Hello, Joe Lavrencik here, Critical Mass Systems. I wanted to thank Mike and Steve for allowing me to post on Audio Sharks and What’s Best Forum about a new product I developed. (Please excuse the photo inserts. Didn't know how to make them smaller)
Those of you who have read about or tried Center Stage2 will have a leg up on new readers because you’ll likely see many references to Center Stage2 in this thread. The news is that Critical Mass Systems has a new series of loudspeaker feet we’re introducing. Rather than initially sending the feet to a handful of reviewers, I decided to engage what I consider to be an objective group of beta-testers who would feel open about sharing what they experienced with the feet under the loudspeakers in their systems.
I asked Steve Williams to test the Center Stage2 LS 1.5 under his Wilson Alexandria X2 loudspeakers because they were heavy, big, ported, ultra-sensitive to change and made from a phenol-based cabinet material. The complexity of the driver array is mind boggling with respect to footer design making this loudspeaker perfect for a performance test. A total of 4 feet went under each of his speakers. Steve is hyper-sensitive to changes in his system and he, like the other beta testers, would never say anything good about something that did not advance the sound of his system. True, Steve sells CS2 feet, but adding unproven loudspeaker feet to a system as finely tuned as his was definitely a real test of performance and value.
I asked Mike Bovaird of Suncoast Audio to test the new feet because he had access to the Magico M Series loudspeakers. He tested the feet on the M2. This was important to me because the M Series are excellent products. The M2 is an aluminum-based offering and relatively small compared to some of the others in the test set. Also, Magico offers its own foot, the MPod, which is very well-known. I’ve had the pleasure of working with many Magico loudspeakers over the years and they are excellent. I have the very highest respect for Alon Wolf, Yair Tammam and Peter MacKay.
I thought it important to go head-to-head with the best performing foot I could find to see how our top-of-the-line loudspeaker foot, the Center Stage2 LS 1.5 stacked up. Those of you who know Mike, know he’s a no-bullshit guy who tells it like it is. This is important to everyone and especially me. The worst thing a designer can have in beta-testers are people who say something is good when it isn’t. Mike doesn’t mess around.
Along those same lines, I enlisted Damon Von Schweikert and Leif Swanson of Von Schweikert Audio to test the Center Stage2 LS 1.5 in their production facility on their VR-55. This loudspeaker has been around for a long time with well-known performance characteristics. It has a larger volume cabinet than the Magico M2 and is made from different materials. The VR-55 has a ported wood-based cabinet whereas the M2 is a sealed metal-based cabinet. Also, the VR-55 has a different weight and afforded the opportunity to test 4 feet directly under the component versus the 3 feet used with Magico’s more “disconnected” tripod base.
I have worked with VSA in many shows around the USA and they make a great product. Our working relationship made the evaluation process easy to arrange, but that’s where friendship stopped. Business is business. There is no way a well-known loudspeaker manufacturer like VSA would say anything good about a product that diminished the engineering of their own product in their own test room.
The beta-testers were carefully chosen because of their status as brutally frank people in this industry and because the loudspeakers they had available ran the gamut of materials and configurations generally found in the industry.
You’ll find this thread separately on What’s Best Forum and Audio Sharks. Having said this, the white paper is attached too.…….
Those of you who have read about or tried Center Stage2 will have a leg up on new readers because you’ll likely see many references to Center Stage2 in this thread. The news is that Critical Mass Systems has a new series of loudspeaker feet we’re introducing. Rather than initially sending the feet to a handful of reviewers, I decided to engage what I consider to be an objective group of beta-testers who would feel open about sharing what they experienced with the feet under the loudspeakers in their systems.
I asked Steve Williams to test the Center Stage2 LS 1.5 under his Wilson Alexandria X2 loudspeakers because they were heavy, big, ported, ultra-sensitive to change and made from a phenol-based cabinet material. The complexity of the driver array is mind boggling with respect to footer design making this loudspeaker perfect for a performance test. A total of 4 feet went under each of his speakers. Steve is hyper-sensitive to changes in his system and he, like the other beta testers, would never say anything good about something that did not advance the sound of his system. True, Steve sells CS2 feet, but adding unproven loudspeaker feet to a system as finely tuned as his was definitely a real test of performance and value.
I asked Mike Bovaird of Suncoast Audio to test the new feet because he had access to the Magico M Series loudspeakers. He tested the feet on the M2. This was important to me because the M Series are excellent products. The M2 is an aluminum-based offering and relatively small compared to some of the others in the test set. Also, Magico offers its own foot, the MPod, which is very well-known. I’ve had the pleasure of working with many Magico loudspeakers over the years and they are excellent. I have the very highest respect for Alon Wolf, Yair Tammam and Peter MacKay.
I thought it important to go head-to-head with the best performing foot I could find to see how our top-of-the-line loudspeaker foot, the Center Stage2 LS 1.5 stacked up. Those of you who know Mike, know he’s a no-bullshit guy who tells it like it is. This is important to everyone and especially me. The worst thing a designer can have in beta-testers are people who say something is good when it isn’t. Mike doesn’t mess around.
Along those same lines, I enlisted Damon Von Schweikert and Leif Swanson of Von Schweikert Audio to test the Center Stage2 LS 1.5 in their production facility on their VR-55. This loudspeaker has been around for a long time with well-known performance characteristics. It has a larger volume cabinet than the Magico M2 and is made from different materials. The VR-55 has a ported wood-based cabinet whereas the M2 is a sealed metal-based cabinet. Also, the VR-55 has a different weight and afforded the opportunity to test 4 feet directly under the component versus the 3 feet used with Magico’s more “disconnected” tripod base.
I have worked with VSA in many shows around the USA and they make a great product. Our working relationship made the evaluation process easy to arrange, but that’s where friendship stopped. Business is business. There is no way a well-known loudspeaker manufacturer like VSA would say anything good about a product that diminished the engineering of their own product in their own test room.
The beta-testers were carefully chosen because of their status as brutally frank people in this industry and because the loudspeakers they had available ran the gamut of materials and configurations generally found in the industry.
You’ll find this thread separately on What’s Best Forum and Audio Sharks. Having said this, the white paper is attached too.…….