I have my Sim Audio Amp located on the bottom shelf of my audio rack.
The unit has good ventalation, and is not that heavy, so the shelf
accomadates it. Will an amp stand add a significant upgrade to the
sound?

On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 15:00:29 GMT, (bill lytle)
wrote:

I have my Sim Audio Amp located on the bottom shelf of my audio rack.
The unit has good ventalation, and is not that heavy, so the shelf
accomadates it. Will an amp stand add a significant upgrade to the
sound?

Only if your amp is unbelievably microphonic, such as some SET
designs. Why the heck *would* a stand affect amplifier sound?
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

This is a question that arouse controversy. If you read audiophile
magazines the answer is YES, there will be some upgrade. ("Significant"?
Always hard to define, given the tendency for hyperbole in magazines). If
you read RAHE posts the answer will often be as you read from Stewart
Pinkerton. NO.
Even if the stand helps the questions a
1. Will your bedroom system play loud enough to benefit from a stand?
2. Will any improvement be worth the considerable cost of the highly rated
stands?

That's why so many people experiment with home made solutions like inner
tube suspension, sandbags on top of components, etc.
I have no experience with stands, nor even anecdotal reports from others.
Good luck.
Wylie Williams

The problem is that a bedroo system "bill lytle" wrote
in message news:hi7_a.128010$uu5.18550@sccrnsc04...
I have my Sim Audio Amp located on the bottom shelf of my audio rack.
The unit has good ventalation, and is not that heavy, so the shelf
accomadates it. Will an amp stand add a significant upgrade to the
sound?

"Wylie Williams" wrote:

This is a question that arouse controversy. If you read audiophile
magazines the answer is YES, there will be some upgrade. ("Significant"?
Always hard to define, given the tendency for hyperbole in magazines). If
you read RAHE posts the answer will often be as you read from Stewart
Pinkerton. NO.
Even if the stand helps the questions a
1. Will your bedroom system play loud enough to benefit from a stand?
2. Will any improvement be worth the considerable cost of the highly rated
stands?

That's why so many people experiment with home made solutions like inner
tube suspension, sandbags on top of components, etc.
I have no experience with stands, nor even anecdotal reports from others.
Good luck.
Wylie Williams

In 1994 i conducted a bias controlled listening test of speaker stands. I
obtained 4 Snell speakers that I confirmed met there ).5 dB sample to sample
tolerance.

One pair were mounted on metal stands with spikes to the floor and to the
bottom of the speakers and loaded with 25 pounds of lead shot.

The other pair was mounted on the stamped steel stands that came with Bose 901s
which were duct-taped to empty cardboard 12-inch speaker cartons and height
matched with loose paperback books.

Listening was done in multiple sessions with the speaker sets rotated so that
every speaker/stand combination was rotated through every possible combination.
Blindness was accomodated with an acoustically transparent black cloth (swim
suit material) draped oveer the speakers.

Listeners had A/B switching control over every pair matching and were able to
retest anything at request.

In multiple sessions it was apparent that listeners 'prefered" a given
loudspeaker location BUT it didn't matter what the support method was employed.

IOW the speaker locations were important but the support method was not.

So forget your worries about stands. Use those that get the speakers to the
right location.

"Wylie Williams" wrote in message
news:J2v_a.136388$o%2.58696@sccrnsc02...
This is a question that arouse controversy. If you read audiophile
magazines the answer is YES, there will be some upgrade. ("Significant"?
Always hard to define, given the tendency for hyperbole in magazines). If
you read RAHE posts the answer will often be as you read from Stewart
Pinkerton. NO.
Even if the stand helps the questions a
1. Will your bedroom system play loud enough to benefit from a stand?
2. Will any improvement be worth the considerable cost of the highly rated
stands?

That's why so many people experiment with home made solutions like inner
tube suspension, sandbags on top of components, etc.
I have no experience with stands, nor even anecdotal reports from others.
Good luck.
Wylie Williams

The problem is that a bedroo system "bill lytle"
wrote
in message news:hi7_a.128010$uu5.18550@sccrnsc04...
I have my Sim Audio Amp located on the bottom shelf of my audio rack.
The unit has good ventalation, and is not that heavy, so the shelf
accomadates it. Will an amp stand add a significant upgrade to the
sound?


Amp stands -well there's a nice controversey to start everyone going !!
As I remember most of this started when peeps started to rediscover Tube
amps and paid a lot of money for them: unlike previous times when because
tubes are teribly microphonic people would put them in specally built
cabinets, usally on a concrete slab or other, to ensure the they were
isolated as best as possible from the sound in the room.
However NOW they wanted to show off their mega-buck'd light bulbs, so they
had a problem, isolation platforms and bottle guards (sleeves, etc) were
"invented" and guess what, they worked - - nothing new here.
However the ritual treatment process was born.
Hence, some tried it with solidstate amps and it was found (by some) to make
a difference, probably due to a simular reason, (now solidstate devices
should not be microphonic therorectically speaking) but due to practical
phyical constuction & design of the components & amps themselves coupled
with the need to produce a device with a limited cost factor -the perfect
world does not exist, so microphony can creap in.
I had tended not to believe in such for SS amps but I have heard some
changes by using a platform (I know anacdoteal evidance only, but as I'm not
going for a nobel prize, I didnt look at collecting any quantifiable data)
my ears were enough for me to know something was happening.

Before spending any money on isolation why dont you try a little experiment
yourself. Since your in the bedroom, put the amp on a piece of wood or MDF
and put a pillow between it and the shelf. if you dont hear a differance
then dont waste your money.
If you do you coud still save loads of $ by making your own as most work in
a contrained layer principle:- get another piece of MDF and sandwich the two
with 1/16 to 1/8 layer of PVA, ( bits of old nylon stockings can help in
building up the layers (an old trick from "valves, the first time around" +
beats "Noise Killer" anyday) ).

Good luck, let the forum know the results.

"chris" wrote in message
. net...
"Wylie Williams" wrote in message
news:J2v_a.136388$o%2.58696@sccrnsc02...
This is a question that arouse controversy. If you read audiophile
magazines the answer is YES, there will be some upgrade. ("Significant"?
Always hard to define, given the tendency for hyperbole in magazines).
If
you read RAHE posts the answer will often be as you read from Stewart
Pinkerton. NO.
Even if the stand helps the questions a
1. Will your bedroom system play loud enough to benefit from a stand?
2. Will any improvement be worth the considerable cost of the highly
rated
stands?

That's why so many people experiment with home made solutions like inner
tube suspension, sandbags on top of components, etc.
I have no experience with stands, nor even anecdotal reports from
others.
Good luck.
Wylie Williams

The problem is that a bedroo system "bill lytle"
wrote
in message news:hi7_a.128010$uu5.18550@sccrnsc04...
I have my Sim Audio Amp located on the bottom shelf of my audio rack.
The unit has good ventalation, and is not that heavy, so the shelf
accomadates it. Will an amp stand add a significant upgrade to the
sound?


Amp stands -well there's a nice controversey to start everyone going !!
As I remember most of this started when peeps started to rediscover Tube
amps and paid a lot of money for them: unlike previous times when because
tubes are teribly microphonic people would put them in specally built
cabinets, usally on a concrete slab or other, to ensure the they were
isolated as best as possible from the sound in the room.
However NOW they wanted to show off their mega-buck'd light bulbs, so they
had a problem, isolation platforms and bottle guards (sleeves, etc) were
"invented" and guess what, they worked - - nothing new here.
However the ritual treatment process was born.
Hence, some tried it with solidstate amps and it was found (by some) to
make
a difference, probably due to a simular reason, (now solidstate devices
should not be microphonic therorectically speaking) but due to practical
phyical constuction & design of the components & amps themselves coupled
with the need to produce a device with a limited cost factor -the perfect
world does not exist, so microphony can creap in.
I had tended not to believe in such for SS amps but I have heard some
changes by using a platform (I know anacdoteal evidance only, but as I'm
not
going for a nobel prize, I didnt look at collecting any quantifiable data)
my ears were enough for me to know something was happening.

Before spending any money on isolation why dont you try a little
experiment
yourself. Since your in the bedroom, put the amp on a piece of wood or MDF
and put a pillow between it and the shelf. if you dont hear a differance
then dont waste your money.
If you do you coud still save loads of $ by making your own as most work
in
a contrained layer principle:- get another piece of MDF and sandwich the
two
with 1/16 to 1/8 layer of PVA, ( bits of old nylon stockings can help in
building up the layers (an old trick from "valves, the first time around"
+
beats "Noise Killer" anyday) ).

Good luck, let the forum know the results.


Another good insolator is 1-1.5" thick cut pile carpet, two layers with the
top inverted. Then a slap on top of that. It works, itis cheap, and it
doesn't need inflation.