Herbie's Footers- Tweaks to improve your Audio and Video

[naturephoto1]

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to let people know about some relatively inexpensive items to improve your audio and video performance. That is the usage of feet or footers and other tweaks. Many of us using and familiar with high end or relatively high end equipment are familiar with the usage of tweaks including feet to improve the audio and video in your system.

I highly recommend the usage of products from Herbie's Audio Lab. I have found that his footers (or feet) and other items have improved the performance of every piece of equipment (from electronics to speakers and subwoofers, and turntables) that I have tried them with in terms of audio and visual performance. They will improve the imaging, soundstaging, depth, highs, lows, mid range, dynamics, video performance etc. These products can be used with CD, DVD, and Blu-ray players; Pre/Pro amps; Preamps, Power Amps; Receivers; Phono Preamps; DACs; Satellite Receivers; Power Conditioners and other Power Products; Turntables; Speaker Stands; Speakers (monitors to towers); Subwoofers; etc. As an example, with these footers under my big Epik Conquest, it helped to tighten the Bass, improve speed, lessen the boomines, and to reduce standing waves.

Using these footers will raise the performance of whatever they are used with appreciably to the extent of upgrading to at least probably the next level piece of equipment.

You have little to lose and a tremendous amount to gain. All of Herbie's products come with a lifetime warranty and a 90 day money back trial period.

You can spend a little or with time you can spend a lot. I suggest that you test at least one piece of equipment with these items and if you want you can try several at once. By the way there are break points for discounts.

I am not affiliated with Herbie's Audio at all. I am just a very very happy customer that has already spent over $1500 on his tweaks (primarily footers).

Here is the link to Herbie's Audio:

http://herbiesaudiolab.home.att.net/home.htm

Here is the link to the Herbie's Footer Page:

http://herbiesaudiolab.home.att.net/footers.htm

I hope that at least some of you will give these products a try.

Rich

[VinnAY]

These are expensive!

Superior Carpet Spike: $19.65 ea.

[BACsader]

Okay, tell me something. Can this really improve the performance of a home theater system by enough to warrant the price?

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by BACsader

Okay, tell me something. Can this really improve the performance of a home theater system by enough to warrant the price?

As I mentioned, everything comes with a lifetime warranty and also a 90 day money back exchange period. So, if you want to give it a shot go ahead. If it works for you great. If not your only loss is the shipping.

For myself, as I mentioned above, yes, I have spent a lot and gotten a lot. Now I have a high end high resolving system and every time I put his footers or something else in from Herbies I most definitely notice the change. That has included under my big power amps, Pre/Pro, DVD and Blu-ray players.....

Rich

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by VinnAY

These are expensive!

Superior Carpet Spike: $19.65 ea.

They are much much more than just spikes. They have neutralizing materials, etc. in their design. They also have other products that are less expensive as well including those listed on the miscellaneous page. By the way a set of 4 brass cones can cost $25, but those in the high end part of the market may spend over $300 to get some special cones or supports. So do not prejudge what you know nothing about.

Rich

[VinnAY]

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

They are much much more than just spikes. They have neutralizing materials, etc. in their design. They also have other products that are less expensive as well including those listed on the miscellaneous page. By the way a set of 4 brass cones can cost $25, but those in the high end part of the market may spend over $300 to get some special cones or supports. So do not prejudge what you know nothing about.

Rich

so defensive, and sure are pushing something you have no connection too...

btw, there's no need to "prejudge what you know nothing about"...I can prejudge $20 for a little piece of metal and some rubber all I want too.

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by VinnAY

so defensive, and sure are pushing something you have no connection too...

btw, there's no need to "prejudge what you know nothing about"...I can prejudge $20 for a little piece of metal and some rubber all I want too.

+1, OP your post makes them sound pretty good, but times are rough and money is tight with a lot of people, so some may be a little more skeptical than others. I'm moving to a new place soon so I'll definitely look into these after I get my new eD A2-300, I'll do a before and after

Thanks for the post

[JJ]

I think something like these will make little noticeable difference with your everyday equipment, honestly.

But this is a vague statement made with no knowledge of how the foot works.

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

They are much much more than just spikes. They have neutralizing materials, etc. in their design. They also have other products that are less expensive as well including those listed on the miscellaneous page. By the way a set of 4 brass cones can cost $25, but those in the high end part of the market may spend over $300 to get some special cones or supports. So do not prejudge what you know nothing about.

Rich

Well, I know nothing about:

The weight of the speakers the average Joe will be putting on these things...

The surface they'll be sitting on...

The solidity of the underfloor (tile, concrete, wood with a subfloor, whatever)

What the compression factor for these "proprietary elastomers" are (see the first thing I don't know about for details)

Whether these compression factors will affect vertical or lateral movement positively or negatively, or whatever. We're talking bouncy bouncy or shimmy-shake factors.

Finally, what I don't know about, is if the isolation is from external factors on the speakers, or the sound from the speakers on the external environment.

PS: If external vibrations will disrupt sound radiation from a tweeter blasting at 10kHz, I'm gonna be cowering under the kitchen table waiting for the earthquake to stop, and F@#$ the movie. And if it's needed to keep internal vibrations from setting up sympathetic movement from the unit itself, I'm gonna go out to the garage, get a hammer and nails, and see if I can't get that bad boy to hang together a little bit better. And some Super Glue.

I'm not saying that these things don't work. I put six bath towels under my turntable once, to stop the rumble. Looked pretty bad, until I put some sponges under it.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by VinnAY

These are expensive!

Superior Carpet Spike: $19.65 ea.

These are relatively inexpensive compared to others I have seen in Audioadvisor and other places. These prices are actually pretty good!

[Beta Man]

If I can ever afford it, I plan on getting a new audio rack, and the ones I'm looking at will certainly compensate for this, and will have built in "Isolators"

But I do find the OP's original post useful, and relevant... It looks to be a good site, with good products.

[Driver_King]

Nature, you've spent $1500 on their "upgrades"? Why? I'm going to have to question the ability of spikes of changing your audio that much. You listed practically every term known to describe the most important features of audio equipment there claiming the spikes improved everything there. $20 a spike is not cost-effective or inexpensive. There are so many other factors that would immediately just invalidate all of those postives. You could use all that money toward something that would actually not offer you diminshing returns on an unnecessary product. I've tried no spikes, spikes, and partial spikes on my A2-300 and neither time is their a clear difference.

[Big Daddy]

If you really want to hear a significant difference in your subwoofer's performance, you should be willing to spend a lot more money. Try Sub Traps.

SubTrap.jpg

SubTrap2.jpg SubTrap3.jpg

"Once you hear the difference, you’ll never go back. The SubTrap is more than a simple isolation stand. In addition to isolation, it absorbs excess bass and decouples your sub-woofer from room mode. The end result is a unique product available only from ASC. Raise your subwoofer up to its full performance potential. Just slip the ASC-SubTrap underneath your subwoofer and you’ll create the powerful “SubStack.” Instantly improve bass detail, changing “muddy” low frequency playback into a richly detailed picture. Not only does the SubTrap increase bass extension and punch, it also gets rid of "one note bass"."

"By raising the sub off the floor and putting a SubTrap under it, the subwoofer is effectively decoupled from the vertical room mode. Excess bass buildup is reduced and the playback volume of the subwoofer can be cranked up much higher than before."

18” SubTrap (50 Hz) Standard, most Subwoofers: $469
22” SubTrap (30 Hz) Large Subwoofer: $586

http://www.asc-home-theater.com/subtrap.htm

Reviews:
http://hometheaterhifi.com/volume_12...ap-6-2005.html
http://www.stereophile.com/musicinth...ic/index1.html

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

Nature, you've spent $1500 on their "upgrades"? Why? I'm going to have to question the ability of spikes of changing your audio that much. You listed practically every term known to describe the most important features of audio equipment there claiming the spikes improved everything there. $20 a spike is not cost-effective or inexpensive. There are so many other factors that would immediately just invalidate all of those postives. You could use all that money toward something that would actually not offer you diminishing returns on an unnecessary product. I've tried no spikes, spikes, and partial spikes on my A2-300 and neither time is their a clear difference.

First of all, my system consists of upgraded components in the tens of thousands of dollars; I am using some very expensive upgraded amps and other equipment. For people with higher end equipment, tweaks in this price range are generally considered inexpensive and very cost effective. I do not use their spikes under anything. I have some dome footers (cost between $8.69 and $10.69 each) under my front and rear speaker stands and subwoofer. Additionally, I have neutralizing dots ($3.69 each) under my center channel and rear speakers. As far as the rest of the footers that are used they are placed under the DVD player, the Blu-ray player, the power amps, the pre/pro, tuner, DAC, DirecTV cable box, power conditioning products, will be under the turntable (will also have a turntable mat), will be under the the phono preamp, etc. The reason for using these is for vibrations, and micro vibrations that externally and internally run through the equipment, can cause resonances and do affect the sound performance. As I have said before, I have heard the affects and the improvements in my high end, high resolving system.

The feet that are used on the bottom of most electronics are not of such good quality and do not do the best job of isolation. The components are actually vibrating both inside on the circuitry as well as on the chassis. Things become a bit less precise, less focused, and a little out of phase as a result. This is not something that is really considered by most manufacturers. I have even discussed this with some high end manufacturers including Soundsmith who is in the process of making my multi thousand dollar phono cartridge and phono preamp. They admit that there are footers that will improve the performance of their equipment.

You are welcome to question my findings. I have found that the sound with Herbie's products is more focused. It tends to have greater clarity, better bass, midrange, highs, better imaging, and soundstaging. Try to have an open mind about these things. You are welcome to try any of these products at no risk except for the cost of shipping if you do not find that they work with your equipment.

I was only trying to alert people of the benefit of such products. As consumers you have to decide for yourself if you wish to try such products and find out if there is any benefit.

As I have also indicated, there is quite a bit of positive feedback on the Herbie's website if you choose to either read it and believe it. Additionally these products have been used by and enjoyed by members of other forums including Audiogon and Audio Circles.

Rich

[Johnny Vinyl]

I'm gonna jump in here and give my 2 cents on this subject, although I am far from being a true audiophile with high-end equipment. As I've posted on prior occasions, I consider my set-up to be of mid-fi status and I think that is the point at which the implementation of certain "tweeks" starts to make some sense.

So I agree with Rich (the OP) that spikes, cones, etc can make a difference. Notice I say CAN! There are many other factors that come into play and they are different for everyone as we have different setups and live in different environments.

In the case of my Totem Sttaf's, which came with spikes, I listened to my setup with and without them. In the end I chose to install the spikes as I found there to be a significant difference. So for me, this "tweek" worked. However, I am not going to be looking at high-end spikes that we see commonly advertised in audio magazines, as I'm not convinced they'd make a difference vs the factory-supplied ones from Totem.

Taking it a step further, I do beleive that replacing the stock rubber feet that come supplied on receivers and other componants are good candidates for replacement with some better quality alternatives. If you can reduce the amount of vibration from any componant, than I would think that is a good thing. And a small investment to do so is well worth it.

I won't get into a discussion about Turntable tweeks, power cord replacement, higher quality interconnects and/or speaker cabling, as this post would take many more paragraphs.

The point is...."tweeks" can work and they are very worth investigating.

[btf1980]

It all depends. With turntables, I think isolation is a must, either with a sturdy platform, or with isolation feet. Vibration is very real in that arena, and can make significant changes. It has in my setup.

When it comes to HT though, then no, I do not think it is necessary at all. I think your room acoustics will play a much more significant role than "tweaks".

The problem is that you have many vendors just selling bullshit and sure enough, some buy it. Sometimes you just have to wonder about the mentality of people that buy electrodemagnetizers and other nonsense. I had a guy the other day recommending some walker audio vivid enhancer to use to bring out the highs and lows of SACDs and CDs in my system. when you start talking like that, then you're just lost....lol.

[btf1980]

The ultimate tweak.

http://www.meter.com/mothra/powcord.html

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by btf1980

It all depends. With turntables, I think isolation is a must, either with a sturdy platform, or with isolation feet. Vibration is very real in that arena, and can make significant changes. It has in my setup.

When it comes to HT though, then no, I do not think it is necessary at all. I think your room acoustics will play a much more significant role than "tweaks".

The problem is that you have many vendors just selling bullshit and sure enough, some buy it. Sometimes you just have to wonder about the mentality of people that buy electrodemagnetizers and other nonsense. I had a guy the other day recommending some walker audio vivid enhancer to use to bring out the highs and lows of SACDs and CDs in my system. when you start talking like that, then you're just lost....lol.

I never suggested that footers or other tweaks were necessary for Home Theater. I indicated that I found there was some benefit (particularly when used under electronic components and transports and believe it or not under the DirecTV HD receiver as well as using the brass domes with neutralizing material under my subwoofer) and to my ears quite noticeable for both 2 channel and multichannel (be it music or home theater). Additionally, if you look, I posted this in the Audio and Audio Theory Discussion portion of the Forum, not under any home theater discussion section. In addition, these are not BS products; they have a 90 day money back guarantee and have had very positive feedback on the Herbie's website and on other forums as I have mentioned.

Rich

[Sir Terrence]

Originally Posted by btf1980

When it comes to HT though, then no, I do not think it is necessary at all. I think your room acoustics will play a much more significant role than "tweaks".

The problem is that you have many vendors just selling bullshit and sure enough, some buy it. Sometimes you just have to wonder about the mentality of people that buy electrodemagnetizers and other nonsense. I had a guy the other day recommending some walker audio vivid enhancer to use to bring out the highs and lows of SACDs and CDs in my system. when you start talking like that, then you're just lost....lol.

I agree wholeheartedly with this post. The effect of these kinds of tweaks is either nil(placebo) or too subtle to quantify and basically unmeasureable. Dealing with room acoustic will yield far more measureable and audible improvements than these over priced tweaks can any day.

I remember seeing a hometheater with thousands of dollars of tweaks(the killer was the little speaker wire suspensions to keep the wires from touching each other and the floor itself). When challenged on the effectiveness of these tweaks, a person measured the response of his system with tweaks, and without them, and found no difference whatsoever. So whatever magical properties he heard, they turned out to be a placebo in reality. Things like tilting bookshelf speakers backwards to time align the drivers is beneficial, but magical spikes, I have my doubts.

[Driver_King]

I think this would be a more cost-effective option than the ones you listed. I do see how it is possible for it to improve audio performance but there is a certain extent to where you see results compared to other less expensive options.