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

joelavrencik

Industry Expert
Nov 15, 2016
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Chicago
www.criticalmasssystems.com
Steve Blinn Designs a former Audiogon dealer (may no longer be in business). Solid 2" thick butcher block maple shelves resting on sorbothane bumpers in a heavy aluminum contruction frame.

Watch, the sound will go to hell the next time I turn the system on. Here's an old rack pic.

View attachment 42947

Thanks! Please keep all of us posted. I'm really interested. I have no idea what will happen next............

If it degrades (and it very well may), it could get ugly for a while. Hang in there. :)
 

KeithR

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May 7, 2010
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But these behave like nothing in the market place. Keep being amused Keith. It's easy to comment if you haven't tried them. I even offered to come to your house and set them up in your system for you but you declined.

So Keith, it's easy to make comments like you did but I was prepared to show you differently in your system and you said "no"

I jest simply because you've said the same things before, Steve. I even bought your old Aurios after your Stillpoints "destroyed" them lol. Back then I was curious on such stuff, not so much anymore. I've had footer demos (your Aurios and Wave Kinetics are still inhouse), had a footer shootout at another friend's on DACs, etc. My feeling is there can be a difference in sound but its not always good and the effects are possibly just different, not better. And I don't understand the physics and still can't from this thread.

Also, and probably the wrong thread to mention it vs your system thread, but it would seem a speaker upgrade like the Alexx or VSA equivalent or ? would have profound more sonic implications than six figures on racks and feet but that's a different topic for another day.

As MikeL would say, horses for courses. Good luck in the venture!
 
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Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
To each our own Keith. I can tell you that I was going to buy new speakers last year and yes either an Alexx or VSA however that all changed with the introduction of these feet into my system. In fact I can tell you that Leif from VSA has been to my house and heard my system at least 6 different times. After I put the feet in and he came back for a listen he said to me "that as much as I want to sell you one of our speakers there is no need now." FWIW Leif is an ardent user of the feet in his system

Really Keith you like to get your jabs in but with nothing to back up your postulate I would remind you what JackD said about these feet....something to the effect that these feet are the least expensive way of making a system upgrade. I don't understand the physics either but I do understand what I hear. Your loss Keith. Like you whenever I evaluate some new component I always ask myself is it something better or merely something different. These are truly something different. You are in this thread and I assume you have read countless users thoughts and they are universally the same. You can't make this stuff up Keith so yes "horses for courses"

Enjoy the rest of the day
 

Leif S

Industry Expert
Feb 13, 2015
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www.vonschweikert.com
All I have to say is it was different and better:cool:
 

microstrip

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May 30, 2010
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I jest simply because you've said the same things before, Steve. I even bought your old Aurios after your Stillpoints "destroyed" them lol. Back then I was curious on such stuff, not so much anymore. I've had footer demos (your Aurios and Wave Kinetics are still inhouse), had a footer shootout at another friend's on DACs, etc. My feeling is there can be a difference in sound but its not always good and the effects are possibly just different, not better. And I don't understand the physics and still can't from this thread.

Also, and probably the wrong thread to mention it vs your system thread, but it would seem a speaker upgrade like the Alexx or VSA equivalent or ? would have profound more sonic implications than six figures on racks and feet but that's a different topic for another day.

As MikeL would say, horses for courses. Good luck in the venture!

Keith,

I also no not fully understand the physics, although I know since long the Thermodynamics laws. There are many formulations of the second law, not just entropy, I will not try to debate here which seems to describe the behavior of the CS footers better, I have no time to dig in this challenging subject now.

But I have listened to the footers, and in my particular system I really enjoyed their action. They have now the status if of permanent devices.

BTW, IMHO the Alexx's should not be in the speaker list of anyone owning ML3's. And the only VSA that seems compatible with the ML3 is the VR-11SE MkII ... Steve, are you considering it? :D
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
VR-11SE MkII ... Steve, are you considering it?

Its actually the Ultra 11 now. Incredible speaker. I've heard it many times however the ML3 might not just drive the speaker even though it is high efficiency. The Ultra 11 also uses ceramic drivers and we saw how the ML3's began to gasp on Mike's 97 Db efficient speakers. For me the ML3's are keepers as are the LP1 and LL1. They form the heart of my system and the X2 is the beat of the heart and it sounds remarkably good with the feet in my system. They too are a permanent part of my system
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
All I have to say is it was different and better:cool:

I have heard your system before and now with the CS feet. The sound coming out of your system now Leif is like nothing I would have imagined. The bottom end on your system easily betters mine
 

PeterA

Well-Known Member
Dec 6, 2011
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To each our own Keith. I can tell you that I was going to buy new speakers last year and yes either an Alexx or VSA however that all changed with the introduction of these feet into my system. In fact I can tell you that Leif from VSA has been to my house and heard my system at least 6 different times. After I put the feet in and he came back for a listen he said to me "that as much as I want to sell you one of our speakers there is no need now." FWIW Leif is an ardent user of the feet in his system

Really Keith you like to get your jabs in but with nothing to back up your postulate I would remind you what JackD said about these feet....something to the effect that these feet are the least expensive way of making a system upgrade. I don't understand the physics either but I do understand what I hear. Your loss Keith. Like you whenever I evaluate some new component I always ask myself is it something better or merely something different. These are truly something different. You are in this thread and I assume you have read countless users thoughts and they are universally the same. You can't make this stuff up Keith so yes "horses for courses"

Enjoy the rest of the day

Steve, did you mean to write this? You wrote BETTER or DIFFERENT. You finished with DIFFERENT. Personally, I would rather have BETTER.
 
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CK Tam

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Dec 9, 2018
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Hi, as all my power amps are lying on the wooden floor, is that ok to install Center Stage2 1.5 between the power amp and the wooden tiles floor ?
 

marcbrown

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2018
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4
90
Hot damn Steve, I now know how Gollum (from Lord of the Rings) felt about his precious. I did a lot of talking to myself and precious since placing the Centerstage2 footers under my Devialet unit. The extreme marked improvement, after nine and a half days in my case, due to replacing Ultra 5s with bases was more then I dreamed possible. From my earspective they are like super human athletes that prevent and reduce vibrations from masking the music by being extremely fast to respond to vibration. While at the same time, not squashing the highs like the Ultra 5s apparently do.
Like many others on this website I thought you might be crying wolf. For a while I read your posts about other footers and Stillpoints too. You had praised others so much I figured some hyperbole was present. Now I don't think you are right, I KNOW you are right. Because my Devialet is pre-amp, amp, DAC, streamer, ADC, ect.,all in one, I believe I got the full monty in one swoop. I most definitely dig the extra immersion when sitting still, but I often dance and move from room to room so the best factors to me are the glorious micro detail and musical transients throughout the audio spectrum. The clarity of voices, horns, drums, strings ect. AND because the bass information sent from the Devialet pre-outs is so very much improved, the bass coming from my 2 JL-113s is greatly improved. I am able to play bass below 25hz unrestricted now. Before the set of CS2, the bass below 25hz detracted from the music and was out of step with music so I removed all below 25hz. Now the bass below 25hz is so locked in step with music that it improves the lows, mids and highs already present along with improving PRAT from what already is a 'pratty' system. This low bass also made clear venue info on music I did not realize was even there. Every note is obviously improved so much that all my music is revealing so much I did not realize was missing. I praise Steve and Joe but his son most :>) Marc
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Hi Marc and welcome to the world of Center Stage and the miracles it brings to system improvement

They are remarkable devices so much so that I have dropped all hyperbole and let the product speak for itself

IMO they are truly system changers
 

marcbrown

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2018
51
4
90
Steve about 2 weeks ago I had read the latest Absolute Sound and an article about Gayle Sanders and his new speaker struck a chord. I have been mulling over what exactly was happening with the CS2 footers. One ,for instance, is what I am able to hear that I could not with previous footers that made it seems so much more alive and real.
I have misplaced the magazine and cannot locate it, so I am going from memory. I believe it is page 118, an article about Gayle Sanders leasing software from a technician from Sweden for his new speaker utilizing DSP. The software is based on recent studies that have shown where timing is crucial to proper sound reproduction, way more than realized. One statement said that struck the chord was they said if the 1st 2ms of an instruments sound wave is removed, a person will not be able to determine what instrument is playing. That in fact only after 25ms we start to hear the sound as an echo. Those statements seemed like an ah,ha moment to me. I feel this partially or more explains what I hear with the improvement from the CS2 footers. the CS2s seem so much faster and allows the 1st couple or more of ms
to be heard more clearly. It is like the other footers have to overcome more inertia so therefore get slightly smeared. I think that explains what I hear. If I find magazine I will ad more if relevant. Marc
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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...I believe it is page 118, an article about Gayle Sanders leasing software from a technician from Sweden for his new speaker utilizing DSP. The software is based on recent studies that have shown where timing is crucial to proper sound reproduction, way more than realized. One statement said that struck the chord was they said if the 1st 2ms of an instruments sound wave is removed, a person will not be able to determine what instrument is playing. That in fact only after 25ms we start to hear the sound as an echo. ...

Interesting...very interesting. I know there is good marketing among speaker companies, but Wilson certainly have emphasized that a big focus of their latest speaker design is about these milliseconds of time relating to music reproduction. I think they even quote something relating to the level of precision (in milliseconds) in how closely time aligns or something across the speaker's various cones. The WAMM Chronosonic...
 
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marcbrown

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2018
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Hey Kal I had seen that link in the article. Graphs are okay but give me that ole time religion, listening instead :=) LL21 I had read the same and like you noted it. All I know is the improved timing from the CS footers has awakened me to just how vital timing is vs frequency. The Stones have nothing on me. Time is finally on my side!
 
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marcbrown

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2018
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90
Hi Marc.

They are pretty amazing. They never cease to bring a smile to my face
Hey Steve, I have been waiting to see if Joe and son would come up with footers for speakers like was mentioned in forum. Are there problems that were not expected? Are they working on it or did problems arrive? Thanks marc
 

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