Every now and then someone asks us what sort of isolation products we use for our electronics.  They are invariably surprised when we tell them that other than the rather exotic cones that we use for the AG products we have a preference for simple medium density open cell foam. 

Now we are not saying that foam is the ultimate isolation product.  There are many other products available.  Many cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.  Some are better than foam....surprisingly, some are not.

So in response to customer inquires and a recent thread on the forum, we have decided to offer an assortment of foam pucks. 

They are remarkably effective isolation devices and they are ridiculously inexpensive.  If the high cost has been discouraging you from looking into isolation devices then these little guys are the answer.

If you have visited our room at a show you may have noticed that our amps are always sitting on something covered with blue velvet.  That blue cover conceals a slab of open cell foam.

The photo pretty much says it all.  Stick them under your hardware :)  OK, there's a bit more to it than that but not much.

In order to be most effective the foam should be compressed a bit. Somewhere around 10% compression seems to be best.  This causes the puck to have  a spring-like consistancy not unlike a spring suspension.  That's why we supply four each of five different diameters in the trial kit.  By mixing and matching sizes you should be able to find the ideal combination for just about any device. Just be careful that you don't block any vents that may be on the bottom of your hardware.

If you are going to put them under a CD transport (and we highly recommend that you do) levelling is critical.  Be sure to have a level available when determining what combination of pucks to use.  For other electronics levelling is less important except from a cosmetic standpoint. 

Above all experiment.  Try different combinations. Determine what works best for you.  And for heavens's sake turn everything off before you start sticking pucks under anything. 

The foam pucks are 2 inches thick and are available in 2, 3, 4, 5,  and 6 inch diameters.  They are available individually or in the form of a kit.  The kit consists of four of each diameter for a total of twenty pucks.  In many cases the kit could do an entire system. 

The retail price for the kit is $50.00USD (we told you they were inexpensive.)

The kit.

Pucks may be purchased individually for the prices indicated in the photo.

As the pricing indicates we don't plan on getting rich by selling foam pucks. Our primary focus is electronics. We do however believe that some sort of vibration isolation should be a part of any serious audio system.  If the pucks help to promote that idea then we have done what we set out to do.

If there is a source of medium density foam nearby then by all means check it out.  Maybe you can get some closer to home at a better price or at least avoid the shipping cost. 

Whether you buy some pucks or get the foam elsewhere we would be interested to hear about your "foam experiences."  Send us an email at bcircle@bluecircle.com or drop a post on the Blue Circle Forum.