Do sorbothane feet help with footfalls?

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I recently added an AR XB the my living room system. I immediately noticed that it is very prone to skipping if anyone walks within a 4 ft radius. I know I need to work on tuning the suspension a little better and that's on the agenda, but I still feel like I'm going to need some kind of additional dampening. I've seen mixed reviews on sorbothane feet. For those who have used them, did they help? Unfortunately, a shelf is not an option.
 
With a suspended table especially you really have to try to ensure the unit the table is resting on isn't moving. Vertical forces a suspended table can absorb (up to a point) if the suspension is tuned well. When the floor moves the cabinet doesn't just in the vertical plane so the arm experiences horizontal forces as well. The farther from the floor the table sits, the greater that horizontal movement. I had that issue with my TD-125 years ago and and tying the shelf unit to the wall completely solved the problem to the point where you could dance in the room with not skip. Before that a 10 lb. dog trotting into the room would cause a skip. I'm doubtful that sorbothane would do much to handle those movements and really for the suspension to do its job properly the table needs to have good contact with what it rests on.
 
Fiddlefye, for what it's worth, here's a picture of the cabinet is sitting on. It's tall and not very deep, which is probably making it worse. Perhaps anchoring it to the wall as you suggested wouldn't be a bad idea. 1484513699251-278309717.jpg
 
Just be careful what you set them on ... sorbothane can stain wood big time ...
 
Fiddlefye, for what it's worth, here's a picture of the cabinet is sitting on. It's tall and not very deep, which is probably making it worse. Perhaps anchoring it to the wall as you suggested wouldn't be a bad idea. View attachment 852240
Interesting. As long as that cabinet is stiff enough it should be not bad. What is the actual nature of the floor itself? Is it by any chance a floating floor of some sort? If so some more mass might help keep it settled, something like concrete pavers under the cabinet.
 
Couple layers of stall mat from the local farm 'n fleet would definitely damp things down ... a 4x6 of that weighs about 100 pounds. I use it under my big box speakers on a balloon floor with good results.
 
Interesting. As long as that cabinet is stiff enough it should be not bad. What is the actual nature of the floor itself? Is it by any chance a floating floor of some sort? If so some more mass might help keep it settled, something like concrete pavers under the cabinet.
Joists with PVC laminate over the sub flooring. My options are limited with what I can do since the fiance will veto anything that doesn't meet her design approval. I did go to Lowe's and pick up some 1/2" thick foam/felt furniture slides to put under the cabinet. Those and increasing the tracking force by half a gram seemed to help, but not completely cure it. I think I will anchor the cabinet to the wall since it won't effect the appearance in any way...
 
Joists with PVC laminate over the sub flooring. My options are limited with what I can do since the fiance will veto anything that doesn't meet her design approval. I did go to Lowe's and pick up some 1/2" thick foam/felt furniture slides to put under the cabinet. Those and increasing the tracking force by half a gram seemed to help, but not completely cure it. I think I will anchor the cabinet to the wall since it won't effect the appearance in any way...

Try some mass, a patio stone will fit. If that helps cut two tennis balls in half for feet. If this does not help you are out little cash. Also make sure your table is level at the platter.
 
I've been going through a dampening project myself and I really like the Sorbothane feet. I concur, I heard a fair amount about the staining of some surfaces, and while I can't say I witnessed that (I added a rubber barrier), I can understand why it happens. Sorbothane has a "stickiness" to it. One set I ordered came with some type of coating that I think removed the staining risk. I was also fortunate to find at Target some 1 1/2" rubber disks that fit perfectly under the Sorbothane feet. I ordered several types from the same seller of various sizes and densities. I settled on the 1 1/2" threaded set made for the Technics 1200, even though this was not for that particular model, I was able to make it work just fine. The 2" rounded (coated) ones were pretty great too. I also preferred the 70 density, even though the weight charts said I could go with a much less dense version. I talk a bit about my findings in this thread:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/technics-sl-d202-refurb-project.747274/
 
Joists with PVC laminate over the sub flooring. My options are limited with what I can do since the fiance will veto anything that doesn't meet her design approval. I did go to Lowe's and pick up some 1/2" thick foam/felt furniture slides to put under the cabinet. Those and increasing the tracking force by half a gram seemed to help, but not completely cure it. I think I will anchor the cabinet to the wall since it won't effect the appearance in any way...
I'm going to suggest a little experiment that might help sort out exactly what you're dealing with. Perhaps try placing a glass of water in a relatively similar location (next to the turntable, maybe at the same distance from the wall as the stylus?) and then try making stepping on the floor in the same manner that has been causing the skipping. Watch the water in the glass and see which way it moves and to what degree. This should give a good idea of what forces you need to counter to resolve the problem.
 
Here's what I did for a real problem I had.
1. Bought a large granite slab to go under the turntable and attached rubber feet to the bottom of it where it touches the cabinet surface.
2. Found an ISOKINETIK turntable isolation platform on EBay that had large sorb-ethane pads that came with it.
3. Placed the ISOKINETIK platform on top of the granite slab, and then the turntable on top,of the platform.
No more skipping when the grand kids want to dance.
 
I have a Conrad Johnson SG3 suspended table. Great table, very susceptible to footfalls. Isopads, sorbothane, heavy ceramic tile; none if it did much good. Table is in storage until I can put on a shelf. Funny thing is my unsuspended table in the same location is quite solid & you'd have to jump to get it to waver. I never suspected this problem when I bought the SG3... Good luck getting your issue resolved. Plse post your solution if you find one.
 
I recently added an AR XB the my living room system. I immediately noticed that it is very prone to skipping if anyone walks within a 4 ft radius. I know I need to work on tuning the suspension a little better and that's on the agenda, but I still feel like I'm going to need some kind of additional dampening. I've seen mixed reviews on sorbothane feet. For those who have used them, did they help? Unfortunately, a shelf is not an option.

There is nothing will help other than stabilized platform. They are available both passive and active. Prices start from $2500 and go all way up to tens of thousand (their main use is to isolate optical instruments in lab environment). Some turntables with very soft springs (like Oracle) can help too, but not always. Sorbotane feet, if used properly, can help to isolate TT from feedback in frequencies over 10Hz. Thus best application is in rooms with large floor standing speakers or subwoofers.
 
I'm going to suggest a little experiment that might help sort out exactly what you're dealing with. Perhaps try placing a glass of water in a relatively similar location (next to the turntable, maybe at the same distance from the wall as the stylus?) and then try making stepping on the floor in the same manner that has been causing the skipping. Watch the water in the glass and see which way it moves and to what degree. This should give a good idea of what forces you need to counter to resolve the problem.

So I tried this last night. I was expecting a little bit of movement and was surprised to see the water tipping back and forth pretty heavily. It looks like the cabinet is rocking in and out from the wall whenever someone walks by. Thanks for the advice on the water trick, this at least gives me some ideas on where to start.
 
So I tried this last night. I was expecting a little bit of movement and was surprised to see the water tipping back and forth pretty heavily. It looks like the cabinet is rocking in and out from the wall whenever someone walks by. Thanks for the advice on the water trick, this at least gives me some ideas on where to start.

Many times this is the crux of the problem.
Probably no amount of coupling/cushioning can stop the rocking; the lateral movement must be tamed.
 
Many times this is the crux of the problem.
Probably no amount of coupling/cushioning can stop the rocking; the lateral movement must be tamed.

I'll try anchoring the top of the cabinet to the wall and see where that gets me. The table will be out of commission for a while while I send the tonearm off to be worked on, so I'll have some time to get it figured out. Thanks everyone for the help.
 
So I tried this last night. I was expecting a little bit of movement and was surprised to see the water tipping back and forth pretty heavily. It looks like the cabinet is rocking in and out from the wall whenever someone walks by. Thanks for the advice on the water trick, this at least gives me some ideas on where to start.
I'm glad you tried a bit of research. Until you know what is really going on any solutions you try will be a shot in the dark. I honestly wish the idea of using a glass of water as a visual aid had come to me back when I had the problem to deal with myself, but better late than never!
 
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