Phone: (410) 685-4618 Email: info@mapleshadestore.com
Brass Footers For Speakers and Electronics
The First Element Of Our Vibration Control Systems
Our beautifully machined brass footers are the first element in Mapleshade's unique Vibration Control System, a system that has transformed the sound of thousands of audiophile systems over the years.
Install a set of brass footers, by themselves, under speakers, audio or video disc players, receivers, DACs, streamers, amps, preamps, power supplies, tuners, turntables, power conditioners, or cable boxes—and get a major, immediate upgrade in sound and picture clarity. The design of our footers has been painstakingly refined to efficiently drain the most possible vibration out of any component down into the shelf (or floor) below, causing music to sound strikingly clearer, more natural and more exciting. For video, colors become more vibrant, images are clearly sharper and shadow detail improves.
Rigid, resonance-free and massive, our solid footers lock the component or speaker into place using point contact, an essential for draining vibration cleanly. The footer's mass, shape and, most importantly, material all make a big difference. We've tested every promising high-tech material: ceramics were too bright; titanium, carbon fiber, stainless steel, myrtle, aluminum and ebony were dull and smeared compared to brass. Our proprietary alloy brass was by far the best-sounding footer material: much more dynamic, vibrantly warm, and more detailed. Take advantage of our money back guarantee and make your own comparisons against other footers, even ones costing 10 times more.
Three Base Footer Sizes
Surefeet are our least expensive footers, 1-1/2” in height and diameter. Due to superior shape and mass, Surefeet sound significantly better than any of the widely available generic brass spikes or cones. Only available with a flat top.
Our substantially better performing Heavyfeet are 2-1/2" times heavier with a 2" diameter and height. Heavyfeet are an integral element of our SAMSON rack and speaker stand designs. Heavyfeet are available with a flat top, Triplepoint top or Micropoint top, in order of increasing sound quality. A Low Heavyfoot, 1 ½” high, is also available.
Even 3 ½ times heavier than Heavyfeet, our truly massive Megafeet (3” in diameter and height) are the very best-sounding footers available anywhere. They are available as Micropoint Megafeet, Triplepoint Megafeet or with thread-on options. Lower 2” tall version are also available where vertical clearance is limited.
We offer several point configurations for Heavyfeet and Megafeet, each tailored and optimized to offer the best sound quality for carpeted versus uncarpeted floors and for wood-bottomed versus hard-bottomed components (scroll down for a quick guide on which footer to select).
For ultra-lightweight and mini components, call 410-464-1189 to find out about our new Mono Micropoint Heavyfoot and Mono Micropoint Megafoot vibration control mountings.
Our Very Best Footers
Our best performing footers all incorporate a three-point top, the cure we developed for the major weakness of conventional cone footer design: the flat top. In our listening experiments, transferring vibration out of a component via point contact rather than flat area contact always sounds cleaner and better. Mapleshade's unique three-point contact eliminates the unavoidable micro-rattles between a flat topped footer and the imperfectly flat bottom of the supported equipment. Adding the three points on top yields surprisingly more detail everywhere—from the deep thunder of the tympani to the silvery treble of triangles. Our 2" Triplepoints, suitable for wood-bottomed speakers or components, use three small points that are 3/16” high.
But for components with flat metal or plastic bottoms, our Micropoint Heavyfeet and Micropoint Megafeet are Mapleshade's very best performing footers. Our experiments proved that unnecessarily long, sharp cone points incur high frequency, harsher-sounding tip resonances. The better supported and the shorter (i.e., “stubbier”) the points, the sweeter the treble. So, to take advantage of the many components with hard flat bottom surfaces, we designed the Micropoints to have a point height of 1/64", one twelfth the height of the Triplepoints. This factor of 12 lowering reduces tip resonance amplitudes by 1700 times! Listening confirms the very audible improvements. Blacker backgrounds improve ambience and sustain. Transients, especially bass transients, are cleaner and more powerful. Treble and midrange are sweeter, less smeared, yielding more beautiful harmonic detaiI.
We use Micropoints (or Triplepoints for wood bottoms) under everything in the Studio and every playback component in the Mapleshade-inSound R&D lab. Head-to-head, they have beaten every well-known, top-of-the-line footer including Stillpoints, Symposium, Aurios, Black Diamond, edenSound , Ukushima, Van Slyke, Daruma, Solid Tech, and Walker.
Quick Guide For Selecting The Right Brass Footer
UNDER ELECTRONICS & SPEAKERS WITH FLAT METAL OR HARD-SURFACED BOTTOMS: Micropoint Heavyfeet (or, even better, 3" Micropoint Megafeet) are our very best footers. They do not work under wood or MDF bottoms -- nor if there are protrusions like screw heads in the way.
UNDER ELECTRONICS & SPEAKERS WITH WOOD, MDF OR SOFT PLASTIC BOTTOMS: Triplepoint Heavyfeet (or better yet, 3" Triplepoint Megafeet) sound best. Either footer clears protrusions under 3/16"in height.
UNDER ELECTRONICS WITH HEAVILY CORRUGATED OR PERFORATED BOTTOMS: use 2" Heavyfeet (or 3" Megafeet) because flat-topped footers are essential for stable contact with these bottoms.
UNDER LIGHT-WEIGHT ELECTRONICS AND/OR WHEN MAXIMUM STABILITY IS CRUCIAL: Attach Thread-On Brass Footers with studs to screw into existing threaded metal holes (we can match your current thread size) or with hanger bolts (i.e., with wood screws) to thread into wood bottoms. Threaded footers are also convenient for frequently moved components but incur a 5-10% sonic penalty relative to Triplepoints and 20-25% relative to Micropoints because they have flat rather than sharp point contact.
UNDER LIGHT-WEIGHT ELECTRONICS: The lower height version of Micropoint Heavyfeet and Micropoint Megafeet are much more stable than full height footers. Though not as stable as threaded footers, Low Triplepoints sound slightly better.
FOR MOUNTING ON HARD SURFACES: Use Heavyfeet or Megafeet with the shallow, sharp point on the bottom for best performance. To avoid the dings that sharp points leave on beautiful floors or furniture, use our Radiused footers. They reduce sound quality by roughly 5% but sound far better than sharp-pointed footers sitting on floor protecting discs or cup (which reduce sound quality by roughly 50%).
FOR MOUNTING ON CARPETED SURFACES: Always use Thin Carpet or Thick Carpet footers to spike through the carpet and its pad. Nothing sounds good floating on top of carpet.
Choose a brass footer catagory below for more info & options
OUR GUARANTEE
To ensure you are satisfied with your purchase and can try our upgrades in your home system risk-free, we offer a 30-day moneyback guarantee for all stock Mapleshade audio and furniture products. Customized items, made-to-order finishes & some 3rd party products are excluded. Our Terms & Conditions apply.
ORDER BY PHONE
Call 410-685-4618 to order. We are open Monday through Friday, 9am to 5:00pm EST. You can also order through our webstore 24 hours a day at shop.mapleshadestore.com
ORDERING & UPGRADE ADVICE
We offer expert advice on how to improve the sound of your system using Mapleshade upgrades—as well as help in evaluating, installing or using any of our audio and furniture products. Email info@mapleshadestore.com or call 410-685-4619.