Dreamer
Classified Forum Moderator
Following the suggestions of Rabbit and some of the other members, I've recently embarked on an experiment of adding mass dampers to my speakers and componenet. Rather than just balancing lead bars or steel plates, or buying store-bought tweaks, I've decided to try some "off-the-shelf" solutions.
In my never-ending search for "hardware store Tweaks", I came across some good candidates for mass dampers in, of all places, teh Sporting Goods section of Sears. As it turns out, Weider makes weight plates (for using on a barbell) that have a sort of rubberised ring around the outside. I thought these would be perfect, because they are flat and heavy (very stable for placing on top of components) and the rubber rings would keep them from marring the surface of anything I put them on. And they were shockingly cheap.
A 5-lb plate is about $5, and the 10lb plates are about $10 each, so I bought 4 5-pounders, and 2 10-pounders. I thought the 10lb plates would be good candidates for placing on top of the crossover/transformer chassis of the Sequels, and the 4 5lb plates were to go on my 2 amps, preamp, and CD player.
As it turns out, the 10lb plates are a perfect fit for the Sequels. They almost look like they were made for the purpose, and the 5lb plates are perfect for the preamp (about 1" smaller than the chassis) and a nice fit for the amps and CD player. Also, since they are round, flat rings, they are only about 3/4" high, so they don't require a lot of clearance between the top of the componenet and the shelf above. Also, these plates have a large center hole and 2 cut-outs on the disk, and the center and perimeter are much thicker than the body of the disk, so they allow for good ventilation on top of the amps.
I covered the center part of the plates with that meshy non-slip shelf liner, first to precent the center flange from marring the surfaces the rest on, and second to "dress" them up a little (so they don't look so much like misplaced gym equipment), and they look really nice. The shelf liner I used is a sort of rubberised mesh, so it allows for ventilation, protects against potential mechanical buzzes, and secures the weights to the components so they don't move around.
Put them all on the various pieces, loaded up Diana Krall's "The Girl Next Door", skipped to the track called "Temptation" (hey, they used that on that Greek Audiophile Youtube short!?!) and snuggled down for a listen.
WOW...
The bass is astoundingly tighter. The mids bloomed a little more. Highs, not so much seem to happen here, but there is something--something that I just can't put my finger on--Oh yeah, it's just "sweeter".
Who'd have thought that 40lbs of strategically-placed cast-iron would make this much difference...
I'll post pics soon.
--Richard C.
In my never-ending search for "hardware store Tweaks", I came across some good candidates for mass dampers in, of all places, teh Sporting Goods section of Sears. As it turns out, Weider makes weight plates (for using on a barbell) that have a sort of rubberised ring around the outside. I thought these would be perfect, because they are flat and heavy (very stable for placing on top of components) and the rubber rings would keep them from marring the surface of anything I put them on. And they were shockingly cheap.
A 5-lb plate is about $5, and the 10lb plates are about $10 each, so I bought 4 5-pounders, and 2 10-pounders. I thought the 10lb plates would be good candidates for placing on top of the crossover/transformer chassis of the Sequels, and the 4 5lb plates were to go on my 2 amps, preamp, and CD player.
As it turns out, the 10lb plates are a perfect fit for the Sequels. They almost look like they were made for the purpose, and the 5lb plates are perfect for the preamp (about 1" smaller than the chassis) and a nice fit for the amps and CD player. Also, since they are round, flat rings, they are only about 3/4" high, so they don't require a lot of clearance between the top of the componenet and the shelf above. Also, these plates have a large center hole and 2 cut-outs on the disk, and the center and perimeter are much thicker than the body of the disk, so they allow for good ventilation on top of the amps.
I covered the center part of the plates with that meshy non-slip shelf liner, first to precent the center flange from marring the surfaces the rest on, and second to "dress" them up a little (so they don't look so much like misplaced gym equipment), and they look really nice. The shelf liner I used is a sort of rubberised mesh, so it allows for ventilation, protects against potential mechanical buzzes, and secures the weights to the components so they don't move around.
Put them all on the various pieces, loaded up Diana Krall's "The Girl Next Door", skipped to the track called "Temptation" (hey, they used that on that Greek Audiophile Youtube short!?!) and snuggled down for a listen.
WOW...
The bass is astoundingly tighter. The mids bloomed a little more. Highs, not so much seem to happen here, but there is something--something that I just can't put my finger on--Oh yeah, it's just "sweeter".
Who'd have thought that 40lbs of strategically-placed cast-iron would make this much difference...
I'll post pics soon.
--Richard C.
