01 THE ISOLATION BUBBLE

Hear your music,not the turntable.

APM under the record. Houdini above the cartridge. Bo!ngs under the deck you already own.

See how it works See the measurements

Rega · Technics · Linn · Thorens · and most other decks

Technics SL-1200 fitted with Funk Firm Isolation Bubble upgrades
A real deck. Clearer music.

THE SYSTEM

Protect the stylus.

Four parts. One job: keep unwanted energy away from the point where music is read.

  1. Cross-section of the APM micro-bubble platter mat material

    01Under the record

    APM

    Absorbs energy driven into the record by the stylus instead of storing it and sending it back as blur.

    See APM
  2. Houdini cartridge isolator

    02Above the cartridge

    Houdini

    Isolates the cartridge from arm-tube vibration so more of what you hear comes from the groove.

    See Houdini
  3. Funk Firm Bo!ng isolation foot

    03Under the deck

    Bo!ngs

    Keep floor, shelf and room vibration away from the deck after the stylus path is protected.

    See Bo!ngs
  4. Funk Firm Cobra height-adjustable headshell

    04Where VTA is fixed

    Cobra

    Adds height adjustment at the headshell so Houdini can work on arms without VTA adjustment.

    See Cobra

One principle — tailored to your turntable.

THE IDEA

The cartridge is king.

Junk reaches it two ways — under the record and through the arm.

A perfect turntable would be a record in space with a cartridge tracing the groove. Nothing interferes.

On a real deck, colouration arrives through the mat below and the arm above. Isolation Bubble protects those two paths first, then keeps vibration from the room away from the deck.

Side profile showing the stylus between the record and tonearm
Protect the stylus — mat below, cartridge above

A REAL DECK

A dearer deck cannot fix the wrong interface.

Same listener. Better turntable. Stock rubber mat.

A customer sold his Technics SL-1500C with an Achromat and moved to a £5,000 SL-1200GAE on its stock rubber mat. The new deck was more expensive, but something important had disappeared.

The lesson is simple: start where the record meets the deck. Price elsewhere in the system cannot undo energy returning through the mat.

I definitely miss something. Houdini and Cobra are now on my mind.

Technics owner
Shop mats
Technics SL-1500C fitted with Funk Firm upgrades
The owner’s SL-1500C with Funk upgrades

MEASURED

Felt and rubber vs APM.

The first three plots show energy returning. The APM plot stays calm.

Measurement plot of an unsupported record
UnsupportedThe record rings freely.
Measurement plot of a record on a rubber mat
RubberStored energy remains visible.
Measurement plot of a record on a felt mat
FeltSoft does not mean controlled.
Measurement plot of a record on an APM platter mat
APMEnergy is absorbed instead of returned.

Measurements explain the mechanism. Listening is still the point.

O — M — G! The clarity and definition of the sound, how the stage is painted, how the subtle nuances are extracted — it is just amazing.

Rega P3 owner · after Isolation Bubble

START WITH WHAT YOU OWN

Upgrade what you own.

You do not need a new deck. You need less unwanted energy in the path to the cartridge.

Start with the mat and Bo!ngs. Add Houdini — and Cobra where needed — when you are ready.

Try it. If it is not for you, return it.

Watch a deck review
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