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Amazed at Herbies Iso Cups

Category: Accessories

I don't have doubts that isolation anti-vibration devices can improve a components performance, but I've been stuck in the mindset that you have to use mass loading or full sized platforms to achieve those results. At the strong recommendation of a friend, I ordered a set of Herbies Iso Cups and the Mini Iso Cups (the minis are for the small sized preamp I use--a Mapletree Audio Ultra 4A). Herbies provided amazingly fast shipment; arrived two days after I ordered it and I wonder if he has connections at the post office. I put a set of the cups using the gadon ebony balls under the Musical Fidelity A5 CD player. The sonic changes were most likely subtle to non-audiophile ears and I spared my wife the agony of asking her the ever dreaded "don't you hear the difference" question. Yet, to me the change was dramatic. Still caught up in this drama, I am having a difficult time putting into words exactly what improvements I heard. I can unequivocally say that everything just sounds more "right". Yes, there are the usual changes that are experienced with isolation devices, such as a deeper soundstage, better defined images, clearer and cleaner highs and mids, deeper bass. But, there is also a greater sense of drive, rythm and musicality that I did not expect. The iso cups have really revealed the better side of my CD player. The improvements were not so noticeable with the mini cups, though there are improvements. My guess, and its only a guess, is that the Herbies don't don't do anything, but keep other things like vibrations and shelf resonances from doing their thing. By keeping out the nasty colorations of those unwanted nasties, your components can perform the way they were designed--to transform the electrical signal into music. When I try out cables, power cords, AC filters, and other tweaks, I don't often use the word "improvement" to describe what they do. All of these items do change the sound, but to say that those changes are an "improvement" is a matter of personal taste. With the iso cups, however, the word "improvement" seems appropriate since it allows the components to perform as pure and unadulterated as possible. In fact, I don't usually write posts for tweaks like these, but I thought it was important to share since when I searched the archives for Herbies products myself, I found some favorable comments, but not much in terms of specifics. Maybe I'm just amazed because I'm a skeptic at heart when it comes to some of these devices. Ok, I'm rambling here. Time to stop. Just wanted to share my amazement.
hartwerger

Showing 1 response by nonoise

nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,605 posts
 
Herbie is certainly onto something, thats for sure. I cannot commnet on the Iso Cups but I use his Bigfeet, Tenderfeet and another one for my speakers. All of the claims and benefits for spikes and cones I get using his products, at a fraction of the price. Instead of draining vibrations in one plane, onto the floor or some kind of support, his devices drain microphonics in all planes, resulting in a lower noise floor with a tightening of images and lets your hear deeper into the music. PRAT is more apparent as the music is more focused. Haze and smear just dissappear. Detail is improved along with the attendant articulation allowing more of a listening gestalt.
On another note, I thought I had my system correctly set up using the Tenderfeet under my CDP. Stupid me, I had them under the players feet instead of under the CDP itself. I had this set up this way for over a year and thought it was right until I placed them correctly and all I can say is WOW. What were sounds that were only hinted at, and incorrectly imagined, came into a sharp and clear focus with detail applently.
Using his products on a mid priced unit (its all I can afford) can elevate it to another level without spending a fortune.
Now I'm rambling.
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