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Stereo Stands/Cabinets & isolation of foot vibration.

MKF

MKF

Active Member
I know the wall shelf is the immediate thought BUT, hear me out and then please give me your two cents.

I have my Thorens TD160 on a pine tv cabinet that we have had for years. Also, on the cabinet is my Onkyo receiver that weighs about 60lbs, my cd player on its own shelf and my tape deck, also on its own shelf. The cabinet sits on large'ish circular feet that raises the cabinet off the floor about 4".

I live in an old house w/hardwood floors and have never had a problem with my Thorens re: footfall vibration problems. Until now. Same cabinet but, I moved it to a much more convenient area and, to be honest, significantly less foot traffic in its new area. But, clearly, this part of the room has more "bounce"/"spring" in the floorboards as the needle will bounce.

QUESTION....I know conventional wisdom is to get a wall shelf. This isn't possible as the wall isn't load bearing and it would be completely impractical on the wall that is loadbearing. I have placed some thick foam matting under the cabinet and you can barely see it. I have also put similar foam padding and 1" mdf under the Thorens. It is considerably better, but, will still needs more isolation.

So, back to the original description of my cabinet....would it help if I removed the feet off the cabinet so that it is resting with all weight on the floorboards? Or, do the feet help with the dispersion of horizontal/vertical vibration? My thinking is the weight of the unit completely resting on the floor with the foam pad still under may actually help.

Thoughts on the above?

Cheers in advance!
 
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I think either way, the cabinet will shake the same amount. I think. Get an accelerometer app for a smart phone and test it both ways.

Your best bet might be Sorbothane pads under the feet of the cabinet or turntable or both. Available on Amazon, they come in different thicknesses, shapes (circles, hemispheres) and Durometer (stiffness) ratings.

For any given mass, there's an ideal loading that's neither too rigid nor too springy, so it might take a few tries to achieve the right damping.
 
Thanks on the sorbothane pad idea. If I do add them should I remove the foam I did put under both the cabinet and the turntable (which did make a difference) or, use the pads in addition to the foam?
 
I would think even a non-load-bearing wall could support a turntable on a wall shelf. You needn't put your whole stack on the wall shelf - just mount it above your cabinet. Apologies if this isn't helpful.

A sandbox would be another idea. As for taking the feet off of the cabinet, the only way to find out is to try it. I would think the feet would help, myself, but...

Maybe some of those rubber+cork blocks under the feet would help. Your are fighting long-excursion, low frequency vibrations, which are tough. Since your foam + mdf layer seems to be helping, maybe also try more of the same?
 
Band aids like cushions and removing feet and sorbothane will do little.

If a wall sits over a flexing floor, it will move with the flexing.

Many times motion of the cabinet et.al. is contains some lateral motion i.e. as the unsupported portion of the floor moves up or down it will cause a rocking motion to the cabinet et.al.

A glass partially filled with water, placed on the cabinet will sometimes reveal rocking.

Most of the other solutions are a waste of time and money.
 
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Thanks for the replies. I will try the sorbothane but, if that doesn't work I may need to re-locate the stereo. :(

I did remove the feet and I have to say I noticed a definite degradation in sound. Bass and treble were seriously affected. I put the feet back on and the bass and treble came back as should be. In all, I have spent about $35 trying to cure with "band aids". Band aids are great in may respects as they do stop the bleeding. If I can disperse/absorb most of the vibration from the floor that would be a good band aid, in my books. But, I am preparing myself to move the stereo back to where it was where I experienced no skipping or, a wall shelf. A Thorens weighs approx. 16lbs....as the wall isn't load bearing the studs are spaced further and I am not sure plasterboard alone, even with wall plugs could take that weight.
 
With a weight of less than 20 lbs, I would think that you could center a shelf on one stud and be completely okay, load-wise. I hang heavy TV's (over 100 lbs) on just two studs with absolutely no problems.
 
jhoyt said:
With a weight of less than 20 lbs, I would think that you could center a shelf on one stud and be completely okay, load-wise. I hang heavy TV's (over 100 lbs) on just two studs with absolutely no problems
Click to expand...

Sounds like it would work. You could add into the unsupported parts of the wall for balance as long as the attachment(s) in the stud are well anchored.
 
A wall does not need be a load-bearing one for a turntable - that's terminology for holding up roofs. And the reason conventional wisdom is to use a wall shelf is that it works.
 
Turntable motor and also other equipment can generate Structure-borne vibration even turntable is suspended on wall mount.

Also do not forget that speakers generate Air-borne vibration and large surface like wall mounted shelf your turntable sits on can vibrate from Air-borne vibration.

After I suspended my turntable (Transrotor ZET 1) on proper wall mount I tried various vibration isolation materials form cheap sorbothane to magnetic suspension. And they still was able to improve performance. For me best solution was Audwave vibration isolation pads and feet.
 
I have had my TD-160 on a wall shelf that was mounted on a non-load-bearing wall with suspended hardwood floors, and it worked great. Used to have lots of footfall issues, but no more. Worked for me. Nothing else I tried worked at all.
 
HTWillie said:
I think either way, the cabinet will shake the same amount. I think. Get an accelerometer app for a smart phone and test it both ways.
Click to expand...
Place a partially full glass of water on the cabinet and study what it does when footfalls happen.
Because the cabinet is essentially sitting on a spring, I wouldn't be surprised if you detect lateral as well as vertical movement of the water in the glass.
 
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