Isolation Platform

[sydney1128]

Sometime cheap doesn't mean no good!

Out of curiosity, I went to Ikea and bought their chopping board for $29.90 to try out as isolating platform.


I didn't expect much...
But after I put my CD transport directly on it.
I was like wow..... how could that be???!!!!

Ok, my initial setup was having the CD transport with the Finite Elemente Ceraball on top of my cabinet which made of laminate and plywood.
It was fine, bass becomes tighter instantly. So I thought was fine...
But when the chopping board was place with the transport without the Ceraball, the sound gets quieter and bass seem to have a little more control too.

Finally, I decided to try with the Ceraball under the CD Transport.
Now I get to hear more mid high frequencies, better bass control and a little more airy too.

Geez, never expect such chopping board will help !
Then it makes me feel sucks as the plywood cabinet I have now is really poor for HiFi.
Hence, never try put your equipment on plywood as it will not sound as good as other woods !
I should have gotten MDF board cabinet instead of cabinet made of plywood.
Or best with proper HiFi rack!!!

But well, life moves on.....
Next, I will experience with other material isolation platform and see which gives the best sound I like.

[watchdog]

Hmm, plywood is not too bad a material actually. The problem is that the material is not homogenous and hence there is no consistency in sound. The plywood material may also have some voids in the ply.

Chipboard is the most horrible of the lot. The various models from Ikea all sound different BTW. When you get sick of it, you can just transfer it to the kitchen too !

[collins]

i bought three of the same chopping board from IKEA and they work great. Bamboo is a natural composite material with good damping effect. The IKEA board features bamboo plies sandwiched in 0 deg and 90 deg orientations. This configuration can help to spread out vibration force in different directions with minimum resonance, whereas a uniformly aligned grain pattern is more prone to induce resonance. I believe the performance of the board as an isolation platform be be further improved if IKEA adds two more 45 deg plies.

[audiobeng]

I did some research and discovered that Guizu uses what looks like a kind of chipboard on all of their racks. The legs and and frame is probably real wood but the shelves are all chipboard (?) . I was wondering why their racks were on the light side even for MDF. 

[jb]

I think Guizu used real walnut wood for leg and frame, and they used two thinner piece of wood for the shelf...so the shelf have a air chamber between that will resonate at some frequency that suppose to give the nice sound for your system (according to their design).

If you use your finger to knock on the centre of shelve, it will give a resonate wood sound. But if you knock on side of shelve, is solid wood sound as shelve frame is solid wood.I think because of this design it reduce the weight of the racks, as the shelves are not make of chipboard. generally the guizu rack is value for money.... unless you decide to upgarde to other higher end brand.

[audiobeng]

Actually I came across a pic online of a cross section of the guizu shelves. I believe it's from a quizu site or perhaps a dealer's site promoting the product (in taobao?). I don't recall anymore if it was a cross section of the rack and/or the amp platform. It does have several horizontal hollow "slots" (air chambers?) which I too believe, could be implemented to reduce weight (no idea of the reason) of the racks. From the pic, it is wood but not MDF for sure or any kind of natural solid wood. I then compared the pic of the cross section of the quizu shelf to a stock pic of standard issue chipboard (cross section) from the internet. It looks exactly the same. Hence my belief that guizu shelves are made of chipboard. Whether chipboard with hollow slots in the centre contributes to "better sound", I have no idea.

[audiobeng]

Found the site in Taobao

http://c.b1wt.com/h.VEmjps?cv=p6lzZHqbVOy&sm=128373

[jb]

yes, after seeing the link u posted, the shelve leg and frame is solid wood, but the centre piece is of laminate chip board with hollow slot, that is why the rack is light weight.

[audiobeng]

Actually, I was not too concerned about it being light weight, when it comes to quality and performance. Natural solid wood legs and frames are nice but chipboard for shelves are a no go for me, especially for audio applications. From reading up in audio forums, most people rate chipboard shelves very poorly. A friend has one and once I lifted it, I sensed something was funky as it was too light for MDF, which I assumed it was since Guizu though affordable, are not exactly cheap in Singapore. Chipboard shelving even in normal furniture, are considered budget low grade. Anyway, I will be getting real solid wood platforms custom made. Real excited about that.

[sydney1128]

Thanks bro AudioBeng for sharing this precious info on the Guizu rack...
Never expect to see the internal section made of...
All along I thought was made of MDF board.

[audiobeng]

No problem Bro Sydney1128, however my discovery, I must say was a total fluke. I managed to sidestep purchasing pedestrian grade furniture at a premium price. Heng ah! Let you guys know the outcome of natural solid wood platforms. I am gonna try mahogany and monkey pod first."

Happy Listening Everyone 

[watchdog]

Audiobeng, thanks for bringing this to our attention. Chipboard is definitely a no-no.

Let us know how your shelf experiment goes. Dense woods tend to have a very heavy sound.

[sydney1128]

Bro AudioBeng,

Managed to buy the mahogany wood?
Any good?
Price better?

No problem Bro Sydney1128, however my discovery, I must say was a total fluke. I managed to sidestep purchasing pedestrian grade furniture at a premium price. Heng ah! Let you guys know the outcome of natural solid wood platforms. I am gonna try mahogany and monkey pod first."

Happy Listening Everyone 

[audiobeng]

Hello Bro Sydney1128. Unfortunately, I have to hold back experimenting with the solid tonewood platforms due to a slight set back. Cdp one channel died. 

Probably in 30 to 45 days time.

[sydney1128]

Hi Bro Audiobeng,

So sorry to hear that.
You know who to contact to have your CDP fixed?
What is the problem? Is it worth repairing it or get new replacement?
What CDP you are using?