As some of you have read in Steve's thread, Joe Lavrencik at Critical Mass Systems has developed footers for speakers leveraging the CS2 footer technology. I received a set of the LS 1.5 footers back in late October and mounted them under my Von Schweikert Ultra 55 speakers. I will present my experience and evaluation of these footers below.
First in full disclosure, I am a Von Schweikert Audio and Critical Mass Systems dealer - that said, I am an engineer by trade and try to keep an unbiased perspective on equipment I evaluate.
As a reference point, I was using IsoAcoustics Gaia I feet under my Ultra 55 speakers when I transitioned over to the LS 1.5 footers. The Gaia feet are subsequently my reference for this evaluation of the LS 1.5 footers. Also, I am using 4 footers under each speaker as recommended by Joe.
Also note that the Ultra 55 speakers include an active plate amp for the woofers - I was curious to see how these footers affect an active speaker design as Steve's Wlisons are not active. I was also a bit skeptical going in whether the cost of these footers under a ~$100k pair of speakers was justified given the outstanding level of performance already achieve by these speakers (as can be seen in John Atkinson's measurements from Michael Fremer's review of the Ultra 55 speaker - Stereophile Ultra 55 review.
As Steve has noted, the footers are large and hefty - they have significantly more mass than the other CS2 1.5 footers and a lot more than the existing Gaia I footers. The adjustability is well implemented making it easy to dial these into level. I did not use the adapters and simply placed the footers under each corner of the speaker, ensuring they were fully inside the bottom boundary of the speaker. My speakers are sitting with the back half on hardwood floor whereas the front half are on a Persian rug as you can see in the photo below:
I won't go through a day by day breakdown other than to note some key highlights that stood out to me.
Day 1 after 40 minutes of warmup: bass has lost definition and weight, vocals sound ok but upper bass/lower midrange are a bit congested and lacking clarity. Overall the spatial presentation is more enveloping and 3-dimensional, however the imaging is smeared making localization of instruments more vague and hard to localize.
Day 3: So far I've accumulated a total of 7 hours of playback. The sound is getting more integrated - clarity & decay in instruments is more apparent. Presentation is a bit forward & aggressive - "in your face" so to speak. Soundstage continues to open up and is very immersive. Also, most notable is noise floor of the system has dropped noticeably resulting in more air and a deeper background around instruments.
Day 4: 10 hours of playback. Bass is tightening up a bit and has more weight but still not back to normal. Good realism in vocals - very lifelike and "you are there" sound. The "in your face" presentation has largely improved to a more balanced presentation.
Day 6: 18 hours of playback. Bass is back in spades - deep and better articulation though it still has room to improve. Noise floor has dropped dramatically - I think this is more of a distortion floor as I believe it's related to removing the distortions induced by cabinet vibrations. The effect is profound resulting in the instruments playing out of a deep, inky black background. I thought my system noise floor was pretty low before (all of my electronics are sitting on a MAXXUM rack system with CS2 footers under all of it) but these footers have essentially dropped the noise floor to a level that is imperceptible.
Day 7: 21 accumulated hours of playback. Soundstage is very wide and enveloping. Each instrument stands out in stark clarity and is very well defined spatially speaking (in a natural way - not enhanced in any way). Leading edge attack and decay are the best I've heard from my system contributing to a clear and apparent sense of the recording space. Brass sounds great and has a high degree of realism.
At this point, I had a call with Joe about the vocals and he indicated others had a similar experience around this time related to dynamic compression in the vocal range. In my system this sounded a bit like vocals were emanating from a small, closed-in space. This persisted for 3-4 more days in varying degrees but eventually subsided.
After day 14 or so, the system was still improving though in more subtle, refined ways. Joe mentioned that some systems could take up to 3 weeks to fully converge so I kept playing and listening. Now after 21 days, I have to say these footers are a remarkable achievement in vibration management for speakers. The sound from my system has reached a level of refinement that I did not think was possible. I attribute this to several factors:
Distortion/noise floor is pretty much gone. Perhaps some other change in my system might lower the floor even further but the noise floor is so low now that I don't think any further improvement would be noticeable. This aspect alone of the footers would justify the cost imo - the result is that instruments appear out of a deep, inky, blackness with amazing imaging and clarity. FYI - all of my listening was done with my analog front end with the VdH Gran Cru cart.
Enveloping and immersive soundstage: Steve has covered this pretty well in his review. I'm not sure I'm experiencing this to the same level as Steve is, but I would have to hear his system in order to form a judgment. For me, this is definitely a significant improvement from the footers but is balanced with the other improvements listed here imo. In particular, the height of instruments in the soundstage is well defined as is the depth dimension.
Heightened sense of realism due to the above but also due to the improved clarity and attack/decay of instruments. The recording space is clearly evident and live recordings in particular give a very open rendition of the space (whether it's a large venue or a smaller jazz club). Also vocals are now rendered with such realism that it's sometimes shocking - as in your brain struggles with registering what sounds like a live voice with the fact that there is no other person in the room. The Ultra 55 mid-range driver and MB Ultra cabling achieves exceptional vocal renditions on their own so this is really a refinement of what this speaker is already capable of, but it is nonetheless impressive. In addition, layering & overdubbing of vocals and instruments is easily discriminated - every instrument is resolvable sonically and spatially.
Very natural overall presentation - I'm inclined to say that these footers bring out a very sweet, smooth sound but worry that this may be taken to mean that they are somehow euphonic or coloring the sound in some way. My observation is that these footers do not add anything to or color the sound in any way but rather they allow the full potential of your speakers to come through by removing vibration induced distortions and colorations. IME, they will not change the fundamental character of your speakers but they will draw out every bit of latent performance that stock or other aftermarket footers are leaving on the table.
Bass performance is also improved with tight articulation and low frequency extension. In this latter point, I don't think the footers are extending the low frequency response of the speakers per se, but rather they are allowing more well defined articulation of the low frequencies such that this range becomes more apparent to the listener. When listening to a standing bass for example, the plucking of the strings is very evident as is the harmonic resonance of the body of the bass.
For the TL : DR summary:
The sum result of installing the LS 1.5 footers under my Ultra 55 speakers is an enveloping, natural & realistic musical presentation that is emotionally and sonically immersive in a way I've not previously experienced. The improvement in the noise floor alone is something you have to experience to understand (at least in my system). These footers allow a deep emotional connection and realism to the music and a level of enjoyment that that for me, more than justifies their cost. Again, I don't think these footers will fundamentally change the character of your speakers, rather they will allow them to perform at their highest level of refinement by removing sonic artifacts and distortions introduced by cabinet vibrations.
I'm sure I've left out some observations but needless to say, I feel that these footers are now an essential element of my playback chain and I would not want to be without them. At the risk of sounding overly effusive and hyperbolic, I think Joe has designed a unique vibration management solution for speakers, unlike anything else I've tried in my system. These footers should be under serious consideration for anyone that wants to elevate the performance of their speakers to their ultimate potential while retaining their essential character and presentation.
Lastly, I should note that you should let these footers settle in for a full 21 days to realize the full benefit.
First in full disclosure, I am a Von Schweikert Audio and Critical Mass Systems dealer - that said, I am an engineer by trade and try to keep an unbiased perspective on equipment I evaluate.
As a reference point, I was using IsoAcoustics Gaia I feet under my Ultra 55 speakers when I transitioned over to the LS 1.5 footers. The Gaia feet are subsequently my reference for this evaluation of the LS 1.5 footers. Also, I am using 4 footers under each speaker as recommended by Joe.
Also note that the Ultra 55 speakers include an active plate amp for the woofers - I was curious to see how these footers affect an active speaker design as Steve's Wlisons are not active. I was also a bit skeptical going in whether the cost of these footers under a ~$100k pair of speakers was justified given the outstanding level of performance already achieve by these speakers (as can be seen in John Atkinson's measurements from Michael Fremer's review of the Ultra 55 speaker - Stereophile Ultra 55 review.
As Steve has noted, the footers are large and hefty - they have significantly more mass than the other CS2 1.5 footers and a lot more than the existing Gaia I footers. The adjustability is well implemented making it easy to dial these into level. I did not use the adapters and simply placed the footers under each corner of the speaker, ensuring they were fully inside the bottom boundary of the speaker. My speakers are sitting with the back half on hardwood floor whereas the front half are on a Persian rug as you can see in the photo below:
I won't go through a day by day breakdown other than to note some key highlights that stood out to me.
Day 1 after 40 minutes of warmup: bass has lost definition and weight, vocals sound ok but upper bass/lower midrange are a bit congested and lacking clarity. Overall the spatial presentation is more enveloping and 3-dimensional, however the imaging is smeared making localization of instruments more vague and hard to localize.
Day 3: So far I've accumulated a total of 7 hours of playback. The sound is getting more integrated - clarity & decay in instruments is more apparent. Presentation is a bit forward & aggressive - "in your face" so to speak. Soundstage continues to open up and is very immersive. Also, most notable is noise floor of the system has dropped noticeably resulting in more air and a deeper background around instruments.
Day 4: 10 hours of playback. Bass is tightening up a bit and has more weight but still not back to normal. Good realism in vocals - very lifelike and "you are there" sound. The "in your face" presentation has largely improved to a more balanced presentation.
Day 6: 18 hours of playback. Bass is back in spades - deep and better articulation though it still has room to improve. Noise floor has dropped dramatically - I think this is more of a distortion floor as I believe it's related to removing the distortions induced by cabinet vibrations. The effect is profound resulting in the instruments playing out of a deep, inky black background. I thought my system noise floor was pretty low before (all of my electronics are sitting on a MAXXUM rack system with CS2 footers under all of it) but these footers have essentially dropped the noise floor to a level that is imperceptible.
Day 7: 21 accumulated hours of playback. Soundstage is very wide and enveloping. Each instrument stands out in stark clarity and is very well defined spatially speaking (in a natural way - not enhanced in any way). Leading edge attack and decay are the best I've heard from my system contributing to a clear and apparent sense of the recording space. Brass sounds great and has a high degree of realism.
At this point, I had a call with Joe about the vocals and he indicated others had a similar experience around this time related to dynamic compression in the vocal range. In my system this sounded a bit like vocals were emanating from a small, closed-in space. This persisted for 3-4 more days in varying degrees but eventually subsided.
After day 14 or so, the system was still improving though in more subtle, refined ways. Joe mentioned that some systems could take up to 3 weeks to fully converge so I kept playing and listening. Now after 21 days, I have to say these footers are a remarkable achievement in vibration management for speakers. The sound from my system has reached a level of refinement that I did not think was possible. I attribute this to several factors:
Distortion/noise floor is pretty much gone. Perhaps some other change in my system might lower the floor even further but the noise floor is so low now that I don't think any further improvement would be noticeable. This aspect alone of the footers would justify the cost imo - the result is that instruments appear out of a deep, inky, blackness with amazing imaging and clarity. FYI - all of my listening was done with my analog front end with the VdH Gran Cru cart.
Enveloping and immersive soundstage: Steve has covered this pretty well in his review. I'm not sure I'm experiencing this to the same level as Steve is, but I would have to hear his system in order to form a judgment. For me, this is definitely a significant improvement from the footers but is balanced with the other improvements listed here imo. In particular, the height of instruments in the soundstage is well defined as is the depth dimension.
Heightened sense of realism due to the above but also due to the improved clarity and attack/decay of instruments. The recording space is clearly evident and live recordings in particular give a very open rendition of the space (whether it's a large venue or a smaller jazz club). Also vocals are now rendered with such realism that it's sometimes shocking - as in your brain struggles with registering what sounds like a live voice with the fact that there is no other person in the room. The Ultra 55 mid-range driver and MB Ultra cabling achieves exceptional vocal renditions on their own so this is really a refinement of what this speaker is already capable of, but it is nonetheless impressive. In addition, layering & overdubbing of vocals and instruments is easily discriminated - every instrument is resolvable sonically and spatially.
Very natural overall presentation - I'm inclined to say that these footers bring out a very sweet, smooth sound but worry that this may be taken to mean that they are somehow euphonic or coloring the sound in some way. My observation is that these footers do not add anything to or color the sound in any way but rather they allow the full potential of your speakers to come through by removing vibration induced distortions and colorations. IME, they will not change the fundamental character of your speakers but they will draw out every bit of latent performance that stock or other aftermarket footers are leaving on the table.
Bass performance is also improved with tight articulation and low frequency extension. In this latter point, I don't think the footers are extending the low frequency response of the speakers per se, but rather they are allowing more well defined articulation of the low frequencies such that this range becomes more apparent to the listener. When listening to a standing bass for example, the plucking of the strings is very evident as is the harmonic resonance of the body of the bass.
For the TL : DR summary:
The sum result of installing the LS 1.5 footers under my Ultra 55 speakers is an enveloping, natural & realistic musical presentation that is emotionally and sonically immersive in a way I've not previously experienced. The improvement in the noise floor alone is something you have to experience to understand (at least in my system). These footers allow a deep emotional connection and realism to the music and a level of enjoyment that that for me, more than justifies their cost. Again, I don't think these footers will fundamentally change the character of your speakers, rather they will allow them to perform at their highest level of refinement by removing sonic artifacts and distortions introduced by cabinet vibrations.
I'm sure I've left out some observations but needless to say, I feel that these footers are now an essential element of my playback chain and I would not want to be without them. At the risk of sounding overly effusive and hyperbolic, I think Joe has designed a unique vibration management solution for speakers, unlike anything else I've tried in my system. These footers should be under serious consideration for anyone that wants to elevate the performance of their speakers to their ultimate potential while retaining their essential character and presentation.
Lastly, I should note that you should let these footers settle in for a full 21 days to realize the full benefit.