Mivera
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What do you guys think of mag-lev isolation platforms? This isn't a debate on whether vibration isolation matters or not for audio gear, just if this technology is effective at vibration isolation.
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Mag-lev isolation
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BE is our expert in that domain so hopefully will chime in.
It is very cool though.
It is very cool though.
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Most chassis are aluminum because it isn't magnetic. Seems putting a magnetic field right under a component might not be a good idea. Of course I for one am not convinced such isolation is important to sound quality. It sure looks cool however.
On the other hand you actually need some suspension combined with damping for real isolation. This looks a lot like an undamped suspension. The difference in your car with shocks and without. So damped springs are probably a better deal. Sure does look cool however.
On the other hand you actually need some suspension combined with damping for real isolation. This looks a lot like an undamped suspension. The difference in your car with shocks and without. So damped springs are probably a better deal. Sure does look cool however.
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Looks to be the ultimate tweak to eliminate floor borne vibrations but air borne and chassis self vibration would have no good path to drain so my verdict is that this offers no useful value. A better option IMO would be a combination of rollerballs (ie..Symposium or Stillpoints) directly under the component and springs under the platform.
But I agree this tweak would be a great conversation piece though
But I agree this tweak would be a great conversation piece though
When they showed the tube amp on it I thought ok that's not a bad idea to help isolate and vibrations on the object it is sitting on, but when they put the speaker on there, well, then the compression and relaxation of that top plate is going to squeeze and suck air between the plates, creating a new speaker that transfers speaker cabinet vibrations to the air, maybe not so good an idea but measurements could reveal more, perhaps a variable magnetic strength combined with measurements could tune it to really minimize vibrations on what the speaker is sitting on. Thanks for the post Mivera
OP
Mivera
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No problem. I'm wondering if one of these is good enough to measure real world results:
http://www.bksv.com/products/handhe...-analyzers/handheld-vibration-analyzer-2250-h
I would like to do a comparison of 4-5 different systems.
Yep, it would need testing, as I think on it some more, the magnetic lines of force while invisible are still an energy field, and I imagined that there were 4 small little hollow rubber balls (one in each corner instead of the magnets) and I thought, well, if I push down on the top platter, it will transfer that energy down to the lower one, and visa versa, so yes, there is actually a "direct" connection there, you could think of it as springs as well. Perhaps they did not show any scientific results because while it looks cool it does not do any better, or maybe worse than physical connected systems do.
NorthSky
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It's very cool, and easy to build our owns. And yes, the powerful magnets, for components weighting fifty pounds, are they touching now, and what role they play @ proximity to electrical circuits?
a changing (from the vibrations)magnetic field will induce a voltage into a closed loop circuit, such as whats inside the amp. Audibility is another matter. The question is how much stray field finds it way up into the bottom of the component, I would suspect not much based on what I see there.
OP
Mivera
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NorthSky
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"We also experimented extensively with magnetic suspension, and while magnetic techniques have their uses (Symposium has been awarded two U.S. patents that involve magnetic inventions), we also rejected these, since opposing-magnet suspensions exhibit markedly non-linear displacement. That is, as the distance between magnets decreases (as in an isolation application), the repulsion force of the magnets does not remain constant, but instead increases at an exponential, non-linear rate. This problem of non-linearity is shared by nearly all of the above systems, and damages sonics - especially those characteristics having to do with the sense of dynamic range or "liveness" of music - when used with critical components."
* The above quote is from here: http://www.symposiumusa.com/segueiso.html
* The above quote is from here: http://www.symposiumusa.com/segueiso.html
OP
Mivera
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Well sounds like they know more than me about this. I say bolt it down to a 10000 lb block of pure granite. That should do the trick
For precision CNC machine applications, to reduce chatter, they use mass, and thick reinforced concrete under the machines.
NorthSky
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I'm just searching around:
"Sadly, the task isn't all that easy: first of all a full magnetic levitation with passive magnets isn't easy to achieve (actually it's impossible, see later) because the suspended base tries to escape from the equilibrium position with apparent no reason, secondly you need strong magnets and, hence, magnetic fields. These may be not welcomed near phono cartridges, phono stages and CD players, for example.
The first problem (unstable equilibrium) is well known since, say, 160 years or so. The well known Earnshaw's theorem (1842!) states that if you have a static field (let's say, if your magnets are passive and static) then the equilibrium of any charged particle into the field created by the magnets is unstable.
This means that any tiny perturbation from that position will make the particle move away from there (actually, escape quickly!) "
"Magnetic field influence.
This was one of the main problems, considering the magnetic field generated by the neodymium magnets could interact with phono cartridges and electronic circuits. According to the technical papers supplied by the designer the stray field near the platform is negligible and decreases rapidly with distance (for values, refer to the introduction above).
Using two different MM phono cartridges I've detected no negative influence of the field, indeed. Anyway, long-term effects of the exposure to low-value magnetic fields should be investigated, especially when dealing with delicate magnetic devices such as MC or MM cartridges. It is well known that magnets tend to demagnetize when exposed to repulsive interacting fields."
• http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/relaxa1_e.html
• http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/everything-else/73424-self-centering-magnetic-suspension.html
And here's the one you first presented Mike in your first post (price on eBay): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Aud...lf-for-Audio-Components-500-OFF-/321982799956 - It's not free.
"Sadly, the task isn't all that easy: first of all a full magnetic levitation with passive magnets isn't easy to achieve (actually it's impossible, see later) because the suspended base tries to escape from the equilibrium position with apparent no reason, secondly you need strong magnets and, hence, magnetic fields. These may be not welcomed near phono cartridges, phono stages and CD players, for example.
The first problem (unstable equilibrium) is well known since, say, 160 years or so. The well known Earnshaw's theorem (1842!) states that if you have a static field (let's say, if your magnets are passive and static) then the equilibrium of any charged particle into the field created by the magnets is unstable.
This means that any tiny perturbation from that position will make the particle move away from there (actually, escape quickly!) "
"Magnetic field influence.
This was one of the main problems, considering the magnetic field generated by the neodymium magnets could interact with phono cartridges and electronic circuits. According to the technical papers supplied by the designer the stray field near the platform is negligible and decreases rapidly with distance (for values, refer to the introduction above).
Using two different MM phono cartridges I've detected no negative influence of the field, indeed. Anyway, long-term effects of the exposure to low-value magnetic fields should be investigated, especially when dealing with delicate magnetic devices such as MC or MM cartridges. It is well known that magnets tend to demagnetize when exposed to repulsive interacting fields."
• http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/relaxa1_e.html
• http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/everything-else/73424-self-centering-magnetic-suspension.html
And here's the one you first presented Mike in your first post (price on eBay): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Aud...lf-for-Audio-Components-500-OFF-/321982799956 - It's not free.
Careful, he might make it disappear.
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