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Welcome to Decware
Zen Audio Focus
Platforms
Zen Audio Focus Platforms
Model ZAFP
Not just another solid block of wood...
Solid Blocks of wood can add mass to the shelf or if placed on the component add mass to it. Adding mass sometimes lowers the frequency of the vibration. Is that good? What frequency is the vibration? Is there a bad frequency? What frequency does your component resonate at? Should you be coupling or decoupling the component from the shelf? What kind of over priced "points" or cones should you buy?
We build tube amplifiers which do not use the circuit boards or solid state parts that seem so affected by vibration but there are still the tubes themselves. The biggest source of vibration a tube amplifier will ever see is from the actual power transformer on the amp itself! It is a constant pitch that never ends so the best thing you can do is drain it away from the component so it doesn't build up and localize in the tubes.
We designed our solid hardwood component platforms specifically to deal with this problem as well as deal with vibrations coming up through the shelf. They do this by redistribution and by turning some of this vibration into heat . With less vibration comes noticeable improvements to the focus of your sound stage. They will do this without cones or pads which a solid block of wood can't do but using cones and pads can help in tuning the platform to maximize the effect.
So in summary, a solid block of wood can only move vibration from one point to another. Our product absorbs vibration, redistributes it across the frequency band and turns the rest into heat. Also we designed four sizes that are specifically tuned to the weight and dimensions of our amplifiers taking 100% of the guesswork out of it for our customers.
Model ZAFP
How they work
Each of the two hardwood plinths are coupled together with an air gap between them which is determined by the brass ring (fulcrum). The brass ring is centered within the structure allowing the wood to flex as you get farther from the ring. The interior of the ring and the 4 inch cavity in the center of the bottom plinth is then filled with liquid resin and sand which hardens like rock. This locks the two plinths together in the center while allowing the corners to move and actually absorb vibration.
The best way to couple a component is near it's four corners where the component chassis is stiffest. We offer our platforms with machined spots to precisely locate the cones for each of our amplifiers so there is no way to get it wrong.
As the vibration that is absorbed by the corners of each plinth travels to the center of the platform, the plinths get gradually stiffer until they become bonded to the composite resin plug that couples them into a co-mass layer damped structure with varying densities.
The platforms absorb energy equally from the bottom and the top instead of moving energy from both like a super highway.
Zen Audio Focus Platform in Cherry
The Optional CONES & PADS
For use with DECWARE amplifiers, we have created our own cones, made from hardwood like the platforms. These cones are brass tipped and designed to be placed upside down on the platform so that the tips locate on the highest mass
portion of the amplifier chassis. The machined holes locate the cones in the exact correct spot and are a diameter slightly larger than the cone so that only the bottom of the cone makes contact with the platform. The cones have a rubber ring to auto center them in the holes. The pads are made from sorbothane.
Performance Charts
This chart shows the difference between the corners of the platform (violet) and the center (red). This is showing that the most flex occurs between 60 Hz and 120 Hz. It also shows how that energy is redistributed in the frequency domain from which one can calculate how much is missing as heat.
This chart shows the difference between the table (green) and the amplifier setting on the platform (orange). To see the difference between the amplifier setting on a rack vs. setting on the platform on the rack, watch the video below.
Zen Audio Focus Platform demonstration video
Zen Audio Focus Platform testing video
Audio Focus Platforms are available in 5 sizes
A
B
C
D
E
8" x 13.25"
10" x 17.50"
11.5" x 13.25"
15" x 18.50"
15" x 20.5"
Available in different woods, selectable in the shopping cart.
Please allow 8 ~ 12 weeks for delivery
NOTE: Using with ZTPRE
The upside down cones are designed to pull vibration out of the wood chassis of our tube amplifiers. Vibration from the large power transformers. The ZTPRE uses quad toroidal transformers that have no vibration. So the only thing the ZTPRE requires from the platform is isolation. We use size D or E depending on what looks better to the buyer. Size D is about a 1/2 inch wider on both sides when compared to the face plate of the ZTPRE and will still fit into a 19 inch rack. Size E is a touch wider with just over 1.5 inches on either side which tends to look better when the preamp sits on a top shelf. Both sizes can be used with pads to isolate from the shelf, but cones are not recommended as the ZTPRE has stiffer feet designed to couple to the plinth. By having the added depth of the platform, cables are better supported and drained of vibration where they contact the plinth.
Model ZAFC
The Zen Audio Focus Clamp is sized to sit on top of the average full-size DAC / Streamer / Preamplifier. It pins it down with mass and helps to isolate the component chassis from external vibration as well as increase it's coupling to the plinth or component shelf. It uses the same technology as the Audio Focus Platforms except that it must lay flat on the surface of the component top without any cones, pads, O-rings, or anything other than the supplied felt pad. The top plinth, now unloaded, works by storing excess energy and working it back into the core over time until it eventually turns into heat.
The felt pad is used to spread the force out evenly across the entire top of the component -- this prevents flexing / dishing of the thin component top allowing it to vibrate. One side has the black polyurethane composite plug and the other side is just smooth wood. It works with either side up.
Placing one of these on some components can greatly improve focus and the overall solidity of the sound. It can take an otherwise pathetic lunch box thin metal chassis found on modest priced audio products and gives it better vibration control!
Available in different woods, selectable in the shopping cart.
Model ZAFC
Please allow 8 ~ 12 weeks for delivery
TRY ONE OF THESE AT HOME FOR 30 DAYS!
Return IT if YOU DON'T HEAR AN IMPROVEMENT
10% RESTOCK FEE
ALSO we have the
Zen Audio Focus Clamps!
