Introducing Center Stage 2M

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Is the 3-4 weeks just calendar time or is it affected by how much you use the system?
Both. Settle in is completely system dependent. More music you play facilitates settle in
 

nenon

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Both. Settle in is completely system dependent. More music you play facilitates settle in

Has anyone tried if a big industrial fan blowing directly to the equipment 24/7 speeds up the settle time? Half joking, half serious...
 

scot

Well-Known Member
Jan 4, 2018
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Hi Joe

This is Scot, Mick’s friend (Morton Grove I’ll.). I went into Quintessence today and picked up a set of the 2M’s. I just wanted to see if they were available yet. Thank you for your reply. Take care.

Best regards
Scot
 
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joelavrencikCMS

Industry Expert
Jul 30, 2021
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Is the 3-4 weeks just calendar time or is it affected by how much you use the system?
This is a common question and a very good one. The feedback I've received over the years favors playing the system to promote settling. I hope this helps.
 

joelavrencikCMS

Industry Expert
Jul 30, 2021
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Hi Joe

This is Scot, Mick’s friend (Morton Grove I’ll.). I went into Quintessence today and picked up a set of the 2M’s. I just wanted to see if they were available yet. Thank you for your reply. Take care.

Best regards
Scot
Yes they are. Steve was correct.
 

dminches

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Oct 22, 2011
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I am into day 3 of the break-in and as others have said, the sound gets worse before it gets better. Lots of missing high end.

Let’s see how this goes…
 
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scot

Well-Known Member
Jan 4, 2018
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Hi dminches

I bought a set of the original CS1 footers and after they settled in, they made a very nice improvement. In fact, I liked them so much, I bought a set for all my other gear. When the CS2’s came out, I bought a set of those to start out with, same story, they were clearly better than the CS1’s, I replaced all the CS1’s and put the CS2’s under all the gear again. Again, after the settling in period, I was even happier. They were noticeably better. I’ve learned to trust Joe Lavrencik’s designs. Be patient, you’ll be rewarded in the end.

I just recently picked up a set of his new CS2M’s. I won’t try them just yet because I’m going try a new pair of speaker wires on Monday and I never want to try two new pieces of audio at the same time. I have steadfast rule, I will only evaluate one new piece of kit at a time. After I’ve put in the new speaker cables, and they’re fully broken in, only then will I decide if they stay. Once I’ve made a decision on the new speaker cables, then I will try the new CS2M’s.

Whenever I try a new piece of audio, I’m not interested in going back and forth and back and forth many times to determine if the new piece is better or worse or if it’s just different. If you have to do that, it’s probably not a significant enough improvement to justify the purchase. I want to be absolutely sure it’s clearly better in all areas. Only then will I add it to the system. IMHO, way to many audiophiles jump to a quick conclusion. I like to be patient when I try a new piece of kit. I’ll put the new piece in and I’ll listen to it for at least two to three weeks before going back to the piece it’s being put up against. After two to three weeks of carefully listening I’ll put back the original piece and listen to that one again for another two to three weeks. It takes patients to do this but I’ve found it’s the right thing to do (for me anyway). It really lets you know if the new piece is truly better of if it’s just different. I’ve been fooled too many times in the past. I will never again make the mistake of doing a quick A/B comparison. Take care.

Best regards
Scot
 
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dminches

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Oct 22, 2011
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Whenever I try a new piece of audio, I’m not interested in going back and forth and back and forth many times to determine if the new piece is better or worse or if it’s just different. If you have to do that, it’s probably not a significant enough improvement to justify the purchase. I want to be absolutely sure it’s clearly better in all areas. Only then will I add it to the system. IMHO, way to many audiophiles jump to a quick conclusion. I like to be patient when I try a new piece of kit. I’ll put the new piece in and I’ll listen to it for at least two to three weeks before going back to the piece it’s being put up against. After two to three weeks of carefully listening I’ll put back the original piece and listen to that one again for another two to three weeks. It takes patients to do this but I’ve found it’s the right thing to do (for me anyway). It really lets you know if the new piece is truly better of if it’s just different. I’ve been fooled too many times in the past. I will never again make the mistake of doing a quick A/B comparison. Take care.

Best regards
Scot

Thanks for post. I do the same thing with testing/adding changes. I trust my ears to know if something is more pleasing or not. I also only change 1 thing at a time and I space out changes. My setup is pretty mature so I know my system well.

I will be able to assess the CS2Ms in a couple weeks. They are under my Taiko Extreme.
 

scot

Well-Known Member
Jan 4, 2018
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Hi Joe

The CS2M feet, does a set of 4 have a weight limit. My amp weighs 88 lbs and my dac weighs 25 lbs. Would they give the best results under the amp or the Dac? Do they have a weight range? Thank you.

Best regards
Scot
 

joelavrencikCMS

Industry Expert
Jul 30, 2021
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Hi Joe

The CS2M feet, does a set of 4 have a weight limit. My amp weighs 88 lbs and my dac weighs 25 lbs. Would they give the best results under the amp or the Dac? Do they have a weight range? Thank you.

Best regards
Scot
Hi Scot

There is no weight range. In your case, I'd start up front with the dac. You'll hear a very clear improvement after things settle. No worries.

Joe
 

Bobofei86

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Apr 11, 2021
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I got the Pacific to replace my GG2 and restart the run in process again, it has been a week already after i put the cs2m 1.5 under both of my Pacific and Extreme, i have slightly changed the position and put them close to the front and back panel and nearby the original footers of both devices (no contact to the original footers), this time i couldn't hear the changes after the 1st day, nothing improved or get worse since day2, the sound are still dull and boring and not engaging at all... Is it normal that the sounds didnt change at all for a week and it will suddenly improve? I heard most of the users experienced the change and up and down, but my case is quite frustrating and it didnt change at all
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
I got the Pacific to replace my GG2 and restart the run in process again, it has been a week already after i put the cs2m 1.5 under both of my Pacific and Extreme, i have slightly changed the position and put them close to the front and back panel and nearby the original footers of both devices (no contact to the original footers), this time i couldn't hear the changes after the 1st day, nothing improved or get worse since day2, the sound are still dull and boring and not engaging at all... Is it normal that the sounds didnt change at all for a week and it will suddenly improve? I heard most of the users experienced the change and up and down, but my case is quite frustrating and it didnt change at all
Send me sine photos of the feet under your Pacific and Extreme
 

scot

Well-Known Member
Jan 4, 2018
106
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Hi Bobofei86

I’ve owned the original CS1’s and then upgraded those to the CS2’s and then to the CS2m’s. Each time, I clearly (no pun intended) heard improvements. I don’t know if what I’m about to suggest to you is correct but it’s worked for me. I try to locate at least one of the footers directly under the transformer (s) thinking this area creates the most vibration.

All I can say is, be patient. From what I’ve read, the settling in period varies from system to system. I believe I’ve also read, that if the manufacturer over damps the chassis, there may be little to no improvement. In my system, the new CS2M feet were well worth the wait, after hearing what they do, I could never remove them. I hope that helps you. Take care.

Best regards
Scot
 
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Bobofei86

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Apr 11, 2021
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Hi Bobofei86

I’ve owned the original CS1’s and then upgraded those to the CS2’s and then to the CS2m’s. Each time, I clearly (no pun intended) heard improvements. I don’t know if what I’m about to suggest to you is correct but it’s worked for me. I try to locate at least one of the footers directly under the transformer (s) thinking this area creates the most vibration.

All I can say is, be patient. From what I’ve read, the settling in period varies from system to system. I believe I’ve also read, that if the manufacturer over damps the chassis, there may be little to no improvement. In my system, the new CS2M feet were well worth the wait, after hearing what they do, I could never remove them. I hope that helps you. Take care.

Best regards
Scot
Got it Scot but based on your experience is it normal that the sounds constantly change (up and down) since day 1?

My question is it didn’t change at all for more than a week, I have no idea about it has been settled down (even without the positive effect) or it need more time to settle, but it’s strange to me that the first week without changes and it will suddenly change after a certain time…

I read the review and most of the users experienced the negative or positive effect from time to time since day1, then it will optimised after few weeks and offer the best sound, that’s why I want to understand the position which pacific and extreme users are using now, and also anyone experienced the same challenge which it didn’t change after the first few hours but it will suddenly change after another few weeks
 

dminches

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
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Got it Scot but based on your experience is it normal that the sounds constantly change (up and down) since day 1?

My question is it didn’t change at all for more than a week, I have no idea about it has been settled down (even without the positive effect) or it need more time to settle, but it’s strange to me that the first week without changes and it will suddenly change after a certain time…

I read the review and most of the users experienced the negative or positive effect from time to time since day1, then it will optimised after few weeks and offer the best sound, that’s why I want to understand the position which pacific and extreme users are using now, and also anyone experienced the same challenge which it didn’t change after the first few hours but it will suddenly change after another few weeks

Are the footers new or are they already broken in?
 

Bobofei86

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Apr 11, 2021
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Are the footers new or are they already broken in?
I got these new footers few weeks ago and put them under extreme and Lampi GG2, last week I replaced the GG2 with pacific and assume it need time to settle again since the weight is different from GG2, for those under extreme, I didn’t touch them for 2 weeks
 

dminches

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
3,409
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I got these new footers few weeks ago and put them under extreme and Lampi GG2, last week I replaced the GG2 with pacific and assume it need time to settle again since the weight is different from GG2, for those under extreme, I didn’t touch them for 2 weeks

Even though they may have been somewhat broken in under the GG2 I would expect some change over time while under the Pacific but that would be different than if you put them under the Pacific right out of the box.

On the other hand, if the Pacific itself is new I don’t know how you will be able to assess the break in of that vs the footers since the Pacific changes A LOT over the first 4 weeks. At least that was my experience.
 
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Bobofei86

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2021
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I have experienced once that “immersed effect” on day 2 under the GG2, everything sound so coherent and real and thats what I expected the footers can do, but after that the sounds became so dull and boring under the extreme and GG2 for ~3 weeks before I change to Pacific, and that immersed effect didn’t happen again, it’s so easy to compare even my mum can tell on day 2 my system sounds much much better, honestly if i didn’t hear that magic on day2 I should sold the footers already

During the test with GG2, at least I can hear the changes no matter it’s positive or negative, but there’s not much difference under the pacific and I think there’s something wrong, that’s why I’m asking for the help from other users about the position of your cs2m under both extreme and Lampi
 

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