Tenderfoot Review Archive

Overall excellent, well priced products backed by superb service. The advice from Robert was honest and prompt, much appreciated by a novice like me! I initially ordered the cone spike gliders, steel base to place underneath the spikes of my KEF Reference 205/2s placed on a tiled floor. Though sounding great originally, the speakers became very focused with the gliders and the brightness was well channeled with amazing improvement in instrument separation. I experimented by placing the gliders only under one speaker and the comparison between the two speakers sound was startling. Subsequently I placed big extra firm tenderfeet underneath my McIntosh MA7900 integrated amp, followed by big soft tenderfeet underneath my Marantz SACD player as well as the Clearaudio Concept moving coil turntable. Overall result: exquisite well balanced sound on top of as is beautiful sonics. Robert's advice was superb and saved me from considerable hassle and expense. The delivery was prompt more so as I am based abroad. I strongly recommend herbie products. Apart from the above, I am using Analysis Plus interconnects and speaker cables, and Russ Andrews power cords. These are awesome add ons and Herbie's feet have completed my audio set up in a very inexpensive manner.
Bhupi Jain, Doha, Qatar

Just got these in (Big Tall Tenderfeet) and put them under my cd player and could hear an immediate improvement. Far less resonance than before. The soundstage opened up and there is better detail and bass as well. I am pretty surprised at these. Will be ordering more for my amp and dac as well
Ryan Hutton, Muscatine, Iowa

Having tried my PMC FB1i floorstanders with spikes+metal spike cups, with and without their plinth, and resting directly on my ceramic tile over concrete floor (on their slightly protruding plastic spike holders), there was still serious problems with the sound (muddy, can't follow a drum line or rhythm section, boxed in recessed mids). After placing Big Fat Dots between speaker and floor, along with Tenderfeet under my Naim UnitiQute2 and NAP100, I expected a subtle improvement but it is drastic in so many ways: - Leading edge and decay of notes vastly improved across the whole frequency range, giving much more realism and rhythm to music. - Vocal and instrumental timbres and harmonics, giving a more natural and 'live' sound. - Greater clarity, detail, dynamics and scale - a huge difference in soundstage and insight to the layers and placements audible within a recording. - Recessed midrange is virtually cured, emotion is now coming through. - Music now seems to flow more effortlessly out into the room, soundstage depth and height noticeably improved. I had been auditioning and hankering after a set of Harbeth Monitor 30.1 as they sounded so much better at the dealers than my PMC's at home, but with the improvement given by these isolation feet I don't feel any need to swap out any more. Simply put, these products helped my system reach its maximum music-making potential. I was listening long into the night after I first set them up, my system has come alive in a foot-tapping and smile-inducing way.
Dylan Cas, Singapore

These feet are very effective, I'm impressed.
Todd Reitz, TR Audio

...I felt like a fool spending big money on expensive and cumbersome isolation/vibration devices when the Herbie's Audio Labs products did the job a heck of a lot better, easier and way cheaper.
Francisco Duran, Positive Feedback Online

A set of Tenderfeet under the power supply took a sound that was very neutral, focused and transparent, and added a touch of liquidity without sacrificing any focus or transparency.
Rick Becker, Enjoy the Music.com

The Tenderfeet are just a few bucks more than Vibrapods, with much better results.
Vade Forrester, San Antonio, Texas

Hey, those little Tenderfoots are really something! They outperform a $199 set of isolation devices that I have.
Bob Lietz, The Analog Shop

I put some tenderfooters under my slide projector---it vibrates alot, having a carousel. The picture quality improved ten to fifteen percent.
Bruce Varvonis, Kays Interiors, Chicago

From the October, 2006 edition of PNWAS Newsletter: "Many components especially digital suffer from distortions caused by microphonic vibrations. Sensitive parts such as connectors, processors, capacitors and drives produce distorted signals in the presence of vibrations, adding discomfort, ear pain, and other nasties to the listening experience. If you are experiencing these problems, you could have a foot problem. Herbies Audio Lab is famous for his tube dampers, but he also makes inexpensive and effective isolation/damping footers for equipment. I’ve used several different resonance-absorbing materials in the past, but just like Goldie Locks and the Three Bears and her bed comfort testing, some materials damped too much and some damped too little, but Herbies materials sounds just right. "Tenderfoot is my favorite all-purpose inexpensive footer. These are very neutral and do their job without robbing dynamics or over damping the sound. "
Joe Pittman, Pacific Northwest Audio Society

I have had a set of Herbie's Tender Feet for a while now and it is about time that I expressed my enthusiasm for them and what they do. I have them under my Monolithic PS-1 phono stage right now and I am VERY pleased. It is very important to treat vibrations, both micro and macro vibrations in source gear and these products are truly great. Keep up the good work!
Dan Wright, Portland, Oregon

I've been ripped off. I can't believe how many thousands (yes thousands) of dollars I've spent on system enhancements that don't even come close to the benefits of throwing a few Tenderfeet under my amp and cd player. Looking at the little black bits of rubber that arrived in the mail, absolutely nothing could have prepared me for the magnitude of system improvement these things provided. Nothing to date has so successfully cleaned the grunge out of my sound field. I have never had such a clear "view" of the performers. Truly, I am quite flabbergasted. The clarity of bass is now in a completely different league too - multi kilobuck power conditioners , cables etc couldn't clean up my bass like the Tender feet did. I don't really know how to explain this - I thought I had a pretty secure mounting system consisting of a lot of Maple wood platforms and Brass feet sitting directly on a concrete floor, but the Tender feet have turned things upside down. Frankly if I had blown 5K on a new cd player and got this amount of improvement I would have been pleased as punch. All that remains to be said is: A HUGE thank you. System Ayon CD5, Blue Circle FTTH, Reference 3A De Capo's, Audionote interconnects, and a bunch of Acoustic Revive and Mapleshade stuff. Cheers
doug girling

I installed the Tenderfeet on both my CD-Player and Amp, and baby booties on my DVD player. Though this was coupled with a simultaneous speaker re-positioning which I had been meaning to get around to, the results spoke for themselves. The bass, which had previously been very boomy due to the unfortunate smaller size & poor acoustics of my listening room became immediately softer and less prominent, while an unnatural sheen or sparkle which had oftentimes been extremely fatiguing when listening for long periods had virtually disappeared. The removal of both above factors has allowed me to hear deeper into each piece, particularly with regards to hearing more of the background ambience of each recording. Needless to say I'm very pleased with your Isolation Feet and plan to order more of them shortly.
Nick Smith, Ballarat, Australia

Tenderfeet are working well under my ML39 CD player.
Adel Gurgis, Sydney, Australia

Have tested the Tenderfeet under the CD player and Stereo Pre-amp. I'm very impressed with the results. Everything about the sound quality is better. A highly significant improvement. Most component upgrades I've done don't even come close to what Tenderfeet did for my system.
Brent Tuthill, Hendersonville, North Carolina

I've had your standard Tenderfeet beneath my CD/DVD player for a week now and the transformation has been incredible. With music, the sound is much smoother and more transparent. The soundstage has expanded as well. With so much immediate improvement, I've decided to move these feet to my tube preamp and try the ball/cup combination with my CD/DVD player. Thanks again!
Norman Thomas, Seattle, Washington

Your Tenderfoot footers are the best tweak I've ever experienced. Tremendous improvement in soundstaging. Thanks.
Lance Judd, Fair Oaks, California

The Sony NS300 got the treatment by way of four Tenderfeet. These rested on the bottom of the chassis, not on top of the existing feet. Incidentally, there were no removable feet to speak of in this player. The result was startling. The entire soundstage opened up. There was more width and depth. Very impressive.
Bobby Tam, Portland, Oregon

I could not get my new Brinkmann Lagrange turntable ($15k) not to feed back in my system! Mounted to the wall on a Symposium custom Svelte shelf on top a Target wall stand, the T/T was very close to my Horning Alkibiedes. These massive ($22K) speakers produce prestigious bass and at moderate levels acoustic feedback was a problem. I tried cones, sand boxes, roller balls, spikes etc. NO help. Then a brain storm, let's try the Herbie Tenderfeet I had under the Fi "X" in my wife's system. Five clear feet under the Svelte, (four at edges one in the middle, as the T/T weighs so much), on top of the target stand. SILENCE!!!!!! No feedback, great detail, tremendous bass again. These are fantastic feet that work under all tube gear. Now they help my turntable.
Robin Wyatt, New York

The standard Tenderfeet arrived this morning, they remove much of the micro vibrations and combined with some coccobolo blanks resting on grungebuster pads atop my mini-dac they produce the best sound I've heard so far.
Douglas Hunter, Scotland

I put 4 tenderfeet under my Richard Power Company supply on Monday --- I was shocked to hear the improvement.
Kurt Biehl, Danville, California

The new formulation Tenderfoot seems to have met your goal of "perfecting" the original Tenderfoot (I think you nailed it). It has an even more transparent and clean sounding sonic signature than the previous version offered, and makes me want to turn up the volume as a result (always a good sign). The noise floor is subjectively lowered and there seems to be a bit of glare reduction involved in such. The presentation is very firm sounding and resolved. The bottom end is even more rock solid and articulate, the top end more precise and open, and the midrange presence seems very neutral in terms of the footers' effect on the soundstage front-to-back imaging (as well as an utter lack of coloration to my ear in this most important frequency range). For use in my particular system, the Tenderfoot is a real winner and a keeper, for sure.
Duster, Bellingham, Washington

I received my Tenderfeet and put them under my subwoofer. Amazing! What was a good sub is now a great sub. Very tight, well defined bass. I can now enjoy much more bass without any distortion. I am ordering more for some of my other components!
Bjorn Borgenhard, Miami Beach, Florida

I learned about your stuff through an Audiogon discussion. Tenderfeet under my tube preamp have removed all the remaining glare in my system. Amazing, really. Thanks.
George Stergis, Culpeper, Virginia

The 1-inch tenderfeet I just received last week for my Plinius 9100 integrated have produced noticeable improvement in bass reproduction and the overall impact of the amp. (The 5/8-inch tenderfeet on my CD player have also been a positive addition to the tweeking process.) I was not initially expecting too much, but I quickly came to realize that you can hear a noticeable difference for both vinyl and CD playback. More open space between the notes, deeper tight bass, blacker backgrounds and the individual instruments and voices can be more clearly delineated. The sound stage has grown in height, width and even depth. A hearty thanks for the improvement!
Ted Wallover, Pennsylvania

I wanted to write you to thank you for the lightning-fast shipping, and to give you my first impressions of your Tenderfoot products. In summary, the Tenderfoot units actually work. I have no understanding of electrical engineering or physics, so despite a lay appreciation of the notion that microphonic vibrations can rob an audio system of efficiency, I don't know why they work. (I first encountered this idea during my many years as a musician. Though now years past, I remember this being critical for tube-based instrument amplifiers.) But after using the units all day yesterday, then an A/B/A (with/without/with) test this morning, with my modest solid state receiver, the effect of the 1" Tenderfoot units on the system was clearly pronounced and repeatable. (I uninstalled the stock feet and rested the chassis directly on the Tenderfoot units, dot downward.) The differences I perceived were improvements, as follows: + increased 3D spatial presence of instruments or sounds in the sound field + increased sonority and dynamics in the low- to upper-midrange + the sense that the audio overall is at once both more focused and more relaxed. Once upon a time, as a player, sound designer, synthesist and producer, I spent thousands of hours scrutinizing live and recorded music. The sounds originated from wind, string, and percussion instruments, both acoustic and electric, and from synthetic sources and signal processors. I don't know much, but I know sound and music; all kinds of music. With this background, I feel confident in saying that your Tenderfoot products are a silver bullet for home stereo systems. They let us reclaim our stereo's wasted potential, delivering significantly the audio quality we sought in the first place. I thank you for the excellence of your work, your fair pricing, and your attentive customer service.
K. Sims, Oakland, California ...

I put three Tenderfeet under the pre-amp power supply. One in back, and two in the front corners because the PS is heavier in front. The quality of the sound improved. I swapped the 'feet for three BDR #4's and the sound got worse, so back in went the T'feet. Next, I placed 4 feet under the Shanling CDP. Sound was definitely better. Smoother, cleaner, better bass and soundstaging. Just to make sure I was not imagining these things, I put three BDR's under the CDP. One #3 under the transport, and two #4's under the rear corners. Then 4 BDR's, one under each corner. The sound was worse no matter where the BDR's were. BTW the CD I'm using to test with is George Jones' "Cold Hard Truth" released in 1999. I'm mostly a classical and jazz listener, but George Jones knocks me out. Always has. I took the Aurios out from under the power supply and put three Tenderfeet in their place. BINGO! Much better. In fact, with the Aurios under the PS, Jone's voice was strangely imaging from the right speaker, when it should have been closer to the center stage. When I replaced the Aurios with the Tenderfeet, Mr. Jones was back in the center, where he belongs! (I'm not being political here)
Paul Sanders, Bainbridge Island, Washington

These isolation feet are the first I have that do not mute the high and simplify the low.
Chan Lok Hee, Hong Kong

Based on listening for the past 6 hours I can honestly say the feet make an enormous improvement to the sound of my system (easily equivalent to a serious component upgrade). I run Plinius equipment which is very good (except for the cheap hard plastic feet that seem to come on all components). The tenderfeet have finally made the sound sound like music! The manufacturer would do well to fit these as standard. I really appreciate your honest no-hype marketing and speedy service.
Bernard Hodgetts, Wellington, New Zealand

The footers are quite effective under my DAC. I did find that the best results in my case came from putting one footer into each of the rear corners and two down the middle, spaced apart. This produces an airy image that's also clean and firmly focused (none of the muffling effect of Vibrapods).
Paul Bubny, Maplewood, New Jersey

Very great products! Your isolation feet, damping instruments do have great effect. They improve my system's performance a lot. There appears more air, sound stage goes extended, the high and the low goes far. The sound goes to be more natural. Thanks for your great product with high value prize index. Thank you.
Zhou Zhou, Shanghai, China

Microdynamics and focus increased greatly. Excellent work, great product, and perfect service!
Dmitri Leouchkine, Limassol, Cyprus

You sent me the Tender foot to try to fix a significant shelf vibration issue I was having with my vintage amp. While the Tenderfoot reduced most of the vibration and greatly improved the sound, it didn't eliminate it. I now use the Tenderfoot under a CDP with outstanding results, improved clarity (without added digital brightness or harshness), deeper soundstage and much lower noise floor. (You then sent Iso-Cups which all but eliminated the vibration hum from the shelf.)
David Umphrey, Missoula, Montana

Your tube rings and tender foot worked very well. I compared with stillpoints and the tenderfoot are very good. The halo rings and tenderfoot together transformed the sound of my amplifier from top to bottom. Tighter bass, clearer midrange and more prominent tremble -- the usual change when you buy better hifi gear. This time I didnt have to fall on my knees in front of my bank man. Thanks a lot and good luck.
Christer Blomgren, Stockholm, Sweden

The Square Footings made a nice improvement to the sound of my system when placed under my Moon Eclipse CD Player's separate power supply.
Eric Allard-Pouliot, Ottawa, Canada

I've used a number of isolation components under my McIntosh MC30 tube amps: ceramic cones, brass cones, Polycrystal cones, isoblocks, even DIY rollerblocks. But not one of those has brought the improvements that the Tenderfeet have. I put three Tenderfeet under each amp. Immediately, I got more focus, more air, more boogie-factor, and more music. The blacks are blacker and there's more low-level musical detail coming out of my Klipsch Cornwalls. And the improvement in bass is remarkable. These tube amps now produce bass as tight, full, and tuneful as my McIntosh solid-state amp does, but with lovely liquid midrange. An unbeatable improvement at an unbeatable price.
Gene Hopstetter Jr, San Antonio, Texas

Your tenderfeet (tenderfoots?) are awesome! Speaking for those who appreciate good audio, and know the value of a tweak, but don't spend 1/2 their paychecks on it, yours are the best products I've found. I placed your tenderfeet under my cambridge audio cd player, and they brought new life and depth to Pink Floyd's "Animals" CD-- a standard issue, 15-year old disc. Bravo, Herbie!
Dutch

My system is isolated pretty well, so I don't hear a lot of change -- my twenty-year-old daughter hears more than I do. I set VTA using her ears. There was an improvement on all equipment: VAC PA90C1 amps -- small improvement -- general cleaning up, improved imaging, better decay, better tone. Dennesen JC80 preamp -- very little change. Daughter heard some of the above. Me, none. I was using Navcom Silencers here. Power supplies for preamp and Orbe turntable had the greatest improvement -- full open sound. Turntable -- noticable improvement. Overall -- I would put my whole system on your FOOTERS. The more I test the footers, the more impressed I am. Great improvement in tubed gear.
Gene Fachin, San Diego, California

The sound from the tenderfoot is unbelievable, I love it very much. Greater control, more refine, greater bass, and etc. Later on, I will continue to buy some more item from your company. Good job, keep on hard work.
Law Kar Wen, Georgetown, Malaysia

I finally installed the tender feet on Sunday and made all the changes you recommended to my system. Tender Feet impressions: --Nice improvement in imaging.
--Greater definition and clarity of each instrument.
--Big improvement in bass response/extension (I needed that one).
--Better feel of being in the music hall Had to adjust volume control settings for mids and tweeters, at speakers. But that's cool.
Dave Rocco, Pennsylvania

I recently received the footers, and whilst I have only had them a short time, I am more than pleased with the purchase, and indeed wish to purchase some more. I have placed them under the preamp and the two independent power supplies to it. These three components already sit on ball-type footers, so I placed yours under these which seems to have further drained vibrational energy from the components. They then sit on MDF platforms with further tenderfoots between the shelves and the rack.
Dr. Abie Kessell, Caulfield, Australia

All of the products I have purchased from you (tenderfeet, halo tube dampers) have been winners.
Dean Milite, Medford, Massachusetts

I can already tell you this: the Tenderfooters are absolutely the most phenomenal bargain in audio. They work as well as $300-a-set rollerblocks. I wouldn't say they work better, but they work every bit as good. They're just little squares, but they are way better than Vibrapods or anything like that.
Joseph Artuso, West Nyack, New York

Just wanted to send you my feedback on the Tenderfoot products I recently purchased from you. Immediately upon installing the footers on my power amp and CD megachanger, the noise floor dropped and additional detail was fleshed out of the recording. I didn't hear any difference when I installed the footers under my preamp but it could be the wood shelf that it's on is already damping the preamp to the full extent. Overall, the effect is that the Tenderfoot product brings is more life-like sound to each instrument and singer with an added plus to detail, imaging and lowering of the noise floor. Your footers remind me back in the day of eliminating acoustic feedback when we were spinning records on our turntables to obtain better sound. Your Tenderfoot product does the same for digital equipment, obtaining better sound by eliminating acoustict feedback.
Benjamin Yee, Fremont, California

Just wanted you to know that the tenderfeet placed under my cdp made a huge difference. Stage moved back some (which it needed). Instruments are better defined in space with a very natural timbre. The sound stage became bigger and much more holographic. I`m in a little bit of awe of those little buggers. :)
Richard Myers, Ohio

Just wanted you to know that the tenderfeet placed under my cdp made a huge difference. Stage moved back some (which it needed). Instruments are better defined in space with a very natural timbre. The sound stage became bigger and much more holographic. I`m in a little bit of awe of those little buggers. :)
Richard Myers, Ohio

Using your tenderfeet on both my turntable and my magus preamp has really brought the sound of my system to another level. Hats off to you and your work.
Joe Burros, Springfield, Massachussets

I just tried the Tenderfeet under my Sonic Frontier DAC SFD-2 MKII, and;it works beautifully!!! The first 10 minutes it sounded strange but the sound stage slowly getting bigger and bigger. That was the sound stage I am looking for. I just love it. I've had use BDR cones, Symposium roller blocks and other sharp cones and they did not WORK, most of the time the music have no bass or the bass was too tight and the sound stage Shank. Only the BDR work better, and now, your Tenderfeet work and better then any of the above.
Henry Tong, Ontario

I recieved the Tenderfeet today, and wow! what a difference. I'm kind of a skeptic, so I wasn't convinced that they'd help, but they did -- and then some. Excellent product -- thanks so much!
Alan McCartney, Canada

I recieved the Tenderfeet today, and wow! what a difference. I'm kind of a skeptic, so I wasn't convinced that they'd help, but they did -- and then some. Excellent product -- thanks so much!
Alan McCartney, Canada

The earlier batch of tenderfeet are sitting pretty underneath my amps, power supply and CD player. Everything tightens up and a veil is lifted from the mids and highs. Who would have thought, ya! Cheers and thanks for everything! My equipment: CD player: Naim CD5i Pre Amp: Naim NAC 32.5 Power Amp: NAP 250 Hi-Cap Speakers: EPOS ES14 NACA5 cable
Terence Stephen, Selangor, Malaysia

I was lead to your website by my friend Andrew who also lives in Sydney. We did a few comparisons of his Tenderfoots to my Symposium Rollerblock Jr HDSE. Both tweaks improved the sound but in blind testing we could not tell them apart!
Victor, Sydney, Australia