The TNT CDP Press

The TNT CDP Press

Fight those vibrations!

I'm used to pay attention to every object that I find at home, work, supermarket etc., while searching for new ideas and new tweaks.

The best places for "inspiration" are DIY stores, markets, junkyards :-) or old cellars.
So I was cleaning (!) my cellar (the kind of activity that takes a couple of afternoons to be finished :-( ) when my attention was caught by some object I was ready to throw away.

The problem

The War against Vibrations is a long and tiring one and there are so many battles to fight, using so many different weapons...it all depends on the kind of vibrations you want to defeat: airborne, auto-generated by the HiFi components, vibrations produced by loudspeakers etc.
Every HiFi component has a metallic cabinet which is very prone to resonate and vibrate, that's the point. I was going to try something else, different from the ubiquitous heavy book to place over the cabinet of a light CD player...I was going to build something more effective and with cooler looks. Nothing special nor revolutionary or new but...something with the following properties:

*Hi Tech* looks
Ultra-mega cheap construction
Effectiveness

Hi-Tech looks

Let's put this straight: we are surrounded by walnut finished HiFi components and loudspeakers. Walnut is all the rage, today, especially here in Italy!
Hence our TNT CDP Press makes use of a solid wood base (not walnut, just simpler and cheaper pine wood, that I had into my cellar) plus some golden brass nuts & bolts and teflon washers. The whole thing, as you can see in the picture above, IMHO, is quite cool and Hi-Tech.

Ultra-mega cheap construction

Here's what you need to build your own TNT CDP Press:

A piece of solid wood, possibly smaller than the cabinet of the CD player (or preamp) you want to "dampen".
An old thick mousepad
An old heavy lamp foot
A brass nut and bolt plus a teflon washer

How to build it:

Use a piece of sandpaper to prepare the wood base. Then choose the finish you prefer. I've used a mahogany wood paint and then some wood wax.
Drill a hole into the wood base large enough for the brass bolt to be placed into it. The head of the bolt should be completely INTO the wood base so that it can't protrude on the outside (which will be the part of the Press facing the delicate CD cabinet)
If the lamp base isn't totally rusted (like the one I found) place it over the wood base, insert the washer and finally tighten the brass nut.
If the lamp base is rusted, a piece of sandpaper will help to take away most of the rust. Then paint it the color you like (gold, black, Ferrari red...).
Finally glue the old mousepad below the wood base with a vinyl glue or the one you prefer. The mousepad helps to dampen some vibration of the cabinet and will preserve it from scratches.

Does it work?

You bet! I've used it with my already tweaked and heavily damped Marantz CD17 CD player and the sound has suddenly earned some "body" and "weight", especially because I was using spikes under it...
My CD 17 is placed over 4 spikes and 4 ART Q-Dampers and the use of the CDP Press has somehow made the sound warmer and less "pointed", if you know what I mean.

The focus of the scene is now better and there's more "air" between singers and players. Even the mid-bass range sounds more articulated.
If you think the cabinet of your CD player is "damped" enough, probably because you've put a sheet of some tar-like damping compound, well, think again. Place a hand over the cabinet while some good bass recording is playing loud and you'll know that a sheet of damping stuff isn't enough. The TNT CDP Press will help you to fight even the nastiest vibrations.

Upgrading the TNT Press

Of course you can tweak the Press as you like. For example you can use a marble slate instead of the wood base. This could be expensive, though. Please have in mind that the object should be made of "junkyard" stuff :-)
You can even think to put some damping paint (like the Noise Killer or even some blue-tac) on the inside the lamp metal base.

Conclusions

The TNT Press is a cool way to avoid placing books over your CD player or preamp. It is cheap, easy to build and effective so...happy DIYing to everyone!

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