heartattackandvine Posted July 7, 2024 Posted July 7, 2024 Hello beautiful nerds! This hobby is a disease sometimes. I saw this rabbit hole... and I swore I wasn't gonna torture myself with internet research. Yet here I am... I think I'm on the right track, and I know the answer is "try some stuff and see what your ears tell you". I'm willing to do that, but looking for guidance to save me potentially spending thousands of dollars and many hours tweaking. All help received with gratitude! TL;DR: Here's the plan. See below for gear, room, photo, and everything I've looked at! Speaker isolation: Isoacoustics Gaia III will probably work great, but will look out of place under D7.2s. Herbie's threaded stud sliders might or might not be better for my room. I'll have to try both, and see what I like best. Component isolation: Add 1 extra shelf to existing cabinet on shelf pins, to separate Naim boxes as much as possible. Make a plinth out of MDF or chopping block for each component use Clearlight RDC 5 Cones as feet on the plinth Herbie's soft fat dots or cone pucks on the shelf below to receive the feet Cabinet isolation: Keep it simple with a set of Herbie's Fat Dots, one for each leg of the cabinet. I know there's other solutions, but I'm not spiking the whole cabinet, and I'm not replacing it with an equipment rack. Better than wood on tile! And here's all the other info... Gear: Naim New Classic Series Streamer (NSC 222) Poweramp (NAP 250) Power Supply (NPX300) Spendor D7.2s on factory rubber sliders Room: Stone tiled floor on a concrete fibre board substrate that is suspended over beams and joists. Open to one side, window on the other Cabinet is solid Australian Blackwood and it's full of vinyl on the right hand side. Here's everything I've looked at, for various applications: Soundcare superspikes Isoacoustics Oreas, Isopucks, Minipucks Isoacoustics Gaia III Townshend podiums Vibrapods BDR Cones Clearlight Audio RDC Cones Cheap conical spikes available in Australia Stillpoints Whites/Jacks anti vibration pads (bunnings) Herbies pucks, spikes, gliders, feet, and other bits Naim cup, ball, and locators (as used in Fraim) Half squash balls and IKEA chopping boards Yes I want the Townshend podiums. No I don't want to spend $3k to get them! 1
jason101 Posted July 7, 2024 Posted July 7, 2024 Well thought out plan. The only thing I'd suggest, which you've likely thought of anyway, is try to buy used gear, at least during your experimentation phase. Way better bang for the buck, and isolation equipment is often found for sale here on Stereonet as other members also try different options. And depending on your budget, for your speakers maybe consider adding the Stack Auva to your list: https://stackaudio.co.uk/auvaisolator/ Enjoy! And don't go too crazy trying to hear barely perceptible differences 1
heartattackandvine Posted July 7, 2024 Author Posted July 7, 2024 Nice one. Missed the Stack Auvas, and they look quite good. I don’t really want Gaia iii because they look goofy, and I would expect the Herbies threaded sliders will be okay, but not perform as well. I think speaker isolation is probably the most important thing in my setup. Auva 50s are comparable price to Gaia iii. 70s seem to be the sweet spot, but yes, more money, and once over $1000, there’s import duty as well. I wonder how legit the 30 day return is. I’m inclined to take both 50s and 70s and send back what I don’t want. And total yes to 2nd hand! This is the first new-from-the-shop gear I’ve bought in 15 years!
heartattackandvine Posted July 7, 2024 Author Posted July 7, 2024 I think I’m also gonna get Paul Spencer to come and do measurements and consult on room options, once I’ve got the some speaker feet sorted. 1
Ginman Posted July 7, 2024 Posted July 7, 2024 Also try acoustic treatment on the walls - this will tame any resonnance and echos: https://www.selby.com.au/acoustic-room-treatment/fibreglass-panels.html I have them in my listening room and they have tamed the pesky resonance and echoes. You can hear the echoes when you clap your hands. It shouldn't sound totall dead when you clap because a dead room. Watch for some good pointers on room treatment:
JkSpinner Posted July 8, 2024 Posted July 8, 2024 I have just gone down a similar path, adding isolation to my sources and amp, adding a plinth to my TT and feet for my speakers + some reasonable interconnects. Isoacoustic recommend you start with your speakers, not the source units, and from all my reading, most recommend starting with treatments over isolation, so if I put all this together, speaker isolation and room treatments first. I am just about to start the treatment phase.
heartattackandvine Posted July 9, 2024 Author Posted July 9, 2024 Thanks @JkSpinner I think that's right. I have looked into treatments a few times over the years. Always the challenge is always integrating into the space, and not ending up with a lounge room that looks like a studio. The stealthy stuff is mostly done. Big area rug, soft furnishings, and behind the listening position there's 2.5m wide floor to ceiling built-in bookshelf, which is probably acting as a fairly effective diffuser. I'll be adding heavy velvet curtains to the window shortly too. Just reluctant to stick panels on walls/ceiling, etc. For isolating devices, the main goal is actually component separation. I don't want the power amp and power supply stacked like that. And the TT will definitely benefit from plinth. If I'm gonna make 1 plinth, I may as well make 4! A question about treatments. Presumably you take measurements first, the figure out correction? This is why I'm thinking of having a pro come and help with that bit.
JkSpinner Posted July 9, 2024 Posted July 9, 2024 I have made several plinths as well, and purchased Isoacoustic Oreo feet for most, and GAIA feet for my speaker. Many suggest to take measurements first, but I believe there are a few obvious things i can do before i take measurement. I also have a bookshelf coming but not sure if I will install it on the back wall behind the lounge or the side wall behind the lounge. I have created a question around first reflection points I want to solve before I go any further down the treatments path as well, trying to look at this logically before I go down a rabbit hole of analysing data
almikel Posted July 11, 2024 Posted July 11, 2024 @heartattackandvine Gotta love Tom Waits! On 09/07/2024 at 10:39 AM, heartattackandvine said: A question about treatments. Presumably you take measurements first, the figure out correction? This is why I'm thinking of having a pro come and help with that bit. yes - measuring 1st by someone like Paul Spencer and having them recommend treatment is a good idea, rather than just plonking treatment in. I have a lot of respect for Paul - he's a straight shooter - no BS. Mike
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