Question Hi Fi Stands - ringing and tweaking

daronharvey

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Hi Fi Stands - ringing and tweaking

I recently bought an Atacama Equinox hifi stand to support my Linn LP 12, Arcam CD, and Naim pre and power amps. As the Atacama is much larger than the existing Sound Organisation stand I bought many years ago, I need to move stuff around in the room before I can install the Atacama. So as yet, I haven’t heard the system on my new rack.

However, some time ago I took the steps to fill my Sound Organisation stand with sand to stop it ringing. This worked to some degree, but I having collected Atacama, i noticed that is rings far more than the Sound Org ever did.

So here’s my question. Should I fill my Atacama with sand before installing it, or leave it as is? Quite frankly I could do without the bother of setting all up and then taking it down again, so I would appreciate any views on this beforehand if possible, please.

Another point...

On Atacama's web site they are currently offering a free set of isolation cones with their new Equinox stands. So I’m wondering what the benefit of the isolation cones would be, given that their stands are tiered and all spiked, and the glass shelves are mounted onto the frame with gel pads.

If I was to add anything further to my set up, it could be cones or sorbathane domes, but what should I go for, and where? Dome or cone between my gear and the glass shelves, or the shelves and the frame, or both? And should I treat the support of the Linn LP12 with any different to the CD player or amps?

By the way, the floor of my room is concrete will a decent thickness of carpet and underlay. I therefore don’t suffer from wooden floorboards affecting my gear.

Any thoughts, please? Thanks.
 
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Daron, I have a Atacama Equinox HiFi stand, and I don't have any ringing. Never have, and it's not filled. It's simply two stands (actually two of the same size top shelfs not the 'official' bottom one), with the glass and gel pads and spikes going into the carpet. I have my TV on the top and my Oppo 105 on the bottom shelf.

I can't see why there would be ringing unless you had something causing significant vibrations like speakers. If you have had two different brands and they both have had this issue then are you sure there is not something else going on? There is no way a CD transport or turntable should be generating enough vibrations to cause ringing IMO. Try the isolation cones if you feel they may help. How about putting something heavy on the top shelf and seeing if that weight forced down to the ground stops the ringing. My TV's do weigh a lot, so it could be they help offset any vibrations. But I have not felt any from any of the transports that have been on the bottom shelf.
 
Sorry for the confusion, but I hadn't actally intstalled the Atacama when I wrote, and my comments regarding ringing were that when I tapped any of the three horizontal parts of the frame, they rang for a few seconds. This was far more than my Sound Org table did prior to me filling it with sand, and the sand did reduce that ringing in the Sound Org.

I was of the understanding that if the frame could resonate like that, it could respond to certain frequencies in the music, and possible have some effect on the equipment is it supporting.

Since writing, I have now installed the Atacama. I did manage to fill the legs with sand (kiln dried, from Wickes), and the intention was also to fill the horizontals, but they're sealed. So I took reasonable steps to isolate everything the table supports, with cones under my LP12 and CD player. The frame does still ring when tapped, and the glass shelves resonalte a little to, but initial listenings have been positive.

Over the next few days I'll get through a decent number of CDs and LPs and I guess time will tell whether I'm happier with how my system sounds. So far, so good.
 
I too use a Linn Sondek LP12 (old Valhalla model). Over the years, I've experimented with many different floor mounted supports and concluded that the ideal support, in my system anyway, should have the following properties:

High rigidity
Low mass
Low height

In practice, the best solution for me, on both suspended wooden and solid concrete floors, was an upturned plastic bottle crate topped with a half inch thick chipboard 'shelf' supported on firm rubber pads. Cost almost nothing and to my annoyance, gave a more accurate sound than a metal-framed table I specifically made from 25mm Speedframe.

Also, I think table 'ringing' is a comparatively minor issue, for instance, I certainly wouldn't add a high-mass damping material to reduce/eliminate 'ringing'. Expanding polyurethane foam might work though.

A LP12 sitting atop a tall, multi-shelf table loaded with other gear would be about the worst scenario I could imagine.

The Linn forum mentions this option as a viable solution for a LP12 support table:

LACK Side table - birch effect - IKEA

And from my own experiences, I can see this table meets at least two of my requirements, namely low height and low mass.
 
Thanks for the feedback on the Linn set up. I wish I have the room without further compromising my marital status! Unfortunately I have little choice but to stack my gear the way I have (bottom shelf - Naim, middle shelf - Arcam CD, top shelf - LP12).

Here are some things I have tried though. I popped the LP12 on three cones on the Acatama's glass shelf, and I tried the LP12 directly onto the shelf. Quite honestly I couldnt hear the difference. So I then placed one of the Sound Org table's shelves, itself with a cork pad in each corner, and I reckon there has been a very slight improvement in tightening of the bass, and clarity and separation of symbols.

I do have a old old lightweight table similar to the Ikea model you mentioned, so whilst I'll have to mount the Linn on the top shelf of the Atacama permanently, at least It will give me the chance to compare. It wont be spiked, of course, and will just sit on the carpet.

The height thing intrigues me though. I'll check out the Linn forum to find out more.

Whilst I have found myself "tuning" my set up based on a couple of tracks or CDs/LPs, there will always be some recordings which will sound bass light or bass heavy, and some recorded or mixed better than others. So no matter how good I feel I have things set up (that included my headphone system, which is separate to my main system), I just have to accept the some things are only going to sound so good, and live with it.
 

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