I know that Vibrapods aren't new to many AR members, and that there are several very positive reviews of them on this site. Still, my recent experience with them is so positive that I felt it deserved a separate thread.

My original intention was to purchase both the Vibrapods and Vibracones for a singular purpose: to hopefully eliminate the acoustic feedback I was getting from my turntable. After receiving them, I placed them under each of the four feet of my turntable, put the tonearm on a record, and started cranking up the volume. And guess what? NO feedback whatsoever! I had been investigating isolating feet for turntables at several websites, but the prices for some of these are so far into the stratosphere, I simply had to look elsewhere, Lucky for me, I found the Vibrapod. And the best was yet to come...

I had no idea that I would experience the sonic improvements these little babies provide! I had read the claims of "sweeter highs," "smoother mids," "better soundstaging and stereo imaging," and "tighter, deeper bass" but regarded most of those with a grain of salt. I'm happy to say that the Vibrapod/Vibracone combination provides ALL of those benefits, and then some! I truly had a wonderful time putting on a series of different records, and hearing how much better each and every one of them sounded. On some LP's, particularly European pressings made from superior vinyl, the almost total lack of surface noise closely approximated that of CD's and SACD's.

Still, the primary use for the Vibrapods isn't under turntables, but under electronic equipment. Frankly, I had never given much thought to eliminating vibration from an electronic component, basically believing that to do so was unnecessary.. I couldn't have been any more wrong.

I removed the Vibrapods from under the Vibracones under my turntable, and placed them under my Marantz SA-8001 SACD player just to see if they made any difference, thinking they most likely wouldn't. I was quite frankly stunned at the improvements, all of which were the very same as those for the turntable: better highs, mids, bottom end, soundstaging and imaging. And, the differences aren't that subtle either, but quite noticeable, particularly (and this is the case with the turntable too) in bass. Bass is much stronger, deeper, tighter and cleaner when using the Vibrapod than without them. I fully expected this with the turntable, after eliminating acoustic feedback, but never expected it from a CD/SACD player. I played a number of CD's, most of which I felt was faulty in one respect or another: too bright; too muddy; too shrill; and so on. Lackluster discs sounded distinctly cleaner with more definition, and overly bright and harsh sounding discs sounded much, much smoother and more listenable. Even the best sounding material (SACD's) benefitted greatly in much the same manner.

Both The Absolute Sound and Stereophile magazines have rated the Vibrapods as recommended components for years now, and I can certainly see why. For only $6 for a Vibrapod, and $8 for a Vibracone, I can't imagine any other upgrade or tweak for so little that does so much. If you haven't tried these out, you're in store for quite a treat when you do.

Next, I'll be installing them under my preamp and power amp, and hope to be as impressed with the improvements there as I have been with the turntable and SACD player.