Confessions of an Audiophile Junky-I Got Center Stage With Pitch Perfect Sound

[joelavrencik]

Effective vibration elimination via isolation and resultant soundstaging moving forward to envelop listener are usually contradictory.
Certain metals are known to induce nearby audio components to reproduce more bass.
Can these metals get "magnetised" by surrounding magnetic fields? Maybe.
Can magnetised metal change their properties over time? You bet!

I could agree with your opening sentence, however, this approach is different so you can detach that cause and effect statement.

The metals are not inherently magnetic.

 

[joelavrencik]

Just a thought.
Is it good to be in the stage rather than observing it?
This is not how one hears live music.
Does one truly wish to be "in" the orchestra?
I'm not sure I do.
Steve, no criticism intended, I would be curious to hear this effect.

A better way to think of it would be to imagine the orchestra coming to you rather than you coming to the orchestra. There is no trick or gimmick afoot. A better way for me to put it is that you're hearing more of what's always been in the recording. And, you're hearing the engineering that is already in your components. It's all good. Nothing unsettling or off-putting.

 

[joelavrencik]

Congratulations Steve on your new adventure. But frankly, I have to ask - what are they made of (even though I know the answer)

It's just material science using well-known mainstream materials. Nothing weird.

 

[Steve williams]

A better way to think of it would be to imagine the orchestra coming to you rather than you coming to the orchestra. There is no trick or gimmick afoot. A better way for me to put it is that you're hearing more of what's always been in the recording. And, you're hearing the engineering that is already in your components. It's all good. Nothing unsettling or off-putting.

I agree

Marc, once you hear it you will understand exactly what Joe means. It's there only if it is in the recording. It brings life to the music and personal engagement by the listener. There is no coloration and there is no fatigue. I found myself a times unable to leave the room because I was so involved with what I was hearing

 

[joelavrencik]

We should ask CSI to analyze them. BTW just ordered two sets - but I will skip the white papers!

Hi microstrip

At the risk of leading with my chin, I think it's great that you ordered CS and simply want to encourage you to work toward a complete signal path (excluding the tt). You get the total effect doing this.

 

[joelavrencik]

So what happens when there are swings in room temp? I'm thinking the footers are dealing in micro temps but rooms can swing several degrees constantly. How is the performance envelope affected?

That's a good question. i have substantial temp swings in my listening room......haven't heard anything odd attributable to temperature.

 

[joelavrencik]

Steve the speculation creates a nice bit of underlying excitement and interest but the protection of the intellectual property is completely understandable. Will it become a bit more open when Joe gets patents on these and is that the plan?

Just a couple of more things came to mind when re-reading the early posts. Apologies if I missed any of the answers to any of these.

Are the footers similarly effective if used under shelves or racks as they are when directly under the components or do they do their best work closest to the component?

Is there a piezo-electric element to the design or is it functionally just purely mechanical? n.b. I am at the low tech end so if this is a poorly framed question it comes out of those limits.

If you take the component off the footers for any length of time does it then take any time for them to resume effect... are you in for another 7 days to get back up to speed?

Also congratulations Joe on what is sounding like a great new design.

Tia
Tao

Wow, these are really good questions

They are not similarly effective under shelves or racks. They work on a principle that requires intimate contact with the component.

No, there isn't a piezo-electric element to the design.

If you take the footers out, your system will begin to revert back to its previous state of equilibrium. This is unavoidable. But, it seems to me that perhaps the recovery time is faster when you put them back in. Still debatable....

 

[DaveC]

Maybe just say it results in a more 3-D, enveloping musical experience?

It is true that a pushed-forward soundstage can be caused by artifacts, this was actually one of Keith Johnson's (Reference Recordings, Spectral) objections to the apodizing filter used in the new MQA format.

 

[joelavrencik]

it was likewise a pleasure, Joe.

my Saturday comments were just relative to other 'show systems' and the degree of nuance I heard. something was different in a good way. and it was better enough than Friday to grab my attention.

supposedly I have 2 sets of these on the way at some point to try in my system.....and then i'll sit back and hear it happen all the way through.

keep me posted. Please........

 

[Steve williams]

But, it seems to me that perhaps the recovery time is faster when you put them back in. Still debatable....

I 'tend' to agree as well

 

[joelavrencik]

Joe, I'll definitely investigate.
The move to my new room w stellar acoustics and power grid has been the single most dramatic impvt in my system since I started in this borderline crazy hobby.
So much so I'm finding I'm easily resisting all temptations to upgrade gear and concentrate 100% of effort and resources on system-wide upgrades.
My passion/weakness now is Stacore, and I'm on nothing short of a mission to isolate at least 7 components w these platforms.
I agree that the potential for CSFs to synergise w the Stacores is there, and I'll make efforts in the near future to look into them.

With all of the great work you've already accomplished to improve your system, you'll absolutely love CS when you get to that phase. Congratulations on improving the fundamentals!

 

[joelavrencik]

Hi Joe, I understand that a Blu-ray player is also a music player (hi-res audio files, CD, SACD, DVD-Audio, Blu-ray Audio, ...) but it is also a movie player (hi-def video files, DVD, Blu-ray Video, ...).
And it was mainly on the second aspect that my question repose. ...Meaning the foundation of the video aspect.

I am happy to hear that it would work for the audio improvement...Sound Stage...under a Blu-ray player; it is good news for watching movies with great music scores...in immersing surround sound.

And it would be interesting to find out if it improve the video quality as well, like perhaps more 3-dimensional. I just don't know, it simply crossed my mind.

Nice meeting you and thank you for your reply.
Cheers,
Bob

Hi Bob,

I can't think of any reason why it wouldn't improve any signal in a conventional playback device. Without getting too technical, the 2nd Law would dictate so. A TV is usually mounted on a base and that is the wild card as bases are different from tv to tv. I don't want to speculate.

I would say with high confidence that placing CS under the other components leading to your loudspeakers would probably knock your socks off for movie enjoyment. I didn't think about that until now....... Great idea!

 

[joelavrencik]

I guess Thermodynamics doesn't really apply then.....lets hear from the designer......

Of course thermodynamics apply The temperature swing is not great enough to affect performance. The materials function effectively across a wide thermal range.

 

[joelavrencik]

Jeez, Joe, thanks for your kind comments. I don't mean to correct you but you are certainly wrong on 2 key points.
1) I am hardly the smartest person in any room. My wife is. Even when she's not in the room.
2) Many people think I'm a pain in the ass to work for or with. But once I bring out some good wine, nobody seems to mind anymore.

We must make sure that your wife never meets my wife! We'd be in big trouble for sure.

 

[joelavrencik]

Although I share Steve opinion, and will not question modus operandis, there is a question that it is haunting me - during burn-in, the gradual "reduction of disorder" happens in the equipment or just in the feet?

The reduction of disorder occurs within the component. This takes time. CS is like a self-emptying garbage can that takes the trash out to the can every day.........just like my wife makes me do it.

 

[joelavrencik]

This is a good question, ime imaging in front of the speakers can be either a result of artifacts or a result of a system performing at a very high level. If the presentation doesn't have depth, if you can't hear imaging from well behind the speakers as well as in front then it's a problem and a result of particular artifacts. Combined with narrow directivity the effect can sound just like listening to headphones, and this is not good. If the presentation is simply so deep it exceeds the dimensions of your listening room then, imo, you have achieved a level of playback realism that typical cone 'n' dome speakers rarely achieve.

The effect of a 3-D soundstage that extends in front and behind the plane of the speakers is actually the number one goal of my speaker design, and in listening tests it's the one factor EVERYONE notices, comments on and enjoys. If these footers contribute towards this kind of performance I think it's a good thing.

They do, Dave. Honest to God.

 

[joelavrencik]

Dear Mr. Lavrencik,

This is such good news to me. I am one of your customers using cms rack. Reading Steve's extraodinary experience with these magic footers, I no longer have to upgrade my rack to your Olympus. This is the kind of value creation all manufacturer should do for their customers .

Kind regards,
Tang

You're right. You don't need to. CS will get it done for you. But, the better the rack the better the results. This is logical.

 

[joelavrencik]

Mahalo for the info, but I'm not ready to drop $6K (5-sets) on these based on feedback from just you, Marty and Steve.

BTW, I was back in Jersey a week ago.

My sister took us to a great restaurant in Surf City - Scojo's.

The weather was great and the Jersey shore is still a beautiful place.

Robert Harley (TAS) and Jonathan Valin (TAS) have these in their systems and David Robinson (PFO) will have them very soon. I'm sure you'll eventually hear from them. My guess is that they'll want to vet them under a wide range of components before they say anything.......... all in good time.

 

[joelavrencik]

But what about your turntables? Hahahaha. I upgraded to Maxxums for mine

Hey Joe, they almost done? Pics please

With 4 CS under everything (excluding the tt) your system will surpass OLYMPUS (the truth). You'll need a supply of diapers, a catheter and inter-venous feeding. Or, maybe just an understanding wife.....

Seriously, CS isn't the ultimate answer for turntables, IMO. If your system is on a stable floor, then yes, they's be killer under a tt. If your floor is a trampoline, then, no. They're not an isolation system.

 

[joelavrencik]

Custom Jatoba* stand
Nottingham Spacedeck w/Spacearm and Sumiko MDC-800(aka The Arm)
Custom Phono Stage
Red Rose Audio Model Five
P.I. Audio Custom UberBuss

*the hardest exotic hardwood available

5 days and you'll know for sure. I don't see anything that would indicate otherwise.