Tesco Granite Worktop Saver
You may well ask what a kitchen worktop saver is doing on the humble pages of Hi-Fi Insight. Well granite is an excellent choice for an isolation plinth, and this particular one is an ideal choice for most hi-fi components.
There has always been something aesthetically pleasing about granite as well so it will not look out of place in anyone's system. It measures 400mm x 300m x 15mm deep and costs under a tenner. I have also seen a slightly larger one on sale at Morrisons at the same price for anyone whose equipment feet do not fit this dimension.
It is best to mount the plinth using blue-tak or something for a firm seating, but once the equipment has been mounted most listeners should be able to notice a subtle yet quite significant improvement in the overall sound quality.
I don't whether granite acts a dampening filter or isolates some unnecessary nasties such as room reverberation but the sound quality definitely improves.
Morrisons by the way also sell a smaller variant of this for £4.99 whose dimensions are 200mm x 200mm x 15mm. This makes an execellent choice as a speaker stand plinth that sits between the stand and speaker once again using blue-tak. I tested these plinths using a pair of Quad 11L speakers and Partington Dreadnoughts. The Quad 11L make an ideal loudspeaker to test these plinths with as they are very compact yet produce a lot of bass through their twin rear reflex ports. Sadly my partington stands are mounted on a wood floor and although the stand spikes are mounted on posi-drive screws, it is very difficult to stop the bass running away sometimes.
The effect of the plinths enhances the sound further and manages to remove a lot of uncontrolled bass and pushes out the midrange and sweetens the treble revealing very fine detail that previously got lost in the mix.
Since successfully utilizing granite in this way, I have also placed a couple of large concrete paving stones under each speaker stand to furter isolate unwanted noise reaching the speakers. I think the reverberation generated by each channel can effect the other if it is not effectively dampened in this way as imagery has definately improved as well.
Because granite is so poplular it is also very cheap making it a worthy material for enthusiasts to play around with and use.
This entry was posted on Sunday October 1st, 2006 at 1:09 PM and is filed under Tweaks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.
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