Device feet
The small video from the short and simple series explains the feet and shows how to use them.
A real music professional like the brass instrument maker and qualified musician Thomas Krüger from - The other hi-fi studio - writes about his 1st encounter with the Vortex HiFi feet:
“Hello Mr. Maurer, I just got feet and tried them out. What can I say? Great astonishment and again the realization that you openly know what you are doing. "
The hi-fi accessories professional Carsten Haugk from - hifi-zubehoer.shop - is totally thrilled. Because of the Vortex HiFi feet, he even writes for the first time a product test. Quote:
Forget everything you've learned, tested, and experienced in countless listening comparisons about equipment feet!… …But what happened next is almost indescribable. We looked at each other as if we'd never truly listened to music before… … My conclusion: These Vortex equipment feet are an absolute must-have for every hi-fi and home cinema system. Like us, you'll be so thrilled you'll want to rediscover your music or film collection. Try them out. It's pure exhilaration.
The Vortex HiFi device feet
Vortex HiFi device feet differ fundamentally from all device feet on the market. Read the 10 basic advantages over all other device feet:
- Vortex HiFi device feet are different - they are based on environmental medicine, biological findings.
- You are not trying to make the devices vibrate less, but more naturally.
- To do this, the feet use a 3-way stand, which avoids interference between the feet by means of differently coupled feet.
- For the perfect coupling between the foot and the base of the device, the feet use a technology similar to that used in the ultrasonic analysis of workpieces - impedance matching using sapphires.
- Resonances are prevented by a naturally grown, special maple block, but also by targeted small and large holes.
- Thanks to the vibration-optimized attachment of 5mm felt feet, the influence of the subsurface was largely avoided and the wooden block was not deprived of its natural vibration, as no surface was completely in contact.
- Selected woods and individual processing of the individual vibrating bodies (wooden blanks) by hand make it possible to get the maximum sound out of every workpiece.
- The wooden construction made of selected woods neither generate eddy currents nor do they deform the magnetic or electrical field of the devices.
- The optimized height of the device feet enables a significantly reduced field strength with which the device fields penetrate the rack floor and thus the device feet reduce the formation of potential vortices that can damage the sound.
- Thanks to Vortex HiFi's own stress relief and interference suppression information, it is possible to have a stress-free listening experience that is unique.
If the Vortex HiFi feet are used systematically, the result is a uniquely realistic, spacious, three-dimensional and emotional sound experience. Talk to your dealer and work with him to develop a concept that is right for you.
WOOD DISC 30
The WOOD DISC 30 are our entry point into natural vibrations (see explanation below) and interference suppression for devices and speakers. They are placed either directly under the devices or speakers, or under their feet. Made of chemically modified wood, these discs are flat on one side (device side) and convex on the other (rack base). This places the device on a small surface area between specially designed holes for sound diffusion. This largely prevents resonances and encourages the device to vibrate naturally. Our interference suppression and stress reduction technology reduces and modifies the electromagnetic fields generated by the device's electrical radiation, thus alleviating stress for the listener. The WOOD DISCs are small tuning tools with a significant sonic impact. A set consists of four discs.
Recommended retail price WOOD DISC Set € 49
Vibration Naturalizer device base VN 30 DB
Our small VN30DB equipment foot set consists of three specialized feet with a 30mm resonating body made of solid maple wood. Two feet are decoupled from the equipment floor using a special felt pad for high frequencies, while the third foot is coupled to the floor via a sapphire ball. Combined with a resonance-optimized resonating body made of natural wood and decoupling of the rack floor by a 5mm thick special felt pad, this creates a system that enables perfect vibration of the equipment floor. A specially formulated AIO-informed lacquer further dramatically improves the perceived sound. See below for details and measurements.
Recommended retail price VN30DB set natural maple € 149
Retail price VN30DB Set black 199, - €
Vibration Naturalizer device base VN 45 DB
Our large VN45DB equipment foot set consists of three specialized feet with a 45mm resonating body made of solid maple wood. Two feet are decoupled from the equipment floor using a special felt pad for high frequencies, while the third foot is coupled to the floor via a sapphire sphere. Combined with a resonance-optimized resonating body made of natural wood and decoupling of the rack floor by a 5mm thick special felt pad, this creates a system that enables perfect vibration of the equipment floor. A specially AIO-informed lacquer further dramatically improves the perceived sound. See below for details and measurements.
Recommended retail price VN45DB set natural maple € 249
Recommended retail price VN45DB set black € 299
Vibration Naturalizer speaker feet VN 60 SB
Our VN60SB loudspeaker stand set consists of four speaker feet with a 60mm moving body made of solid maple wood and a spike receptacle. The metal contact plate, embedded in a damping compound, is freely movable and rests on a single point on a sapphire plate, ensuring perfect impedance matching between the metal plate and the wooden moving body. Combined with a resonance-optimized moving body made of natural wood and decoupling from the floor via a 5mm thick special felt pad, this creates a system that allows for perfect loudspeaker movement. A specially AIO-informed lacquer further dramatically improves the perceived sound. See below for details and measurements.
Recommended retail price VN60SB set natural maple 299, - €
Recommended retail price VN60SB set black € 349
Vibration Naturalizer cable bridge VN 60 CE
Our VN60CE cable bridge set consists of four cable bridges, each with a 60mm resonating body made of solid maple wood. Its exceptionally low resonance is achieved through the use of a natural wood resonating body with numerous small and large holes drilled to prevent resonance. Optimal decoupling from the floor is ensured by a 5mm thick special felt pad. This creates a system that allows for perfect cable vibration. The distance from the floor, determined through countless tests to be optimal, significantly reduces the field strength at which the cable's electromagnetic fields penetrate the floor. A specially formulated interference-suppressing lacquer dramatically improves the perceived sound quality through our interference and stress reduction technology. See below for details and measurements.
Recommended retail price VN60CE Set natural maple € 199
Recommended retail price VN60CE Set black € 249
Why change Vortex HiFi device feet the sound so fundamental?
One of the biggest mysteries in hi-fi is certainly the fact that hi-fi devices always sound different when they are placed on different feet or racks. This is a mystery as there are practically no changes in the audio signal! You can measure changed mechanical vibrations of the device bases and the circuit boards, but the audio signal practically does not change.
A basic experiment by Norbert Maurer provides information about the mechanism of action!
Since Norbert Maurer, the chief developer and owner of the Vortex Hifi brand, could not measure any change in the signal, he concluded—as with power cables—that the audible effect was not signal-based, but rather biological. The assumption is that an electromagnetic phenomenon directly affects humans and influences the hearing process (nervous system) itself. There is much evidence for this in environmental medicine under the heading "Dirty Power" / "Dirty Electricity . "
Based on his research into dirty electricity and its influence on the human nervous system, Norbert Maurer hypothesized that the electric and magnetic fields generated by these devices are unnaturally modulated by their vibrations, thus creating stress in the autonomic nervous system. He also conducted corresponding stress measurements using an HRV-ECG . This stress generation had also proven to be crucial to sound quality in previous tests with various power cables.
In order to test this hypothesis for the device feet as well, Norbert Maurer used his standard test setup with the help of which he was able to absolutely rule out the effects of vibrations on the hi-fi system's signal. To do this, he set up two systems in one room (7 m away). Both systems have been optimized according to all the rules of hi-fi art. A hi-fi system played the music and a second system was only used as a "disruptor" in the listening room. No loudspeakers were connected to the 2nd system (interferer). The "Störer" system had no mechanical (mechanically decoupled) or electrical (other phase) connection to the 2st system that played the music.
In the first run, the differences in the sound were worked out by the 10 test participants using the different device feet on the "music system". The 2nd system (disturber) was switched off in the 1st round. The feet with the best results in terms of spatial mapping, location and richness of detail were used for the second round on system 2. In the 1nd round, the 2nd system ("disruptor") was also switched on. While playing the 2st system (music system), the feet on the 1nd system (the system without loudspeakers, which only plays interferers and played no music) were varied.
The results:
- It turned out that it did not matter whether the feet were changed on the hi-fi system that was playing the music or that of the system that was only in the room as a "disruptor"!
- It was even possible to hear comparable changes in the sound structure through the respective device feet, regardless of whether they were used in the music system or the “Störer” system!
Norbert Maurer has already carried out several live listening tests with such "interferers" who had nothing to do with the system that was currently playing. Here it was also shown that other devices in the environment must be classified as very disturbing to the sound, for example: computers, routers, desktop boxes, etc ...
Test conclusion:
If you want to achieve profound sound improvements using equipment feet, a consistent and systematic approach is necessary. This includes optimizing the vibrations of all devices that have a power supply!
(We take this into account in our product range by also offering inexpensive solutions, such as our WOODDIS (Wood Discs) 4 pieces for 49, - €.)
Other systematic device foot tests with headphones and "interferers" in other rooms suggest that influences such as the distance between the devices and the nearest surface or the dielectric through which the device field passes also have a significant influence on the sound. The construction of the device feet also change this. When a device base is placed under a device, it becomes part of the transmitter (electrical conductivity) and also part of its environment that interacts with the field (permittivity, permeability).
Part 1: acoustic properties:
But what should the optimal vibration optimization look like?
The mainstream answer is to divert or dampen the vibrations – that is, to reduce their intensity. But this concept of damping, which at first glance seems logically compelling, doesn't work in practice. This is easily verifiable. Many analogies can be found in electrosmog. Electrosmog is, after all, the assumed mechanism of action. It is evident in many instances that what matters is not whether the radiation itself is reduced by a factor of 1000, but rather whether the disturbance exhibits a specific modulation or a specific structure (vortex) ( see research by Prof. Dr. Peter Semm ). The heated debate surrounding the meaning of limit values for electromagnetic waves and electric and magnetic fields (electrosmog) is based on this fact.
Not only in the tests by Norbert Maurer, but also in specialist magazines that dealt with vibrations from devices and the sound, no clear connection between sound and the intensity of the vibrations could be found so far.
Norbert Maurer was able to determine in his investigations that the modulation (natural / unnatural material of the feet) of the device fields by the feet was decisive.
Only a natural vibration can make natural sound possible.
The only viable way that Norbert Maurer saw was to superimpose natural vibration patterns on the completely artificial modulation of the device fields (metals, plastics, etc.). Naturally grown woods, i.e. no chipboard, no laminated wood or no artificial composite concepts, were also shown to have an extraordinarily natural sound. It is interesting to know that every living being emits electrical fields and modulates them with its specific bio-information. Even if a living being dies, the specific bio-information is available, as here in wood. A whole discipline of naturopathy is based on this. In our case, the bioinformation of the wood is modulated onto the field of the device.
Vibrations above approx. 2.000 Hz are particularly important!
As research on dirty power/dirty electricity shows, the human nervous system is particularly sensitive to frequencies above 4.000 Hz. Other research, which led to the TOC standard for monitors, assumes a threshold of 2.000 Hz. Therefore, we focused specifically on frequencies above 2.000 Hz when designing the feet of our devices.
To state it again very clearly here, it is about influencing people, not about signal changes! Signal changes in the audio signal (devices) due to device feet have never been detected.
It is particularly important to know that due to the wavelengths - for example: in steel - it must be transmitted correctly at 20.000 Hz with “wavelengths per degree” (1/360 = 1 degree of the wavelength) of around 1mm. This ensures an unaffected transmission. In our experience, the contact surface of the device feet must therefore not exceed this size if the sound is to be modulated cleanly by the foot, otherwise there will be innumerable interferences. We therefore use a tiny ball with an equally tiny contact surface as the contact surface on the (sound-fast and tight) device base.
To prevent interference from multiple contact surfaces on the device's base due to the three feet, only one of the three feet has a hard contact for high frequencies, while the other two have a tiny felt pad for decoupling from the base. This would otherwise be unavoidable with identical feet.
This makes it possible to move the feet over large areas under the devices without getting a different sound every time due to the interference between the feet.
The Sisyphean work of finding the best positions for the feet under the floor of the device is no longer necessary! With Vortex HiFi device feet, you can always use the maximum sound potential of your devices!
Perfect coupling with the vibrating body (block of wood) through precious stones.
Just as it is essential that the feet do not influence each other negatively through overlapping vibrations, it is also imperative that the vibrations can penetrate the wood from the metal base of the device at all. This is the only way for the device base to superimpose a natural wooden vibration on the metal base and thus on the device. The wood structures (annual rings), which are largely responsible for the modulation, are in the millimeter range. The prerequisite for the transmission of these high frequencies, which are important for the modulation, is that the characteristic acoustic impedance is adapted from the metallic floor material to the wood. Otherwise the sound will be reflected at the boundary between the two materials and will not be available for modulation. This task is performed by a very special gemstone - the sapphire. Sapphires have been used for this purpose for some time in the ultrasonic inspection of workpieces. The necessary adapter lenses are also made of sapphire, since sapphire has the same characteristic acoustic impedance as steel. Only through the sapphire we use is it possible for us to exchange very high frequencies between the wood and the metal component shelves without the necessary sound being reflected. The sapphire is neither magnetic nor conductive, making it a perfect material for coupling the feet to the bottom of electrical devices.
Perfectly natural vibrations without standing waves and resonances
In fact, the natural, irregular fiber structures of a natural block of wood with their inhomogeneous sound velocities prevent pronounced standing waves and resonances from occurring more intensely. In order to almost completely rule out the formation of standing waves, Vortex HiFi drilled small holes for high frequencies at the sound entry points (device base and rack), which scatter the sound in the wooden block. In addition, a large hole has been positioned in the center of the foot so that the sound cannot reflect between the surfaces. These special holes in connection with the specific fiber structure of the maple wood we use results in a lack of resonance that is breathtaking. This lack of resonance is felt in the same way from the highest to the lowest notes in music. The result is an unheard oscillation and, above all, an oscillation of the sounds of the instruments.
Largely independent of the subsurface.
The background still plays a significant role in the sound of many device feet. Especially with hard-coupled feet that are supposed to divert the vibrations from the devices. The Vortex HiFi feet stand on 5mm thick, extremely narrow felt feet and can therefore decouple the sound-critical high frequencies extremely well. The chaotic structure of felt helps to neutralize the vibration structures of the subsurface. The extremely narrow felt feet specifically help to stimulate the wood block only where the sound penetrates diffusely through holes in the wood block.
Vibration measurements on our vibration table, which stimulates a glass plate by means of a structure-borne sound speaker, show the advantages of felt damping compared to normal device feet and coupling via cones. Cones are the best-selling vibration optimizers in hi-fi.
The bottom two vibration measurements show the intensity of the vibrations on the bottom of the device in the frequency spectrum from 1.000 Hz to 20.000 Hz. The green curve (lower measurement) is the measurement with a cone coupling. The red curve (upper measurement) shows a measurement with the original device feet (PIONEER N70A - mechanically complex construction). The black curves show a measurement with the Vortex HiFi VN 45 DB device base. Both the original device feet and the cone coupling show significantly stronger vibrations in the device base. The Vortex HiFi concept has been shown to reduce the floor vibrations that come from the rack floor very significantly. The extremely widespread cone coupling (green curve) is clearly inferior in many frequency ranges even to the original feet of the mechanically unusually complex PIONEER N70A. Sometimes nothing is better than a cheap solution!
Perfect, undamped oscillation pattern.
Due to the high felt feet and their vibration-optimized positioning, it is also possible that the wooden block can swing freely and is therefore not unnaturally dampened on any surface. This creates a perfect vibration pattern - and it sounds as perfect as that.
The wood and the workmanship make the music
As described, the unique design of the feet allows the wood structure to interact perfectly with the equipment , while eliminating relevant vibrations from the rack floor. Thus, only the quality of the wood determines how natural and emotional the music sounds. And, just like with a musical instrument, not all wood is created equal. After extensive testing, we were able to develop quality criteria that allow us to generate optimal vibration.
That is why we decided to use selected maple for the wooden vibrating body (wooden cube) for the feet. In order to obtain the perfect structure (fibers and their position in the wood), we use selected wooden planks specially selected for our purposes, from which the vibrating bodies are cut out.
In addition, each blank is then examined by us before drilling and drilled by us in such a way that the sound can optimally pass through the wooden vibration body. In terms of wood quality, a qualitative distinction is made between the foot that connects (sapphire) and the two feet that disconnect (felt pad). These have different functions and so the sound has to go through the vibrating body (wooden cube) differently. This individual inspection and processing is fundamentally important, because depending on the angle at which the sound hits the grain, the sound travels 3 to 4 times faster through the wood. This specific know-how means that we handcraft the feet ourselves in Wahlscheid.
Part 2: Electromagnetic properties of the device feet
While the acoustic properties of the feet work indirectly by modulating the fields via the mechanical vibration of the devices, the materials and the shape / size change the field of the devices directly.
By far the best
If the distance from the device base to the rack base increases, the field strength with which the device field hits the rack base decreases. This also reduces the formation of potential vortices that are harmful to the sound. The effective field strength decreases with the square of the distance. Every centimeter more distance has a dramatic effect on the field strength and thus on the sound.
Therefore the Vortex HiFi device feet including the felt units have a height of 35mm, 50mm and 65mm. With glass racks in particular, a particularly large distance from the bottom of the device is particularly important, since the electrical device field is swirled particularly strongly at this interface, damaging the sound. This is due to the high relative dielectric conductivity (6-8) of glass. The measurements of the electric field below with our 3D E-field measuring head show the clear field reductions caused by our feet and our cable lift in comparison. The ROM - electronics measuring device can only measure a little over 1000 volts / meter and therefore always shows overflow without our measures - it is overdriven. The increased distance between the bottom of the device and the measuring head significantly reduces the field strength.
Even when using the small Vortex HiFi Vibration Naturalizer Set VN30DB, the field strength is reduced by more than 200 volts / meter compared to the metal base!
The formation of sound-damaging potential vortices, which the device creates with the ground, is drastically reduced by the Vortex HiFi device feet!
The Vortex HiFi cable lift VN 60CL is a special feature. Even if no or only a tiny signal flows through the loudspeaker cable, the ground interference on the negative pole interacts massively with the ground. As a rule, the cable always lies directly on the ground, which results in an extreme field strength with which the fields penetrate the subsurface. Unfortunately, the floors are rarely made of wood, but rather of materials that interact strongly with the electrical fields.
In order to drastically reduce the field strength, cable lifters are of great importance. The figure below shows the dramatic difference in field strength created by the cable lifters.
The figure above shows the field strength of a speaker cable connected to a Pioneer A70. There is no signal on the line. The field strength (Y-axis) is well over 1100 volts / meter, so that the measuring system is overloaded (overflow).
The figure above now shows the measurement with a Vortex HiFi cable lift. The field strength is drastically reduced to 298 volts / meter. That is well over 70% improvement! The reduction of the potential vortices that are generated by the fields with the ground and that damage the sound is dramatic!
The best information we have
As described above, the device feet and cable lifters are located in a strong electric field (usually due to ground loops or the fields of the power cables). The feet thus inherently create a field disturbance, leading to the formation of sound-degrading potential vortices. Therefore, we have equipped our feet with the best AIO (All-in-One) information we have. This allows us to quickly dissolve the sound-degrading potential vortices and, through additional stress-relieving information , significantly enhance the listening experience. This results in measurably less stressful listening. Further information about our AIO information and our HRV (Heart Rate Variability) stress measurement can be found on the Vortexhifi.com website.
Metal sounds metallic
Device feet, which have metal components, generate eddy currents, change magnetic fields and act like additional antennas, depending on their placement (e.g. under the transformer). The feet of the device should therefore not have any conductive, ferromagnetic or other electromagnetic properties. The special thing about our wooden feet is that they are neither electrically conductive nor ferromagnetic. Even the relative permittivity (dielectric conductivity) of approx. 2 - 3, for example, is only a fraction of the relative permittivity of glass (6-8). The influence of the device feet, with their low relative permittivity, is even below the best circuit board materials in the world. Vortex HiFi device feet do not distort either electrical or magnetic fields of the device.
The Vibration Naturalizer device feet are the result of over 30 years of sound research in the hi-fi area with regard to cables, fields and vibrations. They are the practical result of an extremely powerful theory regarding how the human hearing system is affected. You have never heard such a sound enhancement from device feet.
Read the test report in Marco Kolks' ad-free listening experience
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