Audio note and isolation tweaks

This is a topic I haven't seen discussed. I know that at shows AN just plops their equipment down on any old table and let's it rip. It always sounds good. So a friend stopped by my place a couple of days ago and wanted to hear some tunes. As we were listening he started asking me about various tweaks. I mentioned that I had some Nordst Sort cones on a shelf, so we decided to try them under my AN CD lll transport. It immediately made a stunning difference in the sound. I've continued to listen and still like it. I know that sometimes these tweaks make things sound "different" and not necessarily "better" over the long run. What tweaks have you made to your AN gear? I'm referring to stands, platforms, footers and such, not tubes, parts, etc. I have the urge to try footers under my DAC. Has anyone done the same?

 

Is AN gear unique in some way? There are various isolation topics already.

 

I would think that "all" gear is unique in how it reacts to various tweaks. I am interested in other forum members' experiences with Audio Note gear. Thanks, Vernon.

 

A CD player reads data off a disc, CD data which include an error correction mechanism. C1 errors can be completely corrected. After the data is in digital form, it is quite impervious to vibrations. The only way that the audio would be "stunningly" different is if there was a massive problem with the laser transport that somehow was fixed by aluminum feet with balls in them.

Silver wire is not required to carry digital data any more than a CD transport needs a "breaking in". This is a reality warp that surrounds magic audio components, and our mind and ears often plays along with our expectations.

 

I have Solid Tech feet under my Audio Note DAC. I haven't actually tried it without them. But I've found various forms of isolation/equipment feet to have a marked difference. I guess it's also a matter where you want to spend your money. I can imagine that AN thinks that you might as well spend the money on better electronics.

 

Whether vibrations can influence a signal or not is something I don't have the theoretical knowledge to discuss. But it is clear that with an R2R dac, your digital signal can not be treated as all or nothing. You are clearly listening to an analog squarewave signal that gets translated into an analog sinusoid. Any imperfections on the digital, i.e. squarewave, side will influence the signal on the other side of the DAC chip (or resistor ladder).

 

Interesting topic Sailfish. Like you I have noticed that AN doesn’t seem to pay attention to mounting and isolation matters when demonstrating equipment, yet I don’t see any reason why AN gear should react differently frim other gear in those respects. I do know that my ANK DAC sounds different if I use other footers instead of the rubber feet. Likewise it sounds best if the top cover is in place and the bolts all screwed in.

 

Thanks encore.

 

I do have experience with bad digital quality causing errors, but it is from bad design. For example, a midi adapter from an audio company (that starts with M) used a 6N138 optocoupler, but without the pull-down resistor normally specified on the IC pin between the darlington transistor pair. With the transistor left floating without adequate bleed-down, the leading edge of the output signal square wave was rounded over and noisy, and the microcontroller would have errors in reading the data stream without a sharp signal transition.

The signal going to the DAC decode module either has errors or not. There is no subtle degradation of the sound. For expensive equipment, we hope they've figured out how to get that on the "not" side.

The most likely place that vibrations will affect the sound (if you don't have a turntable) is inter-component cabling - the perturbations from movement and vibrations in the signal cable, from microphonic flexing in the dielectric, are detectable to sensitive test equipment, so de-coupling there (such as solidly mounting a 300RPM transport when it has an analog output) may have benefit.

 

Salectric......I had the same issue with my DAC 4.1 Balanced. I removed the top thinking it would run a little cooler. But it seemed to exhibit a shielding issue of some sort. I replaced the top and all was well. I thought maybe a transformer on some other piece of gear might be causing the problem. I never could figure it out.

 

Herbie’s Audio Lab Tenderfeet footers are inexpensive and have worked really well under my AN DAC Kit 1.1. I also use their Ultrasonic Rx tube dampers, Fat Gliders under the spikes on my rack & speaker stands, and Square Fat Dots between my E/Ls and stands, with excellent results.

 

Good question, AN gear is tube gear, so that is one important factor. I would like to try some isolation feet one day, but I'm pleased with the sound so it is not urgent for me.
I don't understand why Stillpoints feet are so expensive.

 

I don't either. I guess because they can be and still sell. Like first class plane seats.

Now, the naysayers better skip this. On a previous iteration of my gear (pre Audio Note), I sawed off even-sized chumps of a lath of pinewood and threw them under every piece of equipment. This was done based on a demo I had experienced, but since I can't judge differences with quick switches, all I could say was that I thought I heard a difference at that demo. So I didn't know what to expect, and I certainly didn't have high expectations. However, that simple trick did a lot to the sound. In my ears not just changed it, but improved it quite a bit. I later learned that Art Dudley uses myrtle blocks from Ayre, which I guess are basically the same.

Of course, other decoupling devices may be even better, but the wood blocks are a cheap way to see if changing the coupling to the support makes a difference.

Incidentally, I think that a lot of decoupling devices don't seem to make much sense. One manufacturer whose products clearly make sense IMO is Solid Tech.

 

Thanks for bringing the Ayre / Cardias blocks to my attention @Encore. I just ordered some for my system. The cost was less than a single Stillpoint unit!

 

When I had the Kageki in my system, I had not paid that much attention to platforms and footers. I heard various demonstrations of Symposium platforms, and I liked what I heard, so I use their Ultra platforms under my electronics. I really can't compare them to anything else. In one demonstration, I heard different Symposium platforms under the same CD player. It turned out that the most expensive platform actually did too much to dampen resonances and the sound became thin and "bleached" of harmonics--it sounded like too much damping.

 

If you notice Shindo show rooms etc... they pay little attention to fancy vibration control as well, including they're turntables which many consider in the top of the food chain. I think they feel like as long as its on wood they are good.

FWIW- A manufacturer of some very refined tube gear told me that a preamp will respond to various vibration control material but amps are not as sensitive.

Not sure about my AN DAC. I haven't noticed much, but, I doubt my system and room are so dialed in that I can hear minute differences.

$20 Thick Maple Cutting boards bought at TJ Max satisfies my desire for diy/cheapo "audiophile approved" solutions.

 

Audio Note gear is well built enough that it should be fine wherever you put it. Unless it’s vusibly shaking, you should be fine with any shelf. I think the most important thing is making sure they are displayed in an attractive manner to you. Don’t waste money on cutting boards, cable risers, feet, etc. An attractive stable rack is all you need.

 

I'm sure it is. However even the best gear is compromised in some way.

My TEAC stuff which come with thoughtfully designed feet were said at the time to be no expense spared designs. And they sit on a well regarded rack. Yet, when I replace the feet with Symposium shelves and Rollerblocks the sound changes for the better in a small but pleasing way. I found that for the CD Transport and Amp there were beneficial effects, but on the DAC and equaliser, I couldn't detect anything. In addition, under a power regenerator and my speakers there were also improvements. It's expensive gear and the benefits are subtle so they should be one of the last things to consider after positioning of chair and speakers, room treatment and EQ.

 

To each, their own. I haven't found any benefit of isolation feet. They just annoyed me because they were ugly. Of course, I made sure to buy gear that had excellent build quality.

 

I just got the myrtle blocks. They are not ideal under my AN-Js (between speaker stands and carpet), but they are fine under the amplifier and turntable (Oto sig and TT2 dlx)

 

Fred, what stands do you have for your J's ? I've had a couple of pairs of E's and my favorite setup has been these conecoasters under spikes. These coasters are large enough and heavy enough that I'm able to cerefully slide the whole assembly around as needed without the spikes coming off the coasters. Remember....I used the word..."carefully".
http://soundanchors.com/products/2055/conecoaster

 

Oh......and there are many similar footers on eBay.

 

I am using audio note stands

 

Fred.........are you using the spikes? I had my stands spikeless while I was trying to get them situated. Adding spikes made a big difference and then I added the cones.