Entreq
Vibb Eaters
Apollo 7.5 kg

Standing still is one of the most important things your speaker needs to do!

To realise a speakers performance it is imperative that your speaker is stable and is as physically free from parasitic distortion’s as possible. Generally treble vibrates from at least 5-20 kHz and that the surface of the baffle, as well as the other panels on your speaker, sing along approximately at around 400 to 900Hz. Using vibration cartography (a common acoustic engineers tool) it is quite easy to visually see that speaker baffles even at modest levels, almost have a life of their own. Therefore its easy to see that obtaining good sound when distortion is being introduced like this must be a loudspeaker designers real achillies heel. In addition because of this fundamental problem as well as the entire speaker cabinet sympathetically moving forwards & backwards, you also loose a lot of musical energy! This loss and confusion of energy effects the clarity in the bass, its weight and power, as well as smearing of the midrange which in turn generally causes a brighter presentation overall. This is of course a simplified outline of quite a complex issue.

Vibb Eaters and what they do:

If you remember your basic Physics lessons you will know that you cannot get rid of energy but simply convert it into another form. This is a fundamental law of physic’s and of course nature. We have choosen a route that converts un-wanted energy into heat, as this is the least harmful to our precious musical signal.

Vibb Eaters consist largely of our own dedicated copper-based sand mixture with the addition of small quantities of, amongst other things , specific precious metals. The properties of this mixture offers very interesting characteristics, particularly in the areas of magnetic fields, field effects, as well as dealing with physical vibration & surface energy. When you place a Vibb Eater on top of your loudspeaker speaker or on top of your electronic equipment the vibrations and various magnetic fields that come from the box’s are absorbed, then through the mechanical friction between the copper granular mixture the excess energy is converted into very low level heat.

It’s easiest to experience first hand the effect Vibb Eaters have on your speaker by simply placing one ( there are a number of different sizes & weights for different speaker or electronic’s cabinets) on top of your speaker while music is playing through them. Placing your hand on the speaker you should find that it is now almost free from vibrations but If you then move your hand/fingers and touch the Vibb Eater you will sense a great deal of activity, especially near the very top of the Vibb Eater. Guess where all the energy has gone?

When it comes to speakers, the Vibb Eater work on three specific fronts:
1. Through its weight it gives further stability to the speaker cabinet itself.
2. The vibrations and fields that are generated in the speaker box are most intense at the top of the speaker where the energy cannot go any further. When placing a Vibb Eater on top of the speaker you are in essence extending the length of the speaker box to a critical point outside of the cabinet. The key is that that energy is no longer a part of the speaker itself. The Vibb Eaters then simply absorb the energy and transforms it in to heat.
3. The magnetic characteristics that make-up the Vibb Eaters granular mixture can have a very positive impact on the fields generated in and around the loudspeaker itself.   

What you should expect hear?
In summary the treble tones become cleaner and free from the overtone distortion’s of a vibrating baffle. The bass becomes quicker, tighter and with a deeper more textured sound. Above all the sound picture is widened which should give you a more precise position in width, depth and altitude. Last but not least there should now be a flow and a calm in the sound.

Vibb Eaters for electronic equipment
These have a special sand mixture which leans towards the optimisation of the magnetic characteristics. They still of course offer a greater stability to the chassis of the equipment as well as absorbing vibrations but the Vibb Eater also neutralises a part of the magnetic field from the electronic equipment. You will always have to experiment to find the optimal position for the Vibb Eater but we usually find the best place to start is closest to the power cable inlet or the products transformer.

Review:
Entreq Vibb Eater… out, damned vibes by Sujesh Pavithran @ audiofi.nl
“IN CONCERT: As I expected, placing a Vibb Eater Mini each on my ATCs did elicit some positive results from the system. For one, the bass was tauter and cleaner, without losing any body… any little muddying effects present earlier were banished.”
“The whole sonic presentation across the frequencies was free of any vibration-induced contaminants, putting the midrange in clearer focus and enhancing treble clarity and poise.”
“The result, also, was that a little more macro-detail did show through in the recordings; nuances one may have casually passed over sans these things, now surfaced with more clarity.”