NO Compromise, NO Comparison & NO Competition
If you're THINKING about an A/V ISOLATION SYSTEM, Think TRI-ORBs for the FOLLOWING REASONS
VSE TRI-ORBs are the newest, state-of-the-art reference standard of the A/V industry.
TRI-ORBs incorporate all the accepted industry standard isolation principles into one compact unit.
TRI-ORBs introduce a new level of balanced performance, as yet unavailable to the audio/videophile.
TRI-ORB's Coulomb cones are solid gray iron, which is 4 times harder than brass (explained in text).
TRI-ORBs are self-centering & auto-leveling (other devices need to be leveled before they function).
TRI-ORBs not only float your component in space, but isolate it from the rest of the world too.
All TRI-ORBs have built-in safety stops to prevent tip-over and slipping.
All TRI-ORBs have THREE ball bearings PER LEG instead of just one, for superior damping control.
NO other Iso System comes close to TRI-ORBs, at any price! This is Guaranteed, or your money back!
Need more proof? See our "Unsolicited User Comments" link.
Better yet, buy a set and listen first-ear (30-Day Unconditional Return).
Unconditional 30-Day return policy and Lifetime materials and workmanship warranty
GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS & FEATURES: Tri-Orbs
You've spent the "big bucks" on your
audio/video system. It sounds pretty good, but you think there's something
missing from the sound and [possibly] your video picture quality too. You've
got the best components money can buy, or close to it for the dollar
but, over time, you're becoming bored with your music. All your music
is starting to sound the same. Maybe your components aren't matched properly?
Maybe your room acoustics aren't quite right? You're thinking of another
expensive systems upgrade. STOP! First, install
a set of Tri-Orbs under your component(s). They'll cost a small fraction
of that upgrade, and VSE guarantees the performance of all their products
with an Unconditional 30-Day return policy and a Lifetime
materials and workmanship warranty.
Coulomb cones, rollerballs, hyperbowls, sling suspenders, decoupled spring-mass absorber blocks, cork & gray felt layers, Neoprene O-ring sling suspension systems: what if you could combine all of these accepted industry standard isolation and damping principles into one unit? Impossible. Think again. VSE has done just that with its revolutionary Tri-Orbs. Why purchase just one of the above, when you can have them all! Tri-Orbs combine all of the best proven standard vibration, isolation and damping efforts created by man in his quest for the perfect reproduced sound [and picture], rolled into one simple unit.
The A/V industry has a unique dilemma, a "catch 22" paradox if you will. How do you accurately reproduce a room full of sonic vibrations and not have them severely distort your component's audio [and video] performance? The answer is simple - you can't, not without devices designed specifically for this application. Most of these dark-age isolation devices on the market today have either too much damping, not enough, or do nothing at all - a gimmick at best. If you have too much damping, your music can sound like it's stuck in the "mud." If you have too little, it can sound harsh, ringing, and unpleasant to the ear. No longer do you need to rely on all these massive [music killing] granite blocks, [forever leaking] air bladders, or twangy rubber bumpers that do little more than change your music, not necessarily for the good.
With today's super audio/video systems, and especially those amplified subwoofers and sensitive tube amps, we asked ourselves how we could stop airborne and ground vibrations from feeding back and degrading your sound and picture quality? Being audio/videophiles ourselves, we first looked at the A/V industry's existing vibration damping and isolation devices and found a monumental amount of these [so-called] isolation devices staggeringly inadequate for the job. We simply said, "We can do better, much better." Tri-Orbs are the first reality of that endeavor. This is a revolutionary new balanced isolation system that didn't even exist until the invention of Tri-Orbs. I know, we're "tooting our own horn," but our intention from the beginning was to create the best, to create [unachievable] perfection - something beyond all others. If we would not have triumphed, then this quest for the perfect balanced isolation system [Tri-Orbs] would have simply "faded into the sunset," and this current time-line would not exist at all.
When all is said and done, "the proof is in the pudding." The perfectionist hi-end audio/videophile has been waiting for the [near] perfect isolation and damping platform his entire life, as yet undiscovered [at any price] until now. His [your] waiting is finally over. Try a set of Tri-Orbs! No matter how high your expectations, you won't be disappointed.
Van Slyke Engineering's Tri-Orb Lites are ultra hi-end, super-sophisticated instruments designed to support lighter source components (i.e. LP, CD, DVD, SACD players, etc.) with the following weight limitations. Because of the flotation design of Tri-Orb Lites, they can't be used for speaker support. See Tri-Orb Heavies (below) and X-rods (link) for speaker isolation platforms.
25 lbs. for TOL3 (set of 3) with standard O-ring set (installed)
35 lbs. for TOL4 (set of 4) with standard O-ring set (installed)
50 lbs. for TOL4 with heavy-duty O-ring set (included)
75 lbs. for TOL4 with ultra-duty O-ring set (included).
Each Tri-Orb Lite [now] includes three standard-duty O-rings (installed), three heavy-duty O-rings, and three ultra-duty O-rings. You only need to purchase O-rings below when you are doubling or replacing existing O-rings. The difference between reference-grade (pictured above right) and standard-grade (pictured above left) is explained below (Standard vs. Reference Grade Tri-Orbs). You can also upgrade your standard-grade TOLs by installing optional tungsten steel balls (TCB sets offered below), which will improve performance.
*Blems are factory new and are in perfect mechanical condition. Blems have minor surface abrasions or slight machining errors that are usually not noticeable to the human eye. We dare you to even find these insignificant flaws! Call or e-mail for available blem stock.
Van Slyke Engineering's Tri-Orb Heavys (TOH) are easy-to-install, industrial-grade isolation and damping devices that are designed to support heavier components (i.e. receivers, amps, monoblocks, AC line conditioners, speakers, etc.) from 100 lbs. and up, with no [realistic] maximum weight restrictions.
You could even stack all your components (or your entire component rack) on a set of TOHs, and your component's overall increased performance level would be better than the most expensive component rack available. Something to think about. Point of reference: use the TOH3 package for loads up to 200 lbs., and for loads up to and exceeding 500 lbs., use the TOH4 package. You can even install heavier loads, exceeding 1000 lbs., by simply using more TOHs (i.e. set of 6, set of 8, set of 12, etc.) under your components and/or racks. For heavier asymmetrical loads and speakers, it is always recommended that you use a set of 4, over a set of 3, Tri-Orbs. Not only for load stability, but also for safety and security reasons. TOHs come with standard-grade chrome steel balls. Upgrading to tungsten carbide balls (optional TCB sets offered below) will improve performance.
*Blems are factory new and are in perfect mechanical condition. Blems have minor surface abrasions or slight machining errors that are usually not noticeable to the human eye. We dare you to even find these insignificant flaws! Call or e-mail for available blem stock.
Shown above is a typical LP player installation using the Tri-Orb Lite (reference-grade), set of 3 (TOL3R). If you have a heavier than normal turntable, say, one with a granite enclosure, or already mounted on a permanent granite platform, then you should use the TOL4R with the appropriate O-ring sets installed.
Shown above is a typical CD/DVD player installation using the Tri-Orb Lite (standard-grade), set of 3 (TOL3S). If you have a heavier than normal CD/DVD player ,or one with a heavy asymmetrically mounted power transformer, etc., then you should use the TOL4S with the appropriate O-ring sets installed.
Shown above is a hi-end SACD player installation using the Tri-Orb Lite (reference-grade), set of 4 (TOL4R). If you have a heavier than normal SACD player (like the one pictured above), or one with a heavy asymmetrically mounted power transformer, then you should use the TOL4R with the appropriate O-ring sets installed.
What's the difference between Tri-Orb Lite (TOL) reference-grade (RG) and standard-grade (SG)? Pictured above and below are the intrinsic features of RG TOLs (above left), SG TOLs (above right) and Tri-Orb Heavys (below left). The solid gray iron Coulomb cones are identical on all Tri-Orb models.
RG TOLs come with high-density tungsten
carbide balls (grade 3), perforated [stress-relieved] and hand-lapped
hyperbolic three-saucer section (pictured below right), a suspended cork
and felt stacked cylinder, cancellation-tuned brass decoupled [floating]
spring-mass block (pictured above left, center brass cylinder), and an
intricately knurled and machined 3-inch diameter base housing with three
felt padded [inset machined] chrome steel ball feet.
The SG TOLs include hardened chrome-steel balls (grade 25), incorporate a solid [one-piece] three-saucer cylinder (pictured above left) and, instead of a cancellation-tuned decoupled brass weight, use an exclusive [gravity activated] vertical Coulomb rod to create a one-way, vibration releasing path to ground. This same type of vibration release [ground contact] system is also used on our industrial-grade Tri-Orb Heavys (pictured below left), but using an adjustable spring-loaded plunger system. SG TOLs now include a NEW lateral stabilizer O-ring to cancel horizontal vibrations (pictured at right, red arrows). Although standard-grade TOLs and TOHs include chrome-steel balls, both are upgradeable to [optional] tungsten carbide balls.
Although these reference-grade
features may seem relatively insignificant, they do add substantially
to the isolation and damping performance of Tri-Orbs, especially when used
under hi-end components. There are also many other special surface procedures
(single-digit micron finishes) that are applied to the reference-grade
Tri-Orb Lites such as ultra-polished gray iron Coulomb cones (pictured at
right) and hand-lapped hyperbowls, etc., etc. The fancy knurling and decorative
machine cuts add nothing to the actual performance, but do add expensive
machining time and substantial cost, producing an end product that is handcrafted
to the highest tolerances possible.
Hi-end components using RG TOLs with cancellation-tuned weighting, redundant cork and felt stacked isolation, stress-relieved perforated hyperbowls, and special surface preparation, etc., will definitely receive a marked improvement over basic SG TOLs, but average components will probably not notice the grade difference in performance. Therefore, if you're trying to save some bucks, and are not installing Tri-Orb Lites under reference-grade components, the performance levels of standard-grade Tri-Orb Lites may better match your component's abilities.
A well designed isolation and damping platform (IDP) should create a naturally balanced, homogenous interaction with your source component, be it either a turntable, CD, DVD-V, DVD-A, SACD player or tape deck. At minimum, you should install IDPs under all your source components that have motors and/or rotating mechanisms, because this application will provide the most effective impact on your music.
The ideal IDP design should start with a heavy, solid gray iron (no soft brass, explained later) Coulomb cone. Then place a set of three tungsten carbide balls into three saucers opposed by 120 degrees and set the gray iron Coulomb cone on top of the balls. These are not spherical saucers like all the other devices on the market, but hyperbolic saucers to impart a more sensitive and fluid movement to the balls; what we have [trade] named "hyperbowls." Not only do you achieve the usual "mass vs. force" directional damping effect of conventional Coulomb cones, but the added kinetic damping effect of this unique combination.
First though, these gray iron cones and aluminum hyperbowls should be diamond lapped and polished to a mirror finish. Then "glass beaded" to create a perfectly rough surface. This unique surface texture (more on this later) causes the contact area to decrease. When these two different textured metal surfaces make contact, one perfectly smooth (the metal ball) and one perfectly rough (the cone and saucer), they create an area of asperity-to-asperity contact that is much smaller than smooth-to-smooth surface contact, thus creating a surface contact with far less asperities but with much higher pressure points. If the actual area of intimate contact is decreased, then the coefficient of friction will also be decreased by at least an order of magnitude providing a greater friction resistance (hysteresis) and a faster decay time.
Below these three hyperbowl disks, which have been stress-relieved with a center perforation before lapping, is a staggered "stacked-disk" platform that allows ground vibrations to be mass-damped after each soft/hard layer pair (cork, aluminum, gray felt, etc.). Then a super efficient [elastic] sling suspension system isolates this unique [what we call] spider assembly from everything except the atmosphere itself and decreases the vibrational force transmitted at resonance (more on this below).
This spider assembly is also made hollow to support a brass spring-mass absorber block to further cancel (via inertia damping) both airborne and ground vibrations. This decoupled block induces a "reverse phase effect," with [not only] the airborne but also the ground vibration attacking your component causing an opposing force by virtue of its own intrinsic inertia. In other words, these decoupled brass blocks cancel the incoming vibration and function as an inertia compensator establishing an ideal resonant frequency in the [deaf] range of 8 to 15 Hz. This application stabilizes the disturbing resonant frequency that disrupts the unbalanced dynamic force generated by the component above this range, and also cancels the isolator’s natural frequency below, which the former creates by undesirable rotational distortions such as wow, flutter and warp in rotating mechanisms. The closer you can come to this 180 degrees out-of-phase balanced condition, the more perfectly "tuned" your system becomes (null transmissibility) and the faster it can come to rest. Then the layered spider assembly is suspended from a machined aluminum [lower] base ring using three Neoprene O-rings that literally float all the previously discussed mechanisms, and your source equipment.
The material choice of gray iron (ASTM #50) for the Coulomb cone is superior to brass in this application because gray iron (Brinell hardness=260) is four times as hard as brass (Brinell hardness=60), and grayiron (160Kpsi) has three times the compressive strength of brass (55Kpsi). This higher materials density and strength allows gray iron to transfer and release vibration (kinetic energy) with up to four times the efficiency of softer brass metals.
The three rollerballs are tungsten carbide (TC), grade 3 with a tolerance of +-3/millionths of an inch and a Rockwell A hardness better than 90. TC is a very heavy, extremely hard metal [ceramic category], about twice the physical weight of steel, with a density of 15.7g/cc compared to standard tool steel which has a density of only 7.7g/cc. Using the MOHS hardness standard, TC has a MOHS rating of 9+. The only common substance harder is diamond with the highest MOHS rating of 10.
The best natural finish possible is applied (no anodizing or plating that could effect the pure interaction of the various metals). All parts are surface treated and cold worked (hardened) with a non-invasive blast finish called "glass beading," the same finish that is applied to hi-end firearms. These time consuming processes create a product with a unique "build-quality" and a minimal resonance signature.
These applications combine all the basic, accepted vibration isolation systems into one super unit including the latest aerospace mass-loading technologies. Then the above independent isolation principles are properly designed into one sophisticated mechanism, creating a revolutionary new level of balanced damping and isolation performance.
![[return to home]](bareturn.jpg)
![[top of the page]](topagew.jpg)