Mobile Fidelity Ultra Low Noise Feet (Set of 4)

Mobile Fidelity Ultra Low Noise Feet are designed to substantially reduce vibration that can affect any audio component. They can be used with turntables, DACs, preamps, integrated amplifiers, streamers, CD players, power supplies and similar, as well as bookshelf speakers. They are available in three weight ranges.

There are three sources of vibration to mitigate. Structure borne, airborne and self-induced or internal vibration. Structure Borne vibration is transmitted through the shelf or platform that the device rests on. Airborne vibrations come from the speaker drivers. Finally, self-induced vibration comes from things such as CD drives and other mechanical devices like mains transformers.

These 1.57” feet are sprung loaded and compress when a component is placed onto them. They are designed to reduce the noise floor across the entire audio band, without harming the frequency response or phasing. As a result, music should be more textured and focused with enhanced clarity.

Using the feet

Firstly choose the correct weight range for your intended component. Then simply place the unit on top of the feet, and make sure it is straight, with the supplied level. This is especially important with turntables that will not track correctly if tilted. The noise floor will be substantially reduced and the sound will be better focussed and less hard. Good isolation is also important with valve equipment, where the valves can act like microphones, dragging in noise.

Issues from vibration

The feet have been developed by Harmonic Resolution Systems and will isolate anything placed on them from harmful vibration. The main source of vibration is from your loudspeakers. This can get into your audio equipment, especially turntables, that have a high gain transducer, like the pickup cartridge. However, vibration can also affect other components. Components can also interfere with each other when stacked, for example, high power amplifiers have large transformers, that can vibrate at the mains frequency. All this noise will obscure detail and make the sound unnatural.

Advantages of anti-vibration feet

Three years of testing and research went into the development of the Mobile Fidelity ultra-low-noise feet. They work across the entire audio band to deliver a quiet background. They also have a high price-to-performance ratio, giving consistent improvements. The construction materials have been carefully chose for effectiveness and durability. It is recommended that four feet are used per component (as supplied), although more can be used for heavy equipment.

Bad vibrations

The very nature of sound is vibration. The loudspeakers produce sound by moving air. The air then transmits the sound to our ears where it is converted into an electrical signal and sent to our brains. However, the sound can also cause the speaker itself and anything in the room to vibrate. Creating resonances and muddying the sound.

Dealing with airborne vibration

A speaker produces sound by moving air and this vibration can make the circuit boards and individual component parts of audio equipment vibrate. This is a particular issue with sensitive valve equipment. All valves are microphonic to an extent, especially in high gain circuits. Even small amounts of vibration can affect the sound. Nowadays, more thought goes into damping, even solid-state components, and better structural rigidity is now being practised. The ideal solution would be to have the audio equipment in another room. However this is often not practical, so keep the equipment as far as possible from the speakers, and use Mobile Fidelity Ultra Low Noise Feet. It also helps to place audio equipment on a non-resonant surface.

Structure borne vibration

The next source of vibration is structural. This comes from the shelf or platform that the audio component is placed on. Most equipment comes with feet of some description. However, they need to be designed to deal with the different methods of coupling. The shape of the coupled device affects its performance. For example, floorstanding speakers often use spikes to reduce the contact area. The best solution is custom-made feet. For hi-fi separates these Mobile Fidelity Ultra Low Noise Feet are a recommended choice.