensive upgrade tip - AUD15 for the Moon Gel

[gerihifi]

As usual, so well explained, huge kudos for investing so much private time! GREATLY APPRECIATED!

[robertaksland]

Very nice results. I have always belived in making each component heavier by placing it firmly on something heavy, and isolating the whole system from the ground. Your solution is right along those lines.

My large floorstanding speakers rest on 60x30x3 cm slates weighing more than each speaker. Three spikes connect each speaker to the slate. And 6 soft furniture stickers below each slate make them mostly isolated from the floor. I find this solution to greatly improve the sound, especially in the lower bass section. I would really like you to try out this solution. I bought the slates from a stonework shop for about $150 for both.