Hi Ron
Keeping in mind that there are proprietary aspects to what we do, I’ll do my best to answer your question. The CS and LS feet are derived from our rack designs, specifically the OLYMPUS rack. More specifically the material composition and material sequencing in the OLYMPUS rack is the basis for the structures found within CS and LS.
The internal composition of the foot follows the material composition and material sequencing of the rack. If you cut the foot open, an untrained eye would see absolutely nothing of any consequence. But you would be looking at a miniaturized version of an OLYMPUS superstructure precisely calculated to mismatch impedances to achieve, or net, an effect. The phrase, “every material does something” could not ring truer in this case. The “something” in this case is a ringing noise in a predictable bandwidth. To be clearer, all materials produce noise, but controlling the noise so that it can be exploited to net a desired effect is THE “IT”. That’s the grail. Learn how to control every aspect of your materials and design so that you can exploit predictable weaknesses to achieve a “greatest good".
This brings us to the shelf, or filter (as I like to call it} of the OLYMPUS. The OLYMPUS filter was miniaturized and applied to the CS and LS designs. With the understanding that the superstructure of the foot is critical to the performance of the foot, the key to refining its performance is the miniaturized filter and you find this atop the foot as you would on an OLYMPUS rack. Here is where you cancel out the noise of the foot and reduce entropy stored in the component above in very precise increments.
What seems impossible for those unfamiliar with the CS or LS products to comprehend is that the foot functions as an extremely powerful filter when all its disparate parts are combined. Disassembled, it is nothing. Assembled and placed against the bottom of a component, it is a miniaturized OLYMPUS rack that not only functions in 1st Law energy conversion (mainly to cancel out its own noise), but more importantly, 2nd Law entropy reduction. Only a fool would believe that a foot an inch in height could convert vibration to heat in broad bandwidths. But I digress.
So, understanding that which came prior, the answer to your question is to manipulate the filter. In one of the failed tries with the LS feet, we noticed that the center image was too far back and too quiet compared to the instruments playing around the vocalist. By manipulating the filter, we could enlarge that image, bring it slightly forward, better its detail and prominence and raise its volume level to a proper balance in the process. If you pay close attention to the net effect of many other devices in this genre, you can hear that they get this wrong, along with other things.
So, what Steve and Russ and now others are hearing is the net effect of changing the dimensions of the filter in teeny tiny bits. We can do it using very precise tools. It isn’t a newly discovered process by any means in the design and execution of analog devices or many of the parts used in audio componentry. This has been going on for years in many areas of our industry. It is, however, probably new to footers. The good news is that the same degree of precision that nets advancement in other areas of our industry, works in this one as well.
I hope I answered your question.
