VIBRAPODS £4.75 each

These cute bits of black plastic are designed to fit directly underneath
your equipment, where they’re claimed to absorb vibrations and improve the sound. Said to work in both horizontal and vertical planes, they’re made to fit at or near the heaviest areas of the equipment’s casing and at the edges. Alternatively, if there are no flat areas (such as under some turntables, for example) then you can place your component on a piece of half inch thick MDF and put the Vibrapods underneath. There are five models available, all of which have different load capacities, so you should buy the ones suitable for your equipment. You can also combine them, so that heavy weight-bearing pods go directly under the feet of your battleship Japanese CD player, while lighter weight bearing pods go under its centre where there’s less apparent load. You can of course just use three or four (in triangular or rectangular configurations respectively), but the manufacturer recommends more should be used for better sound. They can be
placed facing either up or down and are also suitable for use under speakers (on to a wooden floor or paving slab, but not directly onto carpets).
Amusingly, if you overload them and squish them into oblivion, the original shape can be restored by placing them on a flat baking tray and cooking them in the oven at 175F for ten minutes… Just don’t tell the missus!

Yes, they really work. It always puzzles me why people spend hundreds of pounds on fancy supports when a basic coffee table with a few of these things underneath give such good results in all but the most exacting systems. Quite simply, the sound opens out and gains focus, as well as becoming more relaxed (i.e. less edgy) at the same time. You’ll find the bass takes on a life of its own, and things cohere better right across the frequency spectrum. It’s a subtle effect, but you can hear the difference every time. In short, these Vibrapods can make an also-ran system sound surprisingly close to a decent one, if you spend enough time placing them correctly under your electronics. Three Vibrapods and a bit of MDF also makes a dramatic improvement to unsprung turntables (like Regas) too, for ridiculously little money.

Fantastic - power to the Pods!