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

[joelavrencik]

Hello Jack,

I use Maxxums for my monos. I am thinking these magic footers are more for electronics. TTs are a bit more sensitive to tweaks.
I was just teasing the owner of CMS .

Kind regards,
Tang

CS under your monos will kick them up past OLYMPUS (the truth).

 

[joelavrencik]

If I had not had the opportunity to use these footers, especially the production versions, I would not believe what I have written here. In fact before getting them to review, I had trouble believing what Steve was saying about them, because, after all, they are just footers and what he was saying was too good to be true, and thus likely not true. However, the daily change in sound, both negative in the beginning and positive after several days clearly showed that something different is going on with these footers, than any other footers I had auditioned. I then did something that Marty has taught me over the years--Wait and just listen and be open minded. You will have no trouble knowing when the cohesiveness hits because it will no longer sound like a system, but rather life. The more lifelike it becomes, the more believable it becomes and the more it talks to you and says "come on sit down and listen to something familiar and hear what it sounded like when it was recorded, not just how it is reproduced, as we have settled for for years.

I now know that an unusual sound I heard at Marty's after his footers were in for over a week was not so much from his typical system tweaks, but rather an new quality of believability that emerged at my house after 6-7 days. I heard it with both V1 and V2 footers, although must quicker with V2 and much more cohesive.

Thanks Russ.

 

[joelavrencik]

Joe, there are a few different models of the Combak Harmonix feet. I use the tuning feet which are supposed to modify the resonance and change the equilibrium of the component that is being supported. Harmonix footers have been available for many years, but not well recognized and certainly not highly utilized. Like your new feet, the technology behind them is somewhat opaque at this time. Whether they are different to the CS or not, I couldn’t say, certainly in regards to the technology, I have no idea. However, the Harmonix footers work well and are particularly valuable beneath digital gear.

No worries. I think it's wonderful that you like Harmonix. CS is just not the same thing. CS is a different approach that nest a different result. What we're trying to do is make listening to music an experience, not a song. We're trying to reveal the incredible engineering that already exists within components and reveal the true essence of the original musical event as it was engineered into the recording. We're moving the hobby forward. Evolution is the natural course in any field.

 

[Steve williams]

Essentially, they replace the interface discs on current CMS products and the dual material footers on legacy models.

FWIW, Jack I still use the interface supplied with each shelf to place the CS onto. Perhaps Joe might comment about this as I still use the interface with the CS

 

[Steve williams]

What we're trying to do is make listening to music an experience, not a song. We're trying to reveal the incredible engineering that already exists within components and reveal the true essence of the original musical event as it was engineered into the recording. We're moving the hobby forward. Evolution is the natural course in any field.

That is about the best summary of the product in but a few simple words. It really becomes an experience

 

[joelavrencik]

I'll bet you and Marty didn't pay $300./foot to try them.

I hope Joe get his Patent before Chinese audio has a chance to reverse engineer them and sell a $50./foot replacement.

I wish them luck...... But counterfeiting does concern me..........going forward, we'll be applying coded serial numbers to the bottom of the feet that will help us nip this in the bud. The foot is designed so that a minute change in the design would render them ineffective, or worse. Counterfeiters don't care about tolerances or performance. They just want to steal your money.

 

[joelavrencik]

Sorry if I continue to sound a flat note, but I'm a bit on the fence re being put "centre stage", "in the orchestra", "in the midst of the action" etc (name your analogy).
Are these CSFs trying to achieve what MCH does ie a more immersive soundfield, or a real change in stage perspective?
I remain a bit skeptical that's what I would want (purely personal view, YMMV evident in the number of sales and zero returns).
When I go to any gig, rock stadium, jazz club, classical hall, I'm never aware of being with the musicians, and I'm not sure I'd want to.
With the best venues there is more of a bubble of energy reaching out to me, but I'm never within it.
---
I labor this point because we all sniff at those electronic decoding boxes like Q0L that claim to try and apparently attempt the same thing as these CSFs, but are often rejected long term by their buyers.

No worries. Let's think about a Chesky recording. They generally set up the mics to catch room ambiance. And, they generally engineer the ambiance into the recording. With CS, the the musicians and the ambiance of the original event would be spatially placed exactly as engineered into the recording. But the ambiance would not stop at the front plane of your loudspeakers. The ambiance would extend outward to you so that you were immersed in the original event. If a bongo was strongly struck behind a singer in the back of the soundstage, you would see, hear and feel the strike, just as you would if you were there. Now this is all dependent upon the engineering quality of your components and the engineering of the original recording. We're not putting something there that isn't there to begin with. We're revealing what was always there to begin with. And, I have no doubt whatsoever that your components possess top notch engineering.

I want to keep you focused on engineering. It's all there to begin with. Component manufacturers and recording engineers have been advancing their science for years. Now, we're able to better reveal their scientific advancements. CS is a natural evolution of the art and science of this hobby.

 

[joelavrencik]

I think a system should give you what is on the recording. That means if it is recorded upclose and in your face that is how it should sound coming out. If it is recorded more distantly and spacious (or processed this way) then that is how it should come out of your system. If one is finding that ALL recordings are coming forward into the room or that all recordings look like they are viewed from a distance then there is something not right with the system that is pushing a particular perspective. I have some large classical works that are quite pushed back in the soundstage overall but I have some others that a much more up front and present. My guess is that very different styles were utilitzed in producing those recordings. DG recordings are multi-miked and then mixed up by a Tonmeister. Sometimes they do a brilliant job of recreating what one might hear mid-hall of a large concert hall and other times you can hear that some instruments are more prominent or more recessed than they would likely be in a traditional orchestral arrangement. I hear the same thing with chamber music. The best chamber recordings I have allow you to hear clearly the placement of all musicians and the space they inhabit and it is primarily at the plane of the speakers and behind. A couple of string quartets I have are quite forward as well and it is exhiliarating...like you would be sitting 1 meter away but most are not done like this. With Jazz recordings I have some where the horns almost land in your lap but the drums and bass are still clearly spaced behind the speakers. I find ECM to have often have the most transparent, best balance of presence and space but I also know they are manipulated recordings...but I don't care because they are manipulated to sound really right.

I don't believe that these feet would CAUSE the soundstage to come forward...it is probably just impacting a trait already present to one degree or another on that person's system.

Well said!

 

[joelavrencik]

FWIW, Jack I still use the interface supplied with each shelf to place the CS onto. Perhaps Joe might comment about this as I still use the interface with the CS

Thanks Steve. I missed that entirely. Always use the supplied interface that comes with our filters.. The interface is "in the performance equation" of every CMS filter.

 

[Steve williams]

Thanks Steve. I missed that entirely. Always use the supplied interface that comes with our filters.. The interface is "in the performance equation" of every CMS filter.

Much appreciated for the reply as I have always used the interface between the CS and the CMS filter

 

[microstrip]

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.

I will have to listen myself with my ears, but according to what I read and was told by happy owners, your devices go towards what I was looking in the fine tuning of my system - the extra level of cues that bring more realism to a system after we get the classical parameters - tonality, dynamics, imaging to our preference. The underground ways of doing it are sometimes complicated - enhancing the cues is carried at the expense of something else. Really looking to get your devices - I have the feeling that fine mechanical tuning will be more predictable and less system dependent than controlling EMI or RFI of unknown bandwidths.

As far as I see now the main obstacle to our desires is your production capacity! But yes, I know quality needs time - please take your time to cherish my order ...

 

[Steve williams]

I will have to listen myself with my ears, but according to what I read and was told by happy owners, your devices go towards what I was looking in the fine tuning of my system - the extra level of cues that bring more realism to a system after we get the classical parameters - tonality, dynamics, imaging to our preference. The underground ways of doing it are sometimes complicated - enhancing the cues is carried at the expense of something else. Really looking to get your devices - I have the feeling that fine mechanical tuning will be more predictable and less system dependent than controlling EMI or RFI of unknown bandwidths.

As far as I see now the main obstacle to our desires is your production capacity! But yes, I know quality needs time - please take your time to cherish my order ...

I have you in the queue micro. Be patient. The wait is well worth it

 

[DaveyF]

No worries. I think it's wonderful that you like Harmonix. CS is just not the same thing. CS is a different approach that nest a different result. What we're trying to do is make listening to music an experience, not a song. We're trying to reveal the incredible engineering that already exists within components and reveal the true essence of the original musical event as it was engineered into the recording. We're moving the hobby forward. Evolution is the natural course in any field.

Not sure how you can state..” CS is a different approach that nest (???) a different result” .
How do you know what the result of using Harmonix is,without actually having listened to them? Just like I do not know what the result is of using your CS...unless I have personally experienced it in my own system and with music that I am familiar with.
Unfortunately to me, as a musician, music is an experience and a song, both...not in exclusivity one to the other.
YMMV.

 

[mulveling]

Hi Steve and Joe,
I'm currently running my turntable (with SUT), tube phono, and tube pre on a 3-level CMS Maxxum rack. My tube monoblocks are on plain-Jane Salamander Synergy stands, and an AQ Niagara 7000 power conditioner is off to the side on a very mediocre (at best) Lovan shelf. If I were to consider 1 to 3 sets of these footers to start with, is there an obvious place here where they'd have more effect? And how might they compare, cost/effect wise, versus placing traditional CMS platforms + MXK spikes (e.g. Black Platinum) under the power conditioner and/or amps?

As you can in my system pic below, there's a lot of energy for the components & rack/shelving to deal with -- I play loud, and can't locate the rack elsewhere. In particular, the preamp tubes are quite microphonic and sensitive to even airborne vibrations. It goes without saying, my CMS rack helped out the turntable a LOT, and the matte black finish is exquisite -- very happy with it!

 

[Steve williams]

Hi Steve and Joe,
I'm currently running my turntable (with SUT), tube phono, and tube pre on a 3-level CMS Maxxum rack. My tube monoblocks are on plain-Jane Salamander Synergy stands, and an AQ Niagara 7000 power conditioner is off to the side on a very mediocre (at best) Lovan shelf. If I were to consider 1 to 3 sets of these footers to start with, is there an obvious place here where they'd have more effect? And how might they compare, cost/effect wise, versus placing traditional CMS platforms + MXK spikes (e.g. Black Platinum) under the power conditioner and/or amps?

As you can in my system pic below, there's a lot of energy for the components & rack/shelving to deal with -- I play loud, and can't locate the rack elsewhere. In particular, the preamp tubes are quite microphonic and sensitive to even airborne vibrations. It goes without saying, my CMS rack helped out the turntable a LOT, and the matte black finish is exquisite -- very happy with it!

For me the order in which to use these is
1.source gear (excluding your TT)
2.Preamp
3. Amps
4. Power supplies/power conditioners

 

[JackD201]

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.

For sure. Many forms of signal manipulation can do this. It's a long list. Phase anomalies can swirl, too much make up gain which brings the the noise floor up, some filters on my C1 push forward. It must be a noise thing. I think what Steve and Joe are saying isn't that though its not a constantly pushed thing but rather action or bloom.

I surely had some noise in my system but both Ron and Steve can attest that I do have that kind of "motion" in my presentation just as many really good systems I've heard do. I like to think of it as conventional speakers doing what horns do so well among other things. You get the sense of the pressure front and not just ear stimulation even at moderate levels. Get that with big panels too come to think of it.

 

[Rodney Gold]

Good luck with your new venture Steve .. sounds like its already doing well

 

[mulveling]

For me the order in which to use these is
1.source gear (excluding your TT)
2.Preamp
3. Amps
4. Power supplies/power conditioners

Thanks Steve. Yes, that order makes the most sense -- but seeing as my source (TT, phono) and preamp are already on superior Maxxum shelves, and the amps / conditioner are on very inferior shelves, do you still feel that the traditional upgrade order holds in my case? I was already considering something along the line of Black Sapphire/Platinum shelves for the amps/conditioner when I read about these new feet.

 

[DaveC]

For sure. Many forms of signal manipulation can do this. It's a long list. Phase anomalies can swirl, too much make up gain which brings the the noise floor up, some filters on my C1 push forward. It must be a noise thing. I think what Steve and Joe are saying isn't that though its not a constantly pushed thing but rather action or bloom.

I surely had some noise in my system but both Ron and Steve can attest that I do have that kind of "motion" in my presentation just as many really good systems I've heard do. I like to think of it as conventional speakers doing what horns do so well among other things. You get the sense of the pressure front and not just ear stimulation even at moderate levels. Get that with big panels too come to think of it.

Yup! Not many systems using conventional speakers can achieve this...

 

[Steve williams]

Thanks Steve. Yes, that order makes the most sense -- but seeing as my source (TT, phono) and preamp are already on superior Maxxum shelves, and the amps / conditioner are on very inferior shelves, do you still feel that the traditional upgrade order holds in my case? I was already considering something along the line of Black Sapphire/Platinum shelves for the amps/conditioner when I read about these new feet.

well as an earlier post from Jack stated that putting the CS under your components on the Maxxum will elevate status to that of Olympus, to me it is a no brainer. My CS are on Black Diamond so I am getting a flavor of what you lucky Maxxum users hear
your