Seismion - new active isolation platform from Germany

XCop5089 · Oct 19, 2024

Reactio 2 is finally here in the UK!

Following my purchase of a Reactio Plus, back in June 2024, the wait has been agonising for the opportunity to try a second Seismion active platform in my system.

This morning, my UK dealer, Studio AV, delivered the Reactio 2, which soon replaced a Stillpoints Component Stand, underneath my D’Agostino Momentum S250 MxV power amp.

Initial reaction is that it is yet another leap forward in system performance!

Listening to familiar tracks, with two Seismion’s in situ (Reactio Plus supporting Aurender N20 server/streamer), I am struck by the vanishingly low noise floor, the music having a solidity and vibrancy, with taught, powerful bass notes underpinning a well-lit canvas of music detail, with enhanced soundstage and scale. I am enjoying my music at higher volume, with effortless delivery.

There’s obviously more to come- the Reactio 2 is factory fresh and operating with the supplied SMPS. The Reactio Plus is now powered by an Uptone Audio JS-2 LPSU, capable of 7.4 amps (12v).

Updates to follow, when I get more hours on the unit!

Seismion · Oct 30, 2024

jbrrp1 said:
I get that. My concern is that it might find a new "level" after a power interruption, and then you have to re-level your TT, because no automated process is actually perfect. This could happen without my knowing it, and then I just have to be diligent on checking TT level. Might play havoc with one's OCD side...

Hello,
let me just add a few more details:
- the levelling of the Reactio 2 means relative to the base it is placed on. That means if the rack is tilted, the top-plate of the Reactio 2 is simply parallel to it, and therefore also tilted. If the rack is perfectly horizontal, then the Reactio 2 will also be
- automatic levelling is performed every time the active control is turned on. Once it is on, the levelling will not be readjusted continuously. To do so, one would have to turn off and then on again. By this it is guaranteed that unintentional leveling is not disturbing the active isolation. Also, the distance sensors and motors are turned off during active isolation
- the automatic levelling is performed on all 4 corners independently. The repeatability precision of levelling is below +- 20 µm in each corner. Together with a size of 500x400 mm, this gives an ultra small margin for tilting errors

Marcus

Holmz · Oct 30, 2024

Seismion said:
…
- the automatic levelling is performed on all 4 corners independently. The repeatability precision of levelling is below +- 20 µm in each corner. Together with a size of 500x400 mm, this gives an ultra small margin for tilt

I suppose we could figure out whether the gravity gradient changes over a month, but I doubt it is constant in most locations on earth.

jbrrp1 said:
I get that. My concern is that it might find a new "level" after a power interruption, and then you have to re-level your TT, because no automated process is actually perfect. This could happen without my knowing it, and then I just have to be diligent on checking TT level. Might play havoc with one's OCD side...

So worst case would be 40x10-6 / 0.4m, so that angle is 1 milli radian, and in degrees is 0.057 degrees.

thomasx · Nov 3, 2024

jbrrp1 said:
I get that. My concern is that it might find a new "level" after a power interruption, and then you have to re-level your TT, because no automated process is actually perfect. This could happen without my knowing it, and then I just have to be diligent on checking TT level. Might play havoc with one's OCD side...

thomasx · Nov 3, 2024

Hello jbrrp1,
here you can see what happens when the power is shut off the seismion.
Left foto: power on with leveling, middle: power switched off, right foto: power on with leveling.
Look at the precision gauge, one mark means 0,1mm for 1m! So you don't have to be concernd in this case.

thomasx · Nov 3, 2024

I've got the Seismion Reactio 2 last week from my dealer for a try. After leveling the baseplate of the Taoc rack, i put the Seismion onto and then the Techdas AF3P above. Then switched the Seismion on and pressed the button shortly and the leveling procedure began. After a few seconds it was done. At last i leveled the turntable.
The sonic impression is remarkable. Not only the bass showes more datails, what i expected, the whole reprensentation is much more detailed with clearer images. Often when this happens the sound could get thin and annoying, i.e. like sometimes with spikes.
But not with this base. It keeps the weight and body of the instruments in an effortless manner. At the same time the whole music sounds more relaxed and it stays the same when i crank up the volume.

The gratest surprise for me was, when i listened later music over my Pacific 2 dac ( i left the Seismion powered )
i could hear the same positive effect like with the turntable, but clearly by a much smaller scale.
So when i switched off the base the effect was gone.
Next week i will get further Seismion Bases from my dealer and then i can see, if this effect happens contrary ( Seismion below the dac switched on and off meanwhile listen to the AF3P. Furthermore i will try the Bases below my Airtight monos. So then i can comment some more impressions.

thomasx · Nov 3, 2024

Sorry i did not want to post double.

jbrrp1 · Nov 3, 2024

thomasx said:
I've got the Seismion Reactio 2 last week from my dealer for a try. After leveling the baseplate of the Taoc rack, i put the Seismion onto and then the Techdas AF3P above. Then switched the Seismion on and pressed the button shortly and the leveling procedure began. After a few seconds it was done. At last i leveled the turntable.
The sonic impression is remarkable. Not only the bass showes more datails, what i expected, the whole reprensentation is much more detailed with clearer images. Often when this happens the sound could get thin and annoying, i.e. like sometimes with spikes.
But not with this base. It keeps the weight and body of the instruments in an effortless manner. At the same time the whole music sounds more relaxed and it stays the same when i crank up the volume.View attachment 139048 View attachment 139048
The gratest surprise for me was, when i listened later music over my Pacific 2 dac ( i left the Seismion powered )
i could hear the same positive effect like with the turntable, but clearly by a much smaller scale.
So when i switched off the base the effect was gone.
Next week i will get further Seismion Bases from my dealer and then i can see, if this effect happens contrary ( Seismion below the dac switched on and off meanwhile listen to the AF3P. Furthermore i will try the Bases below my Airtight monos. So then i can comment some more impressions.

Thanks for sharing your photos! I have my Esoteric T1 on top of a Seismion Reactio Plus, and I hear that clarity with heft that you're describing, no thinning, just more informative and developed in separation of musical lines. Your level gage results show it working well for self-leveling. I'll likely order a Reactio 2 to try in comparison on the SQ side, as I have a fine home for the Plus for some upcoming digital gear.

Seismion · Nov 4, 2024

Holmz said:
I suppose we could figure out whether the gravity gradient changes over a month, but I doubt it is constant in most locations on earth.

The new Reactio 2 includes additional displacement sensors in each corner, which means gravity gradient changes do not have any impact (one just has to initiate a new leveling). The Reactio 2 would also level correctly on the moon, so to say (although we have not tried yet

)

Seismion · Nov 4, 2024

thomasx said:
I've got the Seismion Reactio 2 last week from my dealer for a try. After leveling the baseplate of the Taoc rack, i put the Seismion onto and then the Techdas AF3P above. Then switched the Seismion on and pressed the button shortly and the leveling procedure began. After a few seconds it was done. At last i leveled the turntable.
The sonic impression is remarkable. Not only the bass showes more datails, what i expected, the whole reprensentation is much more detailed with clearer images. Often when this happens the sound could get thin and annoying, i.e. like sometimes with spikes.
But not with this base. It keeps the weight and body of the instruments in an effortless manner. At the same time the whole music sounds more relaxed and it stays the same when i crank up the volume.View attachment 139048 View attachment 139048
The gratest surprise for me was, when i listened later music over my Pacific 2 dac ( i left the Seismion powered )
i could hear the same positive effect like with the turntable, but clearly by a much smaller scale.
So when i switched off the base the effect was gone.
Next week i will get further Seismion Bases from my dealer and then i can see, if this effect happens contrary ( Seismion below the dac switched on and off meanwhile listen to the AF3P. Furthermore i will try the Bases below my Airtight monos. So then i can comment some more impressions.

This is a very interesting observation! In fact this can be explained, since the active isolator is a kind of "energy sink".Due to its dissipative behaviour, it takes out vibration energy from the structure (both the equipment on top and the base).

But given this observation, I think you can be pretty sure that another Reactio 2 underneath your DAC will also be very beneficial!

greenfish · Nov 5, 2024

thomasx said:
I've got the Seismion Reactio 2 last week from my dealer for a try. After leveling the baseplate of the Taoc rack, i put the Seismion onto and then the Techdas AF3P above. Then switched the Seismion on and pressed the button shortly and the leveling procedure began. After a few seconds it was done. At last i leveled the turntable.
The sonic impression is remarkable. Not only the bass showes more datails, what i expected, the whole reprensentation is much more detailed with clearer images. Often when this happens the sound could get thin and annoying, i.e. like sometimes with spikes.
But not with this base. It keeps the weight and body of the instruments in an effortless manner. At the same time the whole music sounds more relaxed and it stays the same when i crank up the volume.View attachment 139048 View attachment 139048
The gratest surprise for me was, when i listened later music over my Pacific 2 dac ( i left the Seismion powered )
i could hear the same positive effect like with the turntable, but clearly by a much smaller scale.
So when i switched off the base the effect was gone.
Next week i will get further Seismion Bases from my dealer and then i can see, if this effect happens contrary ( Seismion below the dac switched on and off meanwhile listen to the AF3P. Furthermore i will try the Bases below my Airtight monos. So then i can comment some more impressions.

Hello Thomas, I am looking for a device that control a volume control for long time. Do you might share where I can buy one ?

thomasx · Nov 5, 2024

Hello greenfish
I made it by myself. I bought only the electronic and the motor.

Kvali1 · Nov 7, 2024

Mike Lavigne said:
another alternative is 'unweighting' any heavy cables. especially heavy phono, power, speaker, or interconnect cables. those cables hanging off the side of active devices 'dampen' and 'reduce' the performance as they pull down the top plate (reducing the 'action'). agree that cables that are light and loose add to resonance too so the taping can be effective. those are two separate issues to solve.

this definitely improved audible performance for me with the Tana/Herzan devices. assume the Seismion would react similarly.

View attachment 136608
View attachment 136609

Hi, I really like this set up, any chance you have

Mike Lavigne said:
another alternative is 'unweighting' any heavy cables. especially heavy phono, power, speaker, or interconnect cables. those cables hanging off the side of active devices 'dampen' and 'reduce' the performance as they pull down the top plate (reducing the 'action'). agree that cables that are light and loose add to resonance too so the taping can be effective. those are two separate issues to solve.

this definitely improved audible performance for me with the Tana/Herzan devices. assume the Seismion would react similarly.

View attachment 136608
View attachment 136609

i love this , any chance you have more pics ? I’m looking to do something similar but unfortunately my space is limited , looking at all ideas!

Seismion · Thursday at 11:45 AM

We have made a video, which demonstrates the automatic levelling precision of the Reactio 2. This is the repeatability of the position relative to ground.

Kvali1 · Thursday at 11:50 AM

Seismion said:
We have made a video, which demonstrates the automatic levelling precision of the Reactio 2. This is the repeatability of the position relative to ground.

This is amazing! Ok so you set it once and then it’s locked in? Because continuously if it tried to level it would create issues with a turntable on top of it ..?

XCop5089 · Thursday at 12:09 PM

Since purchasing my second Seismion active isolation platform (a Seismion 2, which I initially installed under my power amp), I had a bit of a shift around yesterday, moving the Seismion 2 to the top of one of my Stillpoints ESS equipment racks, to support the lighter weight of my Aurender N20 streamer/server.

I moved my Reaction Plus platform to top off a Stillpoints Component Stand, and placed a Taiko Audio Daiza (panzerholz) platform (on its three hard footers) on top of the Reactio Plus, to support my power amp.

At the same time, I removed from both tiered layers, a couple of cheap, but effective IKEA Aptiglig bamboo chopping boards.

Taking into account “expectation bias” but having spent the day, listening to music, with the system settled in, I am sure that everything sounds better than before - More open and transparent, with a vanishing low system noise floor, which really allows low-level detail to come through. Bass is incredibly palpable and seems more rhythmic!

I wholeheartedly endorse Seismion as a “game changer” in system resolution terms and am currently resisting the urge to ask my UK dealer to audition a third platform underneath my turntable.

Opabin · Thursday at 12:48 PM

XCop5089 said:
I wholeheartedly endorse Seismion as a “game changer” in system resolution terms and am currently resisting the urge to ask my UK dealer to audition a third platform underneath my turntable.

The futility of resistance will be put to the test!

Seismion · Friday at 9:11 AM

Kvali1 said:
This is amazing! Ok so you set it once and then it’s locked in? Because continuously if it tried to level it would create issues with a turntable on top of it ..?

Yes, that is exactly the way it is working: the levelling procedure is performed each time that the active isolation is turned on. Of course, if the device on top has not been changed, then it only performs micro-adjustments (if any, at all). Once it is finished, these motors are shut down, so that they do not interfere with the active isolation, or create any noise.
On the video you see that the control button is pressed two times: first time is to deactivate active isolation, and the second time to activate it again (and perform the levelling).

Kvali1 · Friday at 9:35 AM

Seismion said:
Yes, that is exactly the way it is working: the levelling procedure is performed each time that the active isolation is turned on. Of course, if the device on top has not been changed, then it only performs micro-adjustments (if any, at all). Once it is finished, these motors are shut down, so that they do not interfere with the active isolation, or create any noise.
On the video you see that the control button is pressed two times: first time is to deactivate active isolation, and the second time to activate it again (and perform the levelling).

Awesome , thank you, now I just need one 600mm x 500mm for my turntable

Seismion · Friday at 10:04 AM

Kvali1 said:
Awesome , thank you, now I just need one 600mm x 500mm for my turntable

We will bring out the 600x500 mm version of the new Reactio 2 probably in 10 days from now

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