FAQ

Most isolation systems used in high end audio and video are derivations of applications from other fields. Some utilize a technology that converts vibration to heat in the bandwidth for which they were originally developed and are prone to resonance at higher frequencies. Critical Mass Systems are developed and patented for high end electronics in audio and video applications and represent a full bandwidth approach to vibration abatement.

High performance isolation systems utilize a medium through which vibration is passed and converted to heat. Most systems rely upon the mass of the component (gravity) to compress rods, springs, elastomers, air bladders etc, a predetermined amount to facilitate optimal energy conversion.

In their varied embodiments, some isolation systems are dialed to a specific component. Some systems are designed for use in laboratory environments. Some work best at low frequencies but resonate or transmit vibration at higher frequencies. Some systems function in a narrow bandwidth and offer little benefit. Some pay detailed attention to the weight and weight distribution of the component from edge to edge. Some isolation systems are passive and some are active.

Our objective is to build isolation and damping systems for use in a room with loudspeakers that launch compression waves through the air with enough force to shake a house. To be effective for audio, an isolation system needs to convert airborne concussion waves across a 20,000⁺Hz bandwidth. This requires a system to do a lot more than address low frequency energy emanating from sources outside the listening room. In effect, the system needs to resist high amplitude excitation from the air, floor, walls, ceiling and loudspeakers, and the system needs to convert and dissipate its own energy.

We had more objectives. We wanted the system working at its maximum level regardless of weight load. We wanted you to be able to change components without making your isolation system obsolete. We wanted you to be able to hang a heavy AC cable and a thick interconnect off the back of the component and upgrade the power supply to a more massive version without fear of exceeding a weight limit. We wanted you to be able to enjoy your components without deadening the chassis by placing weights on top to balance the load. We wanted you to be able to fine tune your soundstage to your personal tastes. We wanted the system to be upgradeable. We wanted to make an isolation system that would work in your rack, our rack or spiked upon the floor. And, we wanted the system to be aesthetically pleasing.

We count several camps in audio isolation: high mass vs. low mass, flexible vs. rigid, couple vs. de-couple, damped vs. un-damped. Each approach has strength and weakness. What if you could design a system that fleshes the strengths from each discipline and combines them into one isolation system? We thought about this too.

We know that sound is vibration and vibration is mechanical energy. ........And we know that audio reproduction becomes self-degrading through a chain reaction that puts vibration back into the electronics that generate the signal. ………Loudspeakers vibrate the air, the air vibrates the room and the room and air vibrate the electronics. On top of this complexity the earth propagates low level, low frequency disturbances.

The realization of these objectives resulted in a patentable invention. Patent approval is significant. The process is torturous in that the United States Patent and Trademark Office examiner plows through every current and expired patent ever granted containing a reference to the nature of your invention in terms of its mechanical purpose, materials, components and assemblage and uses this as a database for denial. It is up to the applicant to prove to the patent examiner that the invention is of unique merit.

How can Critical Mass Systems patented design perform better than other systems?
Critical Mass Systems patented technology converts the gravitational force of mass to a constant which accomplishes several objectives. First, it provides the framework for sequential frequency filtering. Second, our approach locks the isolation system at peak performance across its load capacity. Third, issues associated with mass such as weight distribution and center-of-gravity are eliminated. Fourth, the gravitational force of mass is elevated and fixed to a constant without adding mass to the system thereby reducing the potential for high mass energy storage that can discharge back into the component. Fifth, static deflection is fixed to a constant allowing the isolation system to hold components rigidly in space while converting rotational torque and energy propagated in the horizontal and vertical axis to heat. Sixth, Critical Mass Systems patented technology provides for greater energy conversion bandwidth without modifications to the system. Finally, the patent protected chassis allows the system to be upgraded as technology and science evolve.

We mentioned passive isolation systems and active isolation systems in the FAQ above. Let's push aside systems that are poorly designed or work in a narrow bandwidth. The best passive systems are activated by the mass of the component and achieve peak efficiency when compressed a specific amount by a specific load with a specific center of gravity. A calibrated passive system, however, loses its efficiency whenever the load or weight distribution is changed. If a passive system is not calibrated to the component, it does not function optimally and a variance of 1 pound can overload the system or cause vibration to reach the component. Active systems automatically adjust to changes in load and center of gravity and regulate airbladders or piezzo electric actuators in response to vibration. Because of their complexity and flexibility, active systems cost many times more than passive systems; but like passive systems, active systems function to the limits of their design and materials.

Critical Mass Systems are a patent protected hybrid isolation system realizing attributes of active systems and the best passive systems. We said that the best passive systems were dialed into the component, but limited by their inability to adjust to weight change. Like advanced active isolation systems, Critical Mass Systems adjust to changes in load and center of gravity up to their load limit; they automatically dial into the component. And like active systems, our isolation systems always operate at peak efficiency; they are always in the "on" position. The best active systems provide a stable resting area to firmly secure the component and eliminate micro vibrations and oscillations inherent to passive systems that flex or permit degrees of freedom. Critical Mass Systems anchor the component on a rigid resting area while converting vertical, horizontal and rotational vibration to heat. Like the best active systems ours patent protected design converts airborne energy and its own excitations to heat. In fact with Critical Mass Systems throughout, you can often dial in your soundstage by matching the physical impedance of your component to the physical impedance of your isolation system's resting area.

Critical Mass Systems are not active isolation systems. We do not utilize sensors, compressors or electrical actuators, but we do capture attributes of active systems and avoid the limitations of passive systems providing you better value and performance. Best of all, our systems cost 3 to 5 times less than active systems and even less than a few passive systems.

Getting back to the camps we counted in the FAQ above; high mass vs. low mass, flexible vs. rigid, couple vs. de-couple, damped vs. un-damped, each approach with strength and weakness. We fall into a rather unique category. Our patented technology employs a high mass paradigm, but the isolation system is low mass and the component retains its original mass. The isolation system is soft but made rigid by fixing the system's static deflection to a constant. The component couples to the isolation system while the isolation system de-couples from the air, room and floor. The resting area is highly damped, it drains energy, and the interfaces moderate this effect to tune the system to your listening tastes. We asked, what if you could design a system that fleshes the strengths from each discipline and combines them into one cost effective isolation system? Perhaps, there is one.

Pictured: Vladimir Lamm demonstrating his crowning

achievement; the ML3 amplifier costing $126,290

Las Vegas January 2007

Do Critical Mass Systems drain energy from components?
Our goal is to create a "universal docking station" for digital and analog component. The top of Critical Mass Systems patent protected isolation system, the area where the component rests, appears to be a one-part solid surface, but this is not the case. The resting area is actually 13 disparate energy conversion materials in overlapping frequency absorbing bandwidths sequenced between 3 discrete substrates forming a 16-part plate. The result is a unified mass that; "synchs up" with the component to drain energy, adds a final barrier to vibration coming up from the floor and, resists energy transfer from the air in the listening room. These 3 performance elements are vital to building high performance isolation systems and are the standard design for the Grand Master, Master and Reference isolation systems. It is important to note that the resting area is not weight specific.

The ability to drain energy from a component is a very important design feature. The listening room is forced into a steady state of excitation by loudspeakers. The isolation system resting area must resist the tendency to resonate in sympathy to the walls and other structural elements of the room. What may not be intuitive is that the air in the room is the source of this excitation, not the floor, the walls or the ceiling. The horizontal and vertical surfaces in the room are forced into excitation by the kinetic energy of colliding gas molecules and isolation system surfaces are no exception.

Critical Mass Systems (Reference, Master and Grand Master) isolate through the audible spectrum and into both extremes. Each system is also a powerful energy sink. The resting area of the isolation system is designed to convert airborne energy to heat in a broad bandwidth including frequencies most common to the excitation of speaker cabinets and wooden and concrete structures. In addition to this, the resting area is designed to convert its own excitations to heat; it is self-sinking. As a result of this design feature, Critical Mass Systems drain energy from electronic components placed upon the resting area.

Metal and wooden component chassis become excited in the same bandwidth as the room structure. The circuit boards capacitors, resistors, wiring etc of an electrical component are attached to the chassis. Electrons move in a predetermined manner through the circuitry and when the system is functioning optimally it reaches a balanced state of excitation that represents equilibrium. Introducing a foreign source of energy, vibration, into the chassis upsets the electrical equilibrium of the system because the chassis transfers mechanical energy directly into the electrical pathways affixed to it.

Every so often an enlightened audiophile or reviewer writes a comment about stored energy, a comment accurately associated with the downside of mass. The fact is that energy storage is common to all electronic components because all components have mass. We hear this as distortion, bloat, veiling, loss of detail and dynamics and other forms of musical degradation.

Critical Mass Systems drain stored energy from electronic components at a rate ideal to the physical characteristics of the component. We achieve this through the interfaces we provide owners. Through research, development and field testing we work to develop interfaces that turn our isolation systems into "universal docking stations" for digital and analog electronics. Our goal is to match the mechanical impedance of electronic component chassis to the mechanical impedance of our isolation system’s resting area eliminating the degrading effects of energy storage that are prevalent in every audio component.

There are many types of interfaces on the market and we encourage experimentation. The great news is that we tackle the issue. We encourage owners to please click this link to view the table of interfaces available. If you are in need of an interface for your isolation system please call or email us........ Table of Interfaces

Can I upgrade Critical Mass Systems as science and technology evolve?
Yes you can. Call for details. A letter from one of our owners speaks volumes:

".........the best observation and real compliment came from an old friend of mine who is not an audiophile. For the past 10 years or so, she would visit once or twice a year, and we would invariably end up listening to music. Shortly after I installed your updated platform, she came over and we put on one of her favorite Indigo Girls’ songs that she had listened to hundreds of times before. After the song was done, she turned to me with a stunned look on her face, and she said that although she had always thought that my system sounded “good,” she never really “got” why I was so “obsessed” with my audio equipment (and spending large sums of money on it). But, after hearing her favorite song on my system with your platform installed, she said she finally “got” it. She went on and on about how she heard things in the song that she had never heard before and how the song struck an emotional chord within her that she had never experienced before.

In other words, your platform made a difference that even a non-audiophile could hear AND feel. That is quite an accomplishment. Thanks."

Tad Shimazu

________________

How do loudspeakers cause mechanical vibrations?

Sound comes from sources outside the listening room including traffic, airplanes, and wind and vibration also emanates from foot falls, trains and seismic disturbances. The Earth propagates vibration and has a natural frequency ranging between 3Hz and .5Hz depending on soil make up. On the high end, bedrock has a natural frequency of about 3Hz and on the low end, soft soil a natural frequency around .5Hz. The rumble of traffic, jets, trains and the wind travels through the earth and buildings.

Normal seismic propagation pales in comparison to the amount of energy generated inside your listening room. Certainly, components generate internal vibrations, but the most extreme source of vibration is your loudspeakers. Loudspeakers can rattle the rafters and rock the floor!

High-end loudspeakers are powerful mechanical devices. Electrical impulses cause loudspeaker drivers to push outward and pull inward. Moving rapidly, they slam into air molecules causing fluctuations in air pressure called compressions and rarefactions. These disturbances in the fabric of your listening room travel longitudinally outward transferring energy to molecules that make up the walls, ceiling, floor, furniture and components. Ever feel a gratifying whack in the chest or a rumble in the floor, ceiling or walls from a dynamic passage? Molecules vibrate in sympathy to your loudspeakers and your listening room becomes an energy system that feeds right back into your components. Here’s a deeper dive into why that occurs:

Air is a gas composed of a large number of molecules that are very small compared to the distance between the molecules. The molecules of a gas are in constant motion moving in a straight line until they collide with each other or with the walls, ceiling, floor, furniture and other contents in your room. Gas molecules possess the physical properties of mass, momentum, and energy. The momentum of a single air molecule is the product of its mass and velocity, while the kinetic energy is one half the mass times the square of the velocity. Therefore when momentum occurs, energy is created. Gas molecules exert no force until they collide with something. During collisions they transfer their energy to the molecule they strike. Elastic energy transfer is the mechanism that transfers airborne energy to a solid mass.

Applying this to audio, here is what happens: As your loudspeaker drivers vibrate rapidly in and out they slam violently into air molecules increasing their velocity. Energy is transferred from molecule to molecule setting up waves of compressions and rarefactions in the room. Excited air molecules collide violently with the walls, ceiling, floor, furniture and components in your listening room. During collisions, the molecules impart momentum to the objects and walls they touch, producing a force perpendicular to the wall. The imparted momentum of colliding gas molecules causes the walls ceiling, floor and components to vibrate. Sometimes we forget that sound is vibration and because walls, ceiling and floor appear to be solid we forget they are permeated by molecular gaps that facilitate structural excitation pushing energy back into the electrical circuits of our components.

The sum of the forces of all the molecules striking a wall divided by the area of the wall is defined to be the pressure. The pressure of a gas is therefore a measure of the average linear momentum of the moving molecules of a gas. So, how much of a change in air pressure do loudspeakers cause in your listening room?

Here is one way to answer that question. Normal atmospheric pressure (2 X 10^-5 Pascals) is 14.7lbs per square inch meaning that the force on an object a little larger than a square foot is about 1 ton. The threshold of human hearing represents a pressure change of less than one billionth of normal atmospheric pressure. Think about that; an imperceptible change in pressure causes your eardrums to vibrate. This change in pressure causes the eardrum to move 0.000000001 cm; less than the wavelength of light.

The pressure index for the threshold of human hearing is 20 micropascals. A whisper is about 1,000 micropascals. Soft conversation is about 10,000 micropascals. Your stereo at a comfortable 74dB is about 100,000 micropascals. Your stereo playing at a robust 94dB is about 1,000,000 micropascals. The sound of your stereo playing a loud 100dB passage is about 2,000,000 micropascals. A painful 134dB is equivalent to about 100,000,000 micropascals.

An important take away from this FAQ is that the transmission of vibration occurs at the molecular level and emanates from loudspeakers because they vibrate to produce sound. Sound is vibration! Furthermore, matter at the molecular level consists of a lot of empty space and molecules of different materials easily excite each other by banging into each other.

Another important take away from this FAQ is that normal hearing is extremely sensitive and covers a wide dynamic range. Sound is measured on the decibel scale, a logarithmic scale, and an increase of a few decibels results in a very large fluctuation in air pressure at the molecular level. Although the actual change to normal atmospheric pressure is less than 1%, vibrations caused by fluctuations in air pressure at normal listening levels are substantial enough to excite your listening room and permeate back into your components.

How does vibration travel back into my components and why should I care about vibration?

How does vibration travel back into your components? Sometimes simple analogies make complex issues easier to understand. Imagine the inside of a dishwasher. The space inside of the dishwasher is your listening room. Loudspeakers are the water nozzles in the dishwasher. Sound is the water gushing out of your speakers. When you turn on a dishwasher, everything inside the dishwasher gets pelted with water; everything gets wet. When you turn on your loudspeakers, everything in your listening room gets pelted with mechanical energy; sound; vibration. Sound is energy in the form of vibrations or pressure fluctuations traveling through the air. Everything left exposed in the dishwasher gets saturated by the energy. Everything left unprotected in your listening room vibrates to equilibrium.

Why should you care about vibration? Here's another analogy: Ignoring vibration in an audio or video system is like driving a luxury car without proper springs and shock absorbers. You can do it; the car will run and it will sure look good parked, but when you turn it on, step on the gas and get it up to cruising speed, you'll know something is wrong. On a more serious note, we are very careful to keep contamination out of our food supply, we treat water to ensure it is clean, we mandate clean air and make our forests pristine and in each of these cases many of us want much more done to remove and prevent pollution. Vibration is contamination; a pollutant in your audio and video system and it degrades the pristine sensory magic of your investment.

Why doesn’t vibration dissipate harmlessly into the floor?

The classic definition of a ground is a pathway around a system to the point of lowest potential energy. For example, code compliant electrical wiring routes the ground outside the main electrical circuit. The ground never comes in contact with the hot or neutral wires. This would be fatal.

In audio there is no ground in the classic sense. Your floor is in the same energy system created by your loudspeakers and in fact, at many frequencies the floor amplifies energy. This is clearly defined within the 1^st and 2^nd Laws of Thermodynamics.

For those who believe the floor is a ground, an easy test is to place all of your components flat on the floor. Take off all the feet so you get good contact across the greatest area possible. Remember, your theory is that the floor is a ground and it will dissipate energy so you want good, broad contact. Does your system sound better? Your system sounds worse. Try another test and put your loudspeakers flat on the floor. Take off their feet to get good, broad contact. Remember, your theory is that the floor is a ground and it will dissipate energy from your loudspeakers so we want as much contact with the ground as possible. Your sound system will, of course, sound worse. Speakers sound better rigidly up on spikes because spikes reduce the available pathways for vibration to travel back into the cabinet from the vibrating floor mass. Moreover, spikes hold loudspeakers firm which keeps the drivers anchored in space helping to prevent energy loss and smearing. So, let us agree that getting your components off the floor helps reduce the flow of mechanical energy back up into your components. Why?

To restate before going forward, the reason the floor makes components sound worse is that the floor is in the energy system created by your loudspeakers and your floor passes vibration back into anything touching it.

In 1898, Nicola Tesla attached a small vibrating device about the size of an alarm clock to a steel girder in his laboratory on Manhattan Island. It was not a powerful device but he noticed he could make equipment in one area of his lab rattle and then by changing the frequency of the vibration in his device, make equipment jump and shake in another place.

Tesla believed he could transmit usable energy through the earth. He uncovered the powerful nature of resonance. Continuing his experiment, vibration caused by his device was amplified around Manhattan by the ground beneath his lab and its walls and exterior structure. The floor and walls of the building began to heave. He shut down the experiment just as the police came banging on the door; Tesla actually started a small earthquake in his neighborhood that swayed surrounding buildings, smashed out windows and sent people running into the streets. He later tried this experiment on an under-construction skyscraper. He was seconds away from bringing down the steel framework when he shut down the device.

Tesla concluded that resonance has an ever-expanding magnifying effect that could break apart the bonds of matter. He believed he could break apart the planet. What Tesla proved is that the Earth is not a ground; our planet is a large radiating field; after the terrible December 26^th earthquake that killed thousands in the Pacific Rim, the Earth resonated like a bell at 17 minute intervals.

Applying Tesla’s experiments to audio, loudspeakers are an energy source and a listening room spawns energy using this energy. As the room creates more energy the definition of resonance is manifest; amplification of vibration. Because we cannot see sound, sometimes we forget that sound is vibration and because the walls, ceiling and floor appear solid we forget they are permeated by molecular gaps that facilitate structural excitation which pushes energy back into the electrical circuits of our components. Interestingly, Tesla’s work with resonance is the basis for Critical Mass Systems. Tesla believed that just as resonance can be created; vibration can by other means be dissipated.

The 2^nd Law of Thermodynamics stipulates that energy tends to diffuse outward from a point of focus to a state of dissipation, but it is important to note that vibration does so in all directions exciting everything in its path; bringing all things up to equilibrium. Vibration is much different than water or electricity; the nature of matter makes it easy for vibration to increase in power with very little input.

What is Young's Modulus and what is its significance?

There are 2 great misunderstandings in audio. First, there is a belief that the greatest source of vibration comes from the floor. The 2nd is that sonic differences between components are largely attributable to differences inside the components. An extension of this is that wide sonic disparities experienced with the same component in different systems is due to design weaknesses within the component. To correct the first misperception, the greatest source of vibration in a listening room comes from the air which is excited by loudspeakers. Energized air excites the walls and floor and so on. To correct the 2nd misperception, wide sonic performance disparities of a particular component are often due to mismatches between the elastic modulus of the component and the elastic modulus of its feet and the elastic modulus of the shelf upon which it rests.

Young's modulus is the physical equivalent of electrical impedance. Thomas Young was an English scientist born in 1773. Along with da Vinci, Goethe and Leibniz, he was considered to have a grasp of the totality of Western learning in his time. One of his accomplishments was a measure of stiffness of material usually expressed in gigapascals (GPa).

The material a component is made of has an elastic modulus. Feet on the bottom of a component have a different elastic modulus. The rack or shelf a component is placed on has yet another elastic modulus. Each elastic modulus transmits, stores and reflects energy with a magnitude that shapes our perceptions of a component's performance. This explains why one person says a component sounds like heaven and another says it sounds the opposite. Both speak the truth, yet neither hears the component. Each hears the physical manifestation of back reflections, transmitted energy and stored energy upon electrical systems caused by mismatches in Young's modulus within the system.

Critical Mass Systems are an advanced technology that makes use of Young's Modulus to effectively match the elastic modulus of the isolation system resting area to the elastic modulus of the component placed upon them. Our goal is to create a "universal docking station" for electronics. A set of interfaces are be provided to owners at no charge that help to eliminate impedance mismatches and therefore the accompanying sonic bloat, dullness and dynamic lifelessness of stored energy in your components.

We encourage experimentation with other interfaces available on the market but owners should click this link to view the table of interfaces available through us. If you are in need of an interface for your isolation system please call or email us........ Table of Interfaces

Pictured: Wilson Audio Watt Puppy 8 Loudspeakers, Lamm Industries M1.2 Reference

(back row not playing), Lamm Industries ML 2.1 Front row (playing) on Grand Master

isolation systems and Kubala-Sosna cables.

Why is it preferable to convert mechanical energy into heat?

Converting mechanical energy into heat is the only non-sonically-degrading way to decrease the amount of vibration in your components.

Musical instruments vibrate. Why is vibration bad for my system?
Our understanding of the affect that vibration has on sound reproduction is growing. Firstly, we know that sound is vibration. Secondly, we know that vibration is mechanical energy. Thirdly, we know that mechanical energy disturbs the flow of electrons through electrical circuits. We hear the effect of this disturbance through loudspeakers; vibration sounds like distortion and haze and mud and glare and other perturbing annoyances. We also know that reproduced music is different than live music.

Vibration is nontoxic to fine musical instruments and live music; it is the intended result. Musical instruments create and amplify vibration. Musical instruments require a human touch to be played. Musicians bring mechanical force to bear upon an instrument using a bow, or hammers or air etc. This is not true for reproduced music. We cherish and admire finely made live music; it soothes and excites our emotions and we admire great musicians. This is vastly different than the mechanics of reproduced music where electrical energy from a power line feeds energy into components that create electrical signals which are ultimately converted to mechanical energy by loudspeakers. The human-mechanical element is completely removed from reproduced music and the toxicity of vibration swings from benign to malignant as well.

Only a small amount of the energy loudspeakers produce enters the auditory canal and the rest vibrates everything in the listening room. When vibration from the floor or air reaches a component, a portion of its energy is transferred into the component. Vibration alters the natural attack, bloom and decay of a musical event. The portion of the loose energy that reenters the components is an infection within the signal path. The distortion this infection creates cannot be separated out electronically because it is created by the components themselves and passed from one to the next becoming increasingly virulent. In a very real sense, audio components play into the room and the room plays back into audio components.

Altering the signal electronically, rolling off portions of the signal, generally results in a loss of dynamic contrast and a reduction of tonality and timbre so that urgency, emotion, reality, space and timing are compromised. The goal is to reproduce music true to the original recorded event.

Vibration translates into smearing, bloat, loss of ambient room information, harshness, edge and a very audible reduction in musicality.

Vibration is the blessing and curse we deal with in audio.

How do I know if vibration is affecting my system?
If music sounds more pleasing and musical as songs fade out, vibration is affecting your system. If you have to stop listening because your senses get frazzled, vibration is affecting your system. If you have to turn the volume down because the longer you listen the more your ears hurt, vibration is affecting your system. If your system loses cohesiveness or frequencies glare at higher volumes, vibration is affecting your system. If notes jump out at you or vocals and cymbals seem compressed or edgy, vibration is affecting your system. If bass seems thumpy or hard or bloated, vibration is affecting your system.

If everything in my room vibrates, how can you isolate my components?
This is the question of all questions. Think about this problem. You turn your system on and the volume up and your speakers turn your room into an energy system. Everything in the system vibrates to equilibrium. Your components are vibrating; your ceiling walls and floor are vibrating; your rack is vibrating; even you are vibrating. Everything is in the dishwasher (See: How does vibration travel back into my components?)

Critical Mass Systems isolate the isolation system from the mechanical energy in your listening room. There are layers of energy converting materials going inward from the sides and layers of energy converting materials going up from the spikes to the top plinth. The entire isolation system is isolated from the mechanical disturbances exciting the exposed surfaces in your listening room. Critical Mass Systems are a self-contained high performance energy conversion technology systematically protected from surrounding mechanical disturbances to isolate the component that rests upon it from energy in the floor. The energy conversion system works across the audible spectrum and its extremes. Since Critical Mass Systems are a stable energy-free platform on which to place your component, energy drains from the component into the isolation system; the platform cannot be brought up to equilibrium with the room.

What is sequential frequency filtering?
Sequential frequency filtering is a proprietary combination of narrow, intermediate and wide frequency band energy conversion materials that convert vibration to low grade heat at a highly accelerated rate. These filters form a network of overlapping energy conversion systems that work in harmony to prevent vibration from entering your components from the floor and drain off energy from the exterior walls and the circuitry of your component. Most important, Sequential Frequency Filtering is a departure from the usual focus on natural frequency.

Natural frequency is the frequency or frequencies at which a system resonates. Resonance is energy amplified. Energy amplified by the isolation system at its natural frequencies passes directly into the component. Audio has a bandwidth wide enough to excite the resonance points of the listening room and everything in it. Natural frequencies particularly natural frequencies within the audible spectrum are the reason why some isolation systems fail.

Can you provide a sample calculation for sequential frequency filtering?
There are calculations utilized to determine the optimal frequency band for each sequential filter. The calculations differ dependent upon the chemical or molecular structure of the material at the temperature and atmospheric pressure at which it will most likely be used. For this calculation, normal room temperature and atmospheric pressure are assumed: Sample Calculation in PDF

Pictured: left to right, Steve Hoffman, mastering legend, Nathan Glaser Ph. D., Clinical Psychologist (retired)

and Advisor Emeritus to Critical Mass Systems and Howard Sosna after Steve's terrific presentation of

original master tapes recorded to disc. Venue: CES 2007, 34th floor Venetian Hotel, January 10th 2007.

What level of performance can I expect from a Critical Mass System isolation platform?
The performance target for the Reference isolation system, our entry level platform, is to remove coloration from the audio envelope and ghost edges and smearing from video images. The sensory impact of this level of performance is that of a complete component upgrade. The performance target of the Master is a 20% improvement over the Reference system. The performance target of the Grand Master is a 20% improvement over the Master.

How can you offer reasonably priced custom-made racks?
Since the difficult job of reducing mechanical vibration is handled by our isolation systems, Critical Mass Systems offers custom-made natural or ebonized solid maple racks at reasonable prices. Our racks are designed to diffuse energy as it comes up from the floor and are damped in critical areas where the rack comes in contact with the isolation systems. The performance criteria for our rack system is threefold; support at least 600 lbs., enable light-weight shipment without assembly requirements, and add aesthetic symmetry to Critical Mass isolation platforms. Call us for details.

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