Decoupling Devices and Tube Power supply

I've been fooling around with various approaches on the tube power supply to my Allnic H3000 phono stage with some interesting (and to some degree curious, see below) results. When I got the unit, I had an old, heavy maple amp stand with cone/spikes. I plopped the power supply on top of that, using some old Goldmund cones I had in reserve. Kinda hard to tell what was going on, since the unit was new, and it needed some serious burn-in time, both for the tubes and the transformers.
Next step, played with some Vibrapod pods and cones. Seemed to add some clarity without harshness. Herbie footers sounded too soft. (I wanted to start cheap and work my way up, but as you all probably know, this leads to insanity, and it is sometimes cheaper to buy the best thing- whatever that is- right at the outset).
Anyway, ordered and received a nice little amp platform from Adona- their constrained layer platform, a granite composite, with some secret sauce in the middle, and MDF on the bottom. Got them to supply it with some cone/spikes. Tried with the Vibrapods- no dramatic difference in sound from the Maple block, but looks nicer.
Next, got a set of Aurios Classic 1.2 yesterday. Set them up and after the system had warmed up for an hour plus, started to listen. The clarity was amazing, the bass was tighter (i even turned down the subwoofer level a tad), really open/transparent with not a trace of harshness. Surprised, given everything I read, which suggested that these could lend a bright, metallic character to the sound.
So, after another couple hours, I started to hear it, and then it seemed very pronounced, that bright, overly analytic character- harsh, and nasty. I don't know if this was the result of the system warming up further- I read somewhere that the power supply to this unit changes character after it has been on quite a while- but that seems like voodoo to me. Anyway, played around with mitigating this edge, and using the Vibrapod pod (not the cone) on the bottom of the Aurios, it mitigated the harshness, but some of the clarity was lost.
Thoughts so far? I think Steve said at one point he used Aurios stuff?
Next up, getting some Nimbus couplers. Will try as soon as they arrive (we have electrical storms stacked up for the next couple days, so I may be on system hiatus because of that).
I really liked what the Aurios did in some respects. And have read elsewhere that with similar experiences, at least on components, reviewers have combined them with wood blocks, or other 'mitigators.' (Part of it may have to do with the metal to metal coupling between the top of the Aurios and the chassis. I did not try the Aurios under the factory feet, since that usually doesn't work, and even if it might in this case, I have three aurios and four feet- I suppose i could rig something to substitute under one factory foot that is that same height but that might defeat the lateral motion of the aurios).
Sorry for the ramble. I'm a little puzzled about why they sounded so good initially and then got harsher sounding as time went on. (Usually, my ears adjust the other way- I'll hear something immediately that i don't like, like harshness, or psychologically become accustomed to a sound the longer I listen to it).
And, I'll do an update re the Nimbus stuff once I have used it.
Finally, apart from Sean, who also owns this phono unit and weighed in on his experience with isolation/decoupling, etc., any others who use it and have fooled around with isolation- views most appreciated.
One well experienced listener likes the Stillpoint Ultra SS under the power supply- which is what i meant by just biting the bullet in the first place.

Steve Williams said:

I do use Aurios Pro MIB under my components and I have them between my 2" thick maple butcher block and power supplies to my Lamm ML3 amps. I think they are remarkable and have used them for well over 10 years

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So the aurios sits on the platform and is in direct contact with the underside of the power supply chassis?

Steve Williams said:

Yes. One thing I have never done however is to couple and decouple together as some do. IOW have spikes under your rack but use decouplers between the component and the rack

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Hmm, so your maple sits on the floor? Mine's carpeted, unfortunately, ergo the spikes. I suppose I could still try that, just remove the spikes from the platform and try the aurios. There may also be a difference between the sound quality of the arios you are using and the classic 1.2
thanks, Steve, for responding so quickly.

audioarcher said:

Bill, I would guess that the reason for the change in sound with your Aurios was that you just switched to different music? Or did you listen to the same music later and hear a different result?

Sean

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Sean, my acid test is those two cuts on the Classic Records 200g Neil Young Greatest Hits, Old Man and Heart of Gold, which tend toward the shouty; less so, since I got the Allnic. But, with the aurios in place, those tracks were virtually unlistenable. That's when i started fooling around with add-ons to the Aurios, first some old Mod Squad hard cups between them and the power supply, then the Vibrapod pod beneath the Aurios. At that point, I went back to a few of the records I listened to earlier. Something did seem to change, whether it was my ears or the equipment, after the first couple hours.

lloydelee21 said:

my personal favorite for tubes has been: EAT tubes dampers plus HRS nimbus couplers underneath with HRS damping plate on top.

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Thanks Lloydelee. The head unit has special gel sockets for each tube that i think are proprietary to Allnic, along with damping rings. The unit i am addressing right now, the PS- has one big ol rectifier tube. And i get the Nimbus couplers tomorrow. I don't have their damping plates, but an assortment of others, including Walker lead, and Eden Sound brass with various compositions that i've been experimenting with

lloydelee21 said:

Great! let me know what you think. On my tubed power supply, and on the main tubed DAC, i use HRS nimbus couplers, and on the main DAC unit, i also use HRS damping plate. It is crazy...the shimmer disappeared and a solidity appeared...plus when you flick the unit with your finger hard...without the HRS it tings like thin sheet metal. When you do it again with the damping plate on top...it feels like half inch thick aluminum...anywhere on the entire chassis...i have no idea how they are able to achieve this. But it works.

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I may try their plates at some point. The Lamm line stage head is a little 'tinny.' The Allnic is built like a brick. The head unit is all CNC, and bolted together beautifully- the power supply is more of a sheet metal 'U' shaped lid, which is part of the reason i'm focused on that, not the head unit.



I'll tell you a funny story. Years ago I bought a set of VPI Magic bricks from a store in NYC. For some reason (just shows how dumb you are when young), I decided to carry all three bricks --those things are HEAVY- around with me for the rest of the day while my wife and I did stuff in the city. At one point, we went to a floor in Macy's where they had a demonstration on rug making. There were these exotic guys there in native costume with looms making rugs. Whatever. They looked mystical. So, I started talking to one of them. I put down my bag with the bricks in it, and said 'Damn, that ****'s heavy." He asked,"what's in the bag?" I told him, with all the conviction I could muster, "Oh, they are Magic bricks." Hey nodded, like of course they are. In his world, that's not even something to question.

Lloyd- the nimbus couplers and spacers arrived yesterday. It was a little tricky to get them situated under the Allnic power supply, given the limited 'real estate' avaiable- its a pint sized chassis and i didn't want the Nimbus (Nimbi?) touching the factory feet or blocking the ventilation slots on the bottom. Haven't fired the system up yet, because we've have a wave of electrical storms- and more predicted. I should get to listen Sunday, and will post my reactions. I will also try one of their damper plates. I think the aurios are going back to the vendor- they were amazing in some respects, but the stridency they created (or revealed) was too much, and mitigating that by adding an additional damping layer also diluted their benefits.
I may try an additional pair under the PS to my turntable if they fit- that's a long narrow box and the diameter of the nimbus 'puck' is considerable, which means i might not be able to get them situated fully under that PS. I'm reluctant to spend the money for a vibraplane for that unit, perhaps i'll look at other options for the TT ps. (PS I am using the HRS platform under the TT itself, and it's great).

lloydelee21 said:

Great! Pls let me know. I am just trying the Artesania Audio damper plates...i always knew there was some residual ringing and nothing i had tried (other than HRS) would work. I came across Artesania Audio from my local dealer. i took 2 home. Stunning...possibly better or at least comparable to the HRS damping plate.

In particular, guitar strings dont bleed together (at all), and very high pitched ringing is gone. Finally, a complicated series of guitar string plucking deepens about 15%-20% and starts to emerge from space...as individual notes. Impressive.

If you are using ARC Ref 3 or ARC CD 5...i tried these in the store before taking them home...wow, big difference. Taking them off each of these two almost makes you feel like (relatively speaking) you've gone back to mid-fi...the depth of the notes and guitars flatten out, and the power/stability of bass weakens and thus it all 'shimmers' a bit.

Definitely worth a try if you can get a hold some locally.

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I read a review of their equipment rack in 6Moons. The thing looks gorgeous and seems to be well thought out. Where did you get the dampers? Most of the mentions seem to be in spanish, owing to the country of origin. Is there a US dealer?

Mike Lavigne said:

Bill,


i use Wave Kinetics A10-U8 footers under my gear on top of an Adona rack. i did use them with an Allnic H3000 phono stage i owned for a couple of years and liked what i heard.

i own 8 sets of A10-U8's.....and use them under my amp, preamp, digital, power supply of my turntable, and 2-box tape repro electronics.

http://wavekinetics.com/a10-u8.html

i've owned a number of decoupling devices and these have worked best for me......but there are many effective methods of decoupling. one very large issue with optimizing any decoupling device is to give it a solid base to 'work'. if your platform is spongy in any way then the decoupling device cannot truely work optimally. mass (heavy rack, shelf, slab) needs grounding to the floor underneath (when on carpet) thru spikes to the subfloor. imagine jumping on the deck of a bobbing ship. better to jump on a solid floor. you don't want the deck 'floating'.

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Point well taken, Mike. The little Adona platform is spiked into the carpet and is decently heavy in its own right, given the granite aspect of the platform itself. I haven't had an opportunity to listen to it yet with the HRS Nimbus decouplers, because of the storms- today is clear, so i'm likely to try. I have some damping weights on the top of the unit, and should get the HRS dampers (a pair of small ones) in the next day as well.
I may go to the wave kinetics at some point. It seems like you and albert both moved away from isolating racks like the GPA (which I currently use for my amps and line stage) to a more rigid stand and then use separate aftermarket decoupling, like the wave kinetics?