Hi Christian, check out the site http://www.dalbyaudiodesign.co.uk/products/d7-vinyl-stabiliser.html
This LP Stabiliser looks very interesting.
Anyone compare Stillpoints to Shun Mook Footers? Metal vs. Wood....
- Thread starter caesar
- Start date
Hi Christian, check out the site http://www.dalbyaudiodesign.co.uk/products/d7-vinyl-stabiliser.html
This LP Stabiliser looks very interesting.
I have been using various Shun Mook items for many years now. Still love them. The Shun Mook quartet and sextet are important tools as well to get the sound from my systems that I like. Ebony wood has a profound effect on sound as I learned when my son changed his - modern - (Yamaha) clarinet for an - old - Selmer clarinet made from ebony wood quite some time ago. The tonality if the Selmer is so beautiful compared to his previous clarinet. No contest at all.
I haven't tried the Giant Resonators but I'm looking to, compare to my Still Points firstly under my pre.
I have had my SM LP clamp for some time now and was absolutely shocked when used on any of my previous tables, I found when using it my system was more musical with better detail and sound stage etc.
I got my TechDas Air Force One table "same as what Christian has" last year, I was advised not to use any LP devise due to the tables design so my SM just sat in it's wooden box unused.
I was moving some items around and saw my SM box just sitting there, said to my self what the heck lets try it - can't hurt anything. Well all I can say is I'm VERY HAPPY I did and I'm getting the same results as before
Well I prefer mine with a clamp ie still point . If I m not mistaken Nishikawa is building a clamp or already built the clamp for AFO. Correct me if I m wrong
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Thanks for sharing your experience, especially since you tried three of the top clamps available. I guess it just shows once again that so many things in high end audio still come down to personal preferences and individual system differences. Since the AFO is apparently designed along with their clamp I would have expected it to be better than when none is used. Some tables like those from Linn, Rega, and Nottingham are designed and recommended to be used without a clamp, while others are engineered with a clamp as part of their design.
It certainly comes down to personal preferences and system matching: IME, both the Shum Mook and the TechDAS clamp result in a warmer, slightly less dynamic, sound that will suit some systems (or recordings) better than other.
BTW, I do not believe the AFO was designed along with the TD clamp, as the clamp was introduced almost two years after the AFO.
I have had a fair bit of experience with both Stillpoints and Shun Mook in many different hotel rooms rooms and with various equipment.
Being a dealer for both products I have used them both in customers homes and at shows for the last few years.
I have also had the luxury of making the UHA decks that are super transparent to any change whatsoever.
If I were to secretly put a penny on top of a United Home Audio deck and asked you what I put on it you would say, copper.
I have shown at audio shows with both Bruce Jacobs of Stillpoints and with Bill Ying of Shun Mook both excellent gentlemen and both produce products that will offer excellent results.
At The New York Audio Show 2013 with all MBL gear and the the UHA deck all fitted with Stillpoint Ultra 5's on a Stillpoint rack, Ariel Bitran of Stereophile wrote, "The demo began with Hugh Masekela’s “Stimela” in stereo. I’ve never heard drums with such startling impact and realism.".
My thoughts = I kinda think that sums up what the Stillpoints can do, immediate, fast, transparent and dynamic as hell.
At The Show Newport David Robinson wrote of the MBL / UHA room with all Shun Mook treatments, " The results were amazing! The 101 Xtremes came to life, and really lit up the room with full, round, holographic music that nailed me to my seat. The sheer scale of the audio presentation was epic; only the very finest (and largest) systems in the world are in the same range as the 101 Xtremes. And none of these are omnidirectional in their projection, which make the Xtremes unique in my experience. It was amazing… stunning… to hear open reel tapes on the MBL/UHA combination.
My thoughts= The Shun Mook has a natural and holographic 3D effect on the room. This seems to go beyond resonance control and the ebony wood is actually impacting the sound in the room. Bill tunes each piece of wood and it does seem to make a difference. I have also bought the best densest ebony / Mpingo wood available (beautiful stuff very expensive) and had a woodworker turn it into a 2" thick 20" x 24" Mpingo platform. I put my preamp on it and It sucked... I mean it actually sucked the sound out of the room! It is in my garage now collecting dust.
I think it all boils down to the sound you like and also that these products are kinda on opposite ends of the spectrum.
I like them both that's why I sell both.
I will add that Shun Mook also makes a $2000 RCA interconnect that I actually prefer over any RCA cable I have heard so far. It even bested cables up to $18,000, that I will leave nameless.
Being a dealer for both products I have used them both in customers homes and at shows for the last few years.
I have also had the luxury of making the UHA decks that are super transparent to any change whatsoever.
If I were to secretly put a penny on top of a United Home Audio deck and asked you what I put on it you would say, copper.
I have shown at audio shows with both Bruce Jacobs of Stillpoints and with Bill Ying of Shun Mook both excellent gentlemen and both produce products that will offer excellent results.
At The New York Audio Show 2013 with all MBL gear and the the UHA deck all fitted with Stillpoint Ultra 5's on a Stillpoint rack, Ariel Bitran of Stereophile wrote, "The demo began with Hugh Masekela’s “Stimela” in stereo. I’ve never heard drums with such startling impact and realism.".
My thoughts = I kinda think that sums up what the Stillpoints can do, immediate, fast, transparent and dynamic as hell.
At The Show Newport David Robinson wrote of the MBL / UHA room with all Shun Mook treatments, " The results were amazing! The 101 Xtremes came to life, and really lit up the room with full, round, holographic music that nailed me to my seat. The sheer scale of the audio presentation was epic; only the very finest (and largest) systems in the world are in the same range as the 101 Xtremes. And none of these are omnidirectional in their projection, which make the Xtremes unique in my experience. It was amazing… stunning… to hear open reel tapes on the MBL/UHA combination.
My thoughts= The Shun Mook has a natural and holographic 3D effect on the room. This seems to go beyond resonance control and the ebony wood is actually impacting the sound in the room. Bill tunes each piece of wood and it does seem to make a difference. I have also bought the best densest ebony / Mpingo wood available (beautiful stuff very expensive) and had a woodworker turn it into a 2" thick 20" x 24" Mpingo platform. I put my preamp on it and It sucked... I mean it actually sucked the sound out of the room! It is in my garage now collecting dust.
I think it all boils down to the sound you like and also that these products are kinda on opposite ends of the spectrum.
I like them both that's why I sell both.
I will add that Shun Mook also makes a $2000 RCA interconnect that I actually prefer over any RCA cable I have heard so far. It even bested cables up to $18,000, that I will leave nameless.
Audiocrack : Knowing how much you value tonal and emotional connect as part of the listening experience , your recommendation will be indeed followed up . Will start with the footers first . You reckon the sextet stands and mpingo discs work in small spaces , and how does one implement/fine tune them ? Thanks
I think it's not only tonal, but separation, 3d, bass cleaning, cleaning out muddiness, and ease of flow, is all high. The vocals stand out in opera, decay stands out in classical, and bass stands out in ACDC.
I don't think size of room matters for sextets etc, as long as you have space to keep them. I have demoed them at the distributor's place. Too low on WAF though.
The other thing I bought, but haven't tried yet, is their Ebony board. He only made a 100 or so of them, because of the rare ebony. So I have it on my rack. If you have the budget, you might want to look at his custom made rack, which will be made from Ebony. That should be the aweeesome. But no way am I going there, too expensive now, when my components are decided, yes.
When you buy Shun Mook items they come with very well written instructions. Eg the sextet requires one set of wooden stands with 2x3 mpingo discs at each side of the room behind the speakers, one set of wooden stands with 2x3 Mpingo discs at each side of the room just in front of the speakers and one set of wooden stands with 2x3 mpingo discs at each side of the room at your listening position. Lastly, 2 mpgingo discs have to be positioned at the back wall of your room at a certain height. The instructions are clear and experimenting with positioning clearly makes a difference: just use your ears for final placement.
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Hi Jazzhead, just wondering (although admittedly somewhat late) how your experiments with Shun Mook turned out: can you inform us about your findings?
Hi AC , never got down to it , doesn't look to be on the cards ... Busy enjoying the sublime Trinity duo ... Wunderbar !!!
Also curious if anyone has tried the Star Sound platforms?
http://www.starsoundaudio.com/index.php
My observations are that damping can be overdone, softer materials tend to sound bad and have uneven dissipation of vibration relative to frequency. The devices that get the best reviews seem to manage vibration in certain ways, like a musical instrument, and aren't just simple dampers.
http://www.starsoundaudio.com/index.php
My observations are that damping can be overdone, softer materials tend to sound bad and have uneven dissipation of vibration relative to frequency. The devices that get the best reviews seem to manage vibration in certain ways, like a musical instrument, and aren't just simple dampers.
Some of you may not like this, but I get great results from using two Stillpoints Ultra SS and one Ebony footer. Shun Mook is my favorite, the other Ebony footers look very similar, but have a small stainless steel cone instead of the steel shaft with diamond tip.
The cone cup material makes a difference, and I prefer brass or the well made Isoclean, which are stainless and contact in a circle to the platform. Speaking of platforms, they make quite a difference and you will have to experiment with what is available (probably 30 different types out there for audio). So don't think the footer is the only factor you are dealing with. The component itself is a factor. Some are damped, some "tuned" and some just plain junk boxes. Weights on top are a factor, and here we go again: how much weight, what material, where to place them, etc.
Another good, natural sounding footer is the Aktyna. I won't go further about those, because this is a Stillpoints-Shun Mook topic. I will say Stillpoints Ultra and above, produce a clarity that other footers barely approach. But they don't have much tuning ability. That's why I throw in another specialty footer (not cones).
The Stillpoints have a threaded hole for attachment to an optional base. There we go again...
I hope this helps and I don't mean to complicate things. FTI: I bought my first Diamond Resonators around 1997, and I still use them on certain equipment. The Ultras are great on my tubed preamp and tubed DAC.
I had 5 sets of Stillpoints--I sold them all and my system regained its flow with the Mooks-- sorry
I realise Stillpoints have their strong points(sic) and work well in some folks systems--just I felt always there was something missing regards to my presentation with the points installed.
But hey !--I have friends with a dozen or more of SP's in all sizes in their setups--and they sound pretty damn good--so
Horse for courses
!BruceD
Although, I would not use words as "killed", I have found the Dalby record weight/clamp more effective in my playback compared to the Shun. Greater density, a bit more delineation, and wonderful soundstage. I have one set of Dalby footers under the preamp, which compared to the SM and Stillpoints, offers similar results to the clamp. Too bad these things are so pricey...else I would try more
Any
more experience there comparing top footers shun mook ultra diamond resonators versus stillpoints ultra 6 versus hifistay hardpoint trinia?
I've owned both a full set of Stillpoints and Shun Mook devices. Shun Mooks remain after a decade one of few things your will have to pry from my cold dead hands when I die. They consistently make audio sound more like life, especially digital. Hard to explain, but it opens the midrange up, things sound more organic and bass sounds more 'acoustic'. I'm currently trying a new dac and it comes with some fairly fancy feet, but it sounds dead to me until I put a set of Diamond Resonators under it. I currently have the resonators under my Dac and Amp. I wish I had more! I've also heard the turntable weight, and that was incredibly addictive too.
