Hello, I don’t know if this is the right thread to post this topic but it does come closest to the description!
Being a proud owner of the Symphonia horns I realize that in a small(ish) room like mine (22 m²), the amount of acoustic (and hence physical) energy in the room and conveyed through the floor is not benefiting the equipment I have. Equipment which, as some may know, is based on tube technology, in the DAC, the preamp and the power amplifiers.
When becoming a distributor for Entreq, I quickly started to test the different decoupling feet they have like the ES Pad and the Lynx feet. These are relatively cheap solutions and, as can be suspected, have a beneficial effect on the equipment I put on it. The main benefits of decoupling, when done right, are in my experience a lowering of the noise floor, more natural top end, better resolution in the bass area. The noise floor lowering brings along benefits like more micro-dynamics, better focus, better legibility of the soundstage, i.e. all contributing to a more natural, non-fatiguing listening experience.
But, alas, one suspects that more is to be gotten from really good isolation. The Entreq products, though very much recommended as lower cost solutions (and I have or had small stillpoints, symposium, aktyna and some others whose name I forgot), were an obvious starting point to look for other types of isolation. So I have been on the lookout in the last twelve months for a solution that would not be too expensive (like +10 k€) and preferably be non-electronic, i.e. passive. The reason for the first criterium is obvious but for the passive criterium, I want to reduce the number of cables, possible break downs, possible audible (transformer) humming, service needs etc. I fell in love with Entreq for its sonic qualities in the first place but the fact that this equipment has no electronic or moving parts inside I find a compelling combination.
Now, having explained that, you will also know why I did not try all these active platforms that are out there, though reading some of the reviews I was tempted to try them out but didn’t.
Came Stacore along as a possible solution and with great reviews, also here on WBF. And looking at their prices I didn’t think it was outlandish, taking into account how the isolation principle is implemented, clearly going further than all other passive solutions I came across. They were present in Munich as well and it was ticking the boxes I had for a platform so I had one unit coming my way. It has not left yet, nor will it… except for customer demos or shows.
I have been describing already what the benefits of decoupling does, well the Stacore Advanced (model I have) does this in such a way that it is as if I had an upgraded preamp or amplifier altogether.
Till now I tested with the new Aries Cerat Genus integrated amplifier and with the Aries Cerat Incito preamplifier. In both cases, when I take the unit off the Stacore platform, the whole sonic message kind of collapses… a very strange and disturbing experience. And the fun part is that set-up is easy (though requiring two people due to the platform’s weight), intuitive and clutter-free (except for a bicycle pump
).Finally, a particular experience with the Incito: originally I had the Incito on the platform but on its original feet which incorporates a rubber ring. I found the soundstage to be projected quite forward and that disturbed me. Lowering the pneumatic pressure, so the platform was hardly above the floor, gave me then best results, but I knew I was kind of cancelling some effects of the platform by doing so. Until Stacore, very helpful by the way (!), told me that a direct hard but even contact between the surface and the platform works best. So, out went the rubber rings and suddenly I had all the upsides without the projecting soundstage issue! Wonderful!
