Recommended affordable pucks

[bodiebill]

This morning I did a test with different sets of feet under my Holo Audio Spring 3 Level 2 DAC:

 

(1) the DAC's stock feet (4)

(2) IsoAcoustics mini ISO-pucks (4)

(3) Authentic Audio Image (AAI) mini pads (4)

(4) Oroks pucks (3)

 

(1) is OK, but not really coherent and a bit strident in the attacks/highs.

(2) and (3) are a step up, still quite analytical, with emphasis on the highs

(3) has a slightly wider/deeper image.

(4) to my ears sounds the most 'together', musical and coherent,the least fatiguing.

My preference: (4) > (3) > (2) > (1).

 

The differences are subtle but certainly not unimportant, at least to me.

 

Prices per set as used above:

(2) €45

(3) €383

(4) €6

 

The price of (4) will be less surprising knowing that these are not sold by audio shops but by Decathlon as ice hockey pucks.

 

I am not saying the expensive ones are scam. I am sure much research went into them. And of course this is only my assessment, in my setup (which is highly resolving already). But I do think the Oroks are a nice find! (Not mine.) They are very sturdy, heavy and dense and others have reported good results using them under audio gear.

[audiobomber]

I've never tried hockey pucks. I use and hear an improvement with Auralex Mopads under my power conditioner and monoblocks. The Mopads are made of stiff foam, very different technology from hard pucks. 

 

I wasn't happy when I added IsoAcoustics pucks under the feet of my exaSound renderer and DAC. I had an old Target TT-1 shelf, which I then installed over the pucks, under the gear. This provided the improvement I was looking for. I removed one puck and balanced on three, and heard another improvement. Very happy now!

[bodiebill]

Maybe 3 is better? I just removed 1 ISO-puck from under a DDC and it is certainly not worse.

[Lebouwsky]

On 6/22/2022 at 1:55 PM, bodiebill said:

Prices per set as used above:

(2) €45

(3) €383

(4) €6

 

The price of (4) will be less surprising knowing that these are not sold by audio shops but by Decathlon as ice hockey pucks.

Lekker goedkoop ☺️

[MarcelNL]

too bad they are not in stock at any Decathlon shop...I'll try the Bauer puck IF the physical skate shop in town has actual stock...

[bodiebill]

51 minutes ago, MarcelNL said:

too bad they are not in stock at any Decathlon shop...I'll try the Bauer puck IF the physical skate shop in town has actual stock...

 

Order online?

https://www.decathlon.nl/p/officiele-puck-voor-ijshockey/_/R-p-X8392508?mc=8392508

[MarcelNL]

22 minutes ago, bodiebill said:

 

Order online?

https://www.decathlon.nl/p/officiele-puck-voor-ijshockey/_/R-p-X8392508?mc=8392508

boring, I need instant gratification ;-)

 

We happen to have an ice hockey specialty shop in town, so I expect to come up with the high end version of a puck that sounds WAY better ;-)

[Speedskater]

Ice hockey pucks are way to stiff/hard to do any good.

Try Sorbothane Hemisphere Foot Bumpers

https://www.edmundoptics.com/p/hemisphere-foot-package-of-4-sorbothane-bumpers/4139/

[fas42]

What matters are the abilities of the material to turn motion into heat - they damp vibration, just like a shock absorber in a car. The term used is viscoelastic, and the memory pillows that are everywhere these days are an example of this. Huge difference between a pillow and a hockey puck, but this is just the possible variability in the manufactured behaviour; what one needs to do is to find the item that's in the Goldilocks zone, that's "just right" for the particular part of the audio system - trial and error is probably as good a method as any to find a best fit.

 

Turns out pucks are the "the right stuff" ... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705815014198

[Speedskater]

Not a chance in the world that hockey pucks are the right stuff for audio components.

[PeterG]

I believe the IsoAcoustics Mini Pucks are designed for speakers, with the purpose of taming the effects of lateral, front-to-back motion.  A DAC would use Oreas to tame 360 degrees of vibration.  This may explain why the mini pucks did not do better against the competition.

[MarcelNL]

why all the assumptions, give it a try and listen to it, at that price no harm done and lots to be learned...

 

I came out without any, the shop was still closed ...seems ice hockey players sleep late..so I just ordered a bunch online

[Dandou]

Hi @bodiebill , 

I'll try these pucks with my DAC. 

Did you try them with audio devices other than your DAC? 

[fas42]

Another material to try, lovely and cheap, are the various fatigue reduction floor mats that are sold at places like Aldi - they should have the viscoelastic characteristic of slowly recovering their shape after being squashed abruptly, by your hand or some heavy object, and released.

[bodiebill]

8 hours ago, Dandou said:

Hi @bodiebill , 

I'll try these pucks with my DAC. 

Did you try them with audio devices other than your DAC? 

 

No. I would have liked to, but my (DIY) rack is such that they will not fit under the other gear (Afterdark clock, Afterdark Rosanna streamer, Audio-GD DI-20HE). See pic.

 

I did cut three half moons (less than half of the puck) out of the pucks to lower the maximum weight they can take and (theoretically) increase the effect. I am also surprised by their (subtle) effect. Maybe it is because they are actually doing 'nothing' and the rack -- which sits on top of Harmonix TU-505EX-MKII tuning feet and is made with Ikea bamboo butcher blocks -- is already taking care of things. Note that the rack is custom built around the Reimyo amp, with standers going through its grills.

 

I guess, when looking at this, I may be penny wise and pound foolish :-)

 

[Dandou]

22 minutes ago, bodiebill said:

I guess, when looking at this, I may be penny wise and pound foolish :-)

 

I'm ordering some of these pucks from the site of Decathlon. I will try them with the DAC, the amps, etc… And then, I'll post feed back to let you know if you are "penny wise" or "pound foolish". 😀

 

Your setup and your rack are beautiful. 💓

[PeterG]

17 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

why all the assumptions, give it a try and listen to it, at that price no harm done and lots to be learned...

 

I came out without any, the shop was still closed ...seems ice hockey players sleep late..so I just ordered a bunch online

I have little interest in trying stuff that does not have at least some sort of reasonable observation/hypothesis driving it, and the observation here seems to be that the WRONG 

IsoAcoustics product is named after a hockey puck. So I'm going to pass.

 

But I do agree that there is little cost to trying.  So those interested in the hockey puck hypothesis might also try a wide number of cheap, readily available products--large pencil erasers, pads of Post-It notes, doll house cushions, Bark Box toys...

 

[MarcelNL]

On 7/1/2022 at 2:53 PM, Speedskater said:

Ice hockey pucks are way to stiff/hard to do any good.

Try Sorbothane Hemisphere Foot Bumpers

https://www.edmundoptics.com/p/hemisphere-foot-package-of-4-sorbothane-bumpers/4139/

sorbothane is sooo nineties ;-)

[fas42]

For people who want a product that is specifically sold to provide viscoelastic behaviour Sorbothane is fine. The advantage there is that there is a range of materials, each with a different level of that behaviour - so, which is the right one, for you? Buy a slab of each, and play with chopping and changing, to your heart's content ...

 

The advantage of buying some everyday product, sold cheap, is that it can provide easy to play with instant feedback as to whether some area of the playback chain is sensitive to vibration - change the damping, with viscoelastic material; does the SQ change? I use a viscoelastic foam, that I've had for years and years, to check for this all the time - this allows me to narrow down to an area critical to getting best sound.

 

Yes, audio gear shouldn't be so fussy about all this! But it is, which means the madness of 'snake oil' foolin' around is in overdrive - and it will remain like this until manufacturers finally understand what they have to get right, .

[Speedskater]

22 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

sorbothane is sooo nineties ;-)

Actually eighties or maybe seventies.  But it does the job. For small units like a DAC, I have used sorbothane shoe insoles.

Or maybe sorbothane drum pads.

[Dandou]

I tried the Dacthlon pucks. 

 

With the Musician Pegasus DAC, I could not notice any difference. If there was any, it was too subtle for my ears. Maybe this DAC is not heavy enough for these model of pucks. Maybe its built-in pucks are good enough… 

 

With the Audio-GD Master 19 pre amp, I could not hear any difference neither, though this device is heavier than the DAC. 

 

On the other hand, with the Dynaudio speakers, the pucks contribute to a slightly clearer sound. 

[PeterG]

1 hour ago, Dandou said:

I tried the Dacthlon pucks. 

 

With the Musician Pegasus DAC, I could not notice any difference. If there was any, it was too subtle for my ears. Maybe this DAC is not heavy enough for these model of pucks. Maybe its built-in pucks are good enough… 

 

With the Audio-GD Master 19 pre amp, I could not hear any difference neither, though this device is heavier than the DAC. 

 

On the other hand, with the Dynaudio speakers, the pucks contribute to a slightly clearer sound. 

"Maybe" it's because these are hockey pucks that have nothing to do with improving hifi performance?  

 

Please let us know how the IsoAcoustics do on your next team skate...😉

[MarcelNL]

I guess Decathlon has a stellar year in pucks, delivery was delayed...but delivery is planned for tomorrow, we'll see, if anything we can play icehockey on the local ice ring

[AudioDoctor]

5 hours ago, MarcelNL said:

I guess Decathlon has a stellar year in pucks, delivery was delayed...but delivery is planned for tomorrow, we'll see, if anything we can play icehockey on the local ice ring

 

Although my delivery was something other than pucks, it was also delayed today... MN is the land of Ice Hockey outside of Canada.

[bobfa]

You might want to play with products from Herbie's Audio Lab.    I am testing some products now and am finding them interesting.  

 

NO CONCLUSIONS.