Granite base

Hi-FiGuy · Mar 3, 2018

Enlighten me if you will,
First time I saw granite blocks under some amplifier's I thought cool!
They actually were blems from a tombstone maker.
Then I got to thinking, this to me, seems more or less a direct couple to the floor and would offer no sound benefit.
What say you?

andromedaaudio · Mar 3, 2018

I use it. Good quality material , if IT does anything i think IT clears up the sound.

So did the egyptians 3500 years ago. 500 ton solid quarzite base.

DSC05944 by andromeda61, on Flickr

andromedaaudio · Mar 3, 2018

The granite ones almost never cracked from earthquakes .
Sorry bit of topic

Stacore · Mar 3, 2018

I'd suggest slate as much better internally damped

Cheers,

Folsom · Mar 3, 2018

Granite is ok if it weighs enough, but few if anyone really gets to that level with it. It is very solid and tends to transmit some, so it need constrained layers or to weigh like 400lbs+.

analogsa · Mar 3, 2018

Granite is an excellent material for kitchens and bathrooms. Sadly, not so much for audio, at least not IME. Nor is marble. From all the stones i have tried slate sucked the least, but still, best avoided. TBH only tried South African slate, so there is a bit of a lingering doubt: perhaps the Italian slate is the musical slate

All these stone plinths...i just don't get it.

Stacore · Mar 3, 2018

Slate does have its own colloration so needs to be properly damped, best sandwitching with metals.

Cheers,

LL21 · Mar 3, 2018

Both HRS and Boulder incorporate granite into their isolation bases (HRS M3X shelf and Boulder 3060 and 3050 amps). However, both also use other materials in those stands...not just a standalone slab of granite. (In fact, am a big fan of HRS M3X isolation shelves and use them now.) Granite used by itself as a base...I too am not convinced.

ddk · Mar 3, 2018

Hi-FiGuy said:
Enlighten me if you will,
First time I saw granite blocks under some amplifier's I thought cool!
They actually were blems from a tombstone maker.
Then I got to thinking, this to me, seems more or less a direct couple to the floor and would offer no sound benefit.
What say you?

Very negative experience with granite under audio equipment including speakers. Hard, thin sound like you get from some footers.

david

andromedaaudio · Mar 3, 2018

From the web i Read somewhere. The Boulder 3000 series used granite with stainless steel .
As in granite not much dampning in stainless steel either .
Seems like they are not after dampning the sound at all

shakti · Mar 3, 2018

'had a discussion with HRS about Granite and Slate. Slate might have a better inner damping, but every part is unique , so very difficult to guess the particular damping effect. Granate is more easy, significant resonances, but only depending on the size, so easy to control. On HRS M3x this resonances are damped. Granite can transfer mechanical energy very fast, so this is the main reason granite is used on M3x, than this mechanical energy gets "killed"

They do not recommend slate or granite as stand alone base.

andromedaaudio · Mar 3, 2018

If you want a completely dead material with sufficient strength try HPL.
There is no equal. On this planet

LL21 · Mar 3, 2018

shakti said:
'had a discussion with HRS about Granite and Slate. Slate might have a better inner damping, but every part is unique , so very difficult to guess the particular damping effect. Granate is more easy, significant resonances, but only depending on the size, so easy to control. On HRS M3x this resonances are damped. Granite can transfer mechanical energy very fast, so this is the main reason granite is used on M3x, than this mechanical energy gets "killed"

They do not recommend slate or granite as stand alone base.

Great insight...thanks.

XV-1 · Mar 3, 2018

shakti said:
'had a discussion with HRS about Granite and Slate. Slate might have a better inner damping, but every part is unique , so very difficult to guess the particular damping effect. Granate is more easy, significant resonances, but only depending on the size, so easy to control. On HRS M3x this resonances are damped. Granite can transfer mechanical energy very fast, so this is the main reason granite is used on M3x, than this mechanical energy gets "killed"

They do not recommend slate or granite as stand alone base.

I use granite slabs with compression springs under 2 of my turntables. It works very well and easily beats the SRA and Symposium platforms that sit on the floor in my music room. Sounds 95% of the Minus K platform @ 1/20th the cost.

marty · Mar 3, 2018

andromedaaudio said:
If you want a completely dead material with sufficient strength try HPL.
There is no equal. On this planet

what is hpl please?

Hi-FiGuy · Mar 3, 2018

High Pressure Laminate

LL21 · Mar 3, 2018

XV-1 said:
I use granite slabs with compression springs under 2 of my turntables. It works very well and easily beats the SRA and Symposium platforms that sit on the floor in my music room. Sounds 95% of the Minus K platform @ 1/20th the cost.

Sounds ingenious. What kind of compression springs did you use? How did you affix the whole thing together?

XV-1 · Mar 3, 2018

LL21 said:
Sounds ingenious. What kind of compression springs did you use? How did you affix the whole thing together?

Lloyd. nothing special. piece of granite with compression springs underneath with "golden book" cardboard pages protecting the stand. see old photo below. I use 4 springs now as its supposedly better to have the total weight closer to the maximum weight allowance of the springs and does sound better.

Same principle that Townsend now use on their Seismic isolation products.

http://www.townshendaudio.com/hi-fi...t-vibration-isolation/seismic-isolation-pods/

LL21 · Mar 3, 2018

Nice!!! Very interesting about max'ing out the spring loading to improve sound performance as well. thanks!

GaryProtein · Mar 3, 2018

Granite slab floating in a tank of mercury

Granite base

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