Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2014 13:16:47 GMT
Anyone here own/experienced sota racks (still points, Artesania, silent running audio etc).
Care to share thoughts on them?
If you think they're a rip off, cool, tell me of your experiences that have formed that opinion.
I'm seriously considering an upgrade to my (nice looking but) standard rack and isolation solution (home made oak panels with RDC cones, spikes and cups) for a complete system. I like what I've read about the Artesania racks. It protects from outside vibration and drains noise from components at the same time.
I don't know but have a belief that I'm not hearing what my gear can do 100% yet and in see the rack as a backbone to the system, so whilst an expensive investment it means I might become fully satisfied a bit earlier on my hi finadventure (yeah right lol!)
|
|
|
|
Post by kember on Jul 16, 2014 13:20:28 GMT
I have tried Stillpoints etc but have never felt the need to go further than Townshend Seismic Sink racks. (I live within 200 yards of a train station.)
P
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2014 13:26:01 GMT
So where did you try the still points and which ones did you use. What were the results?
And the Townshend stuff?
|
|
|
|
Post by danielquinn on Jul 16, 2014 13:27:11 GMT
I have tried Stillpoints etc but have never felt the need to go further than Townshend Seismic Sink racks. (I live within 200 yards of a train station.) P Please , do tell me more . Still points interest me , however , everything I read about them sets off my bullshit detector .
Except for some dubious claims upon record weight/clamp whose alleged efficacy over a lump of metal is a mystery to me , I do not recall reading one genuine enthusiasts report on these .
N.b to all - These are my genuine opinions, I am looking for them to challenged /reaffirmed , please don't take it personally if you disagree with me - ta .
|
|
|
|
Post by kember on Jul 16, 2014 13:31:53 GMT
They look nice and are well engineered but I simply could not hear any advantage over, say, the SS I mentioned above. I don't think the bullshit is in anything other than the price charged for some pretty engineering. They are perfectly viable isolation tools but too dear for my tastes.
P
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2014 13:44:49 GMT
They look nice and are well engineered but I simply could not hear any advantage over, say, the SS I mentioned above. I don't think the bullshit is in anything other than the price charged for some pretty engineering. They are perfectly viable isolation tools but too dear for my tastes. P Interesting. Did you ever try them under speakers? |
|
|
|
Post by kember on Jul 16, 2014 14:26:02 GMT
Sorry, no.
But my Sonus Fabers have outriggers and stone plinths and they work!
P
|
|
|
|
Post by kember on Jul 16, 2014 14:31:39 GMT
So where did you try the still points and which ones did you use. What were the results? And the Townshend stuff? Can't remember which ones but they looked like a spider rack. An eBay member in Essex was selling a few years ago and I asked if I could try them out with my kit, but he wanted £000's for the set and I just could not justify it. I bought a three tier Townshend second hand about a year ago as the vibrations from the trains seemed to be getting through to my kit, especially my Kuzma. Now I don't notice, so whether it is the isolation or I have just got used to it is hard to say... OTH, I have my 401 on a marble wash stand from the Conran shop and that is rock steady despite any vibration passing straight into the frmae - probably the mass of the thing or the slate on top. P |
|
|
|
Post by kember on Jul 16, 2014 14:38:27 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by MikeMusic on Jul 16, 2014 14:46:18 GMT
I have Mana, you may be tired of hearing  Recently tried out wooden cones, various squidgy pods and Stillpoints - on the Mana There is a thread here on TAS. When I become competent I will have it as a link... Short version These are opposite technologies/visions which work very well when used together Wooden Cones work - stupidly cheap, great VFM. MCRU do high ones, Russ Andrews do low ones Pods of various sizes - work even better, good VFM Stillpoints - work even better. VFM not so good Power amp less influenced than all the other kit. I am sorting out my Mana racks to fit large kit and will have 2 or 3 for sale soonish |
|
|
|
Post by kember on Jul 16, 2014 15:02:19 GMT
Mike
I've had Mana in the past but 'er indoors was understandably unhappy about having acres of angle iron visible in a public room:) so it all went in part-ex box swap. I know it's a Marmite product, but I couldn't see what the fuss was about one way or the other.
P
|
|
|
|
Post by shuggie on Jul 16, 2014 16:23:41 GMT
I've just read the opening post properly and noticed that Stillpoints racks are mentioned. I have a Stillpoints ESS rack, the last of the older type, and rate it highly, but it's not really suitable for a bouncy suspended floor and may have to replaced with a wall mounted rack system. I'd miss the ESS rack because it performs very well but with the added advantage of being virtually invisible in the room. The Music Works acrylic rack may be even more discreet, but it's not exactly solidly engineered like the ESS.
Whatever I do with the ESS rack, I will always carry on using Stillpoints supports, since nothing else that I've used for years comes close to their ability to let equipment produce music that I want to listen to. It's rather difficult to describe what they do, since there aren't any sonic fireworks as such, but the absence of Stillpoints is marked (for me) by an absence of musical enjoyment.
Mike's been tinkering with some of the original Stillpoints as well as a couple of Stillpoints Component Stands, and it would be interesting to hear his opinions, particularly of the latter.
Going back to the ESS stand, these things are stupidly expensive now and bordering on a joke in VFM terms. My older rack did not cost a fortune, so represented good value.
|
|
|
|
Post by MikeMusic on Jul 17, 2014 8:25:55 GMT
Hope to have the Component stands testing this weekend.
They won't sensibly go under the Isobariks as we first thought as the stand is physically too big to fit into the Stillpoints cups and resting bare metal is asking for trouble I think
Reality also got in the way and my rejig gave issues like leads now being too short. I have currently bodged
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2014 18:02:29 GMT
If you like Mana Mike, odds on you will like Still points.
They do improve a number of areas of the sonic reproduction as do many other products just at different points in frequency the spectrum.
Isolation is tricky business each different product having an effect on your system, the question is what YOU prefer.
Max T's products personally I have used in the past, they do work in many situations, however they do not cover all the bases for me, hence why I have moved in another direction.
As with all these products you need to try them for yourself in your own system before committing to change.
|
|
|
|
Post by MikeMusic on Jul 18, 2014 10:07:34 GMT
The Mana just works.
The recent and last big swap was mostly for kit fitting, with some Soundbases fitted in as 'they were there'.
Possibly my subconscious telling me to get them for better sound quality.
Improvements are quite noticeable, familiar music sounds like a different version of the same.
Stillpoints and other supports improve further on the Mana
Can vaguely see some sort of logic, but it is quite mad.
Looks a bit odd too.
Who is Max T, Townshend ? - Just down the road from work.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2014 1:46:32 GMT
Tony what do you use, the audiophile base range? How do they perform?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2014 17:22:18 GMT
How is Oz treating you now you have had time to find your feet? With the main system I am using these superb pieces. Just the ticketThese just do what they say on the tin and do it rather well. |
|
|
|
Post by MikeMusic on Jul 21, 2014 19:46:58 GMT
Sunday I managed to try out Stillpoints under the Isis CD.
Started with
1. nothing underneath
2. Solid plastic cones, better
3. Old Stillpoints, better
4. Stillpoints component stand, better we think, but not looking too good with the Isis around 5' off the ground now, supported by a replicator (see Stargate)
Not sure about the whole sound improving, there may have been something missing or maybe the vocal frequency range was picked out so much more than the rest.
Need to do some more work to be sure
|
|
|
|
Post by MikeMusic on Jul 22, 2014 9:04:57 GMT
How is Oz treating you now you have had time to find your feet? With the main system I am using these superb pieces. Just the ticketThese just do what they say on the tin and do it rather well. What sort of money Tony ? |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2014 23:33:15 GMT
How is Oz treating you now you have had time to find your feet? With the main system I am using these superb pieces. Just the ticketThese just do what they say on the tin and do it rather well. Hi Tony. Australia is great, really glad to have taken the leap! The blurb on them sounds interesting. You rate these above the audiophile base brand? |
|
