Marigo Labs Signature 3-D stabilizer.

Rja
I see yours is up for sale. Have you found something better?

Tab110s,
I'm giving the Stealth Varidig Sextet a shot.

I just bought one of the Marigo 3D Signature mats after hearing all of the raves. I'm sorry but I think it's garbage. Both me and a friend listened to music with and without the mat. The difference is so incredibly subtle that it is very difficult to hear any difference other than the mat washes out the body in the notes. We listened to different CD's for an hour. Then after listening to 10 second stretches of music, back to back with and without mat, these are my conclusions:
The mat washes the music taking out body. The overtones, which are very important in music, seem to have vanished. For example, on my system you can hear the guitar body vibrate the overtones, which produces a nice round image in the notes. You can tell what type of guitar it is and how the string was plucked. With the mat this is diminished, giving the music a flat presentation.
This mat seems to do the opposite to what it claims. Although I must admit, it's subtle, but it's noticeable if I listen for it.

I just upgraded the tubes in my preamp to tungsol (for $35) which made a phenominal difference. This mat at $200 is not worth it.

Consider the psychology of this: You just spent $200 on a tweak. You don't want to be cheated and you certainly don't want to look stupid, so you convince yourself that it works. You create the illusion that it works and you become convinced. You don't believe me? Ask any quantum physicist or even a psychologist. We do this subconsciously all of the time. We live in a subjective world.

If you're wondering, my system is all less than 6 monthes old comprising a Jolida 1501RC amp, Music hall CD25.2 player, Musical Fidelity tube buffer, Quad 21L speakers, upgraded power cords, Mapleshade power strip, Quantum EMI reorganizer, and soft annealed silver interconnects with Eichman connectors (Guerrilla audio).

I just returned from CES 2007 where I met Ron, the creator of the Marigo Labs Signature 3-D Stabilizer. In the KR Audio room, which had their new "Kronzilla" 50wpc SET amp teamed up with a pair of Escalante Design Fremonts, using an Esoteric X-01 CD player, I played some tracks from different CDs, both with and without the stabilizer.

Let's understand one thing: I am hardly a babe in the audio woods. I have seen more than my share of 'snake oil' in the realm of audio gear, and consider myself to be extremely objective when it comes to the evaluation process. I have walked away from many products if I heard no difference, or if the differences were not clear or consistent enough. I have heard 'uber-systems' that stood on reputation, but did not stand on their sonics, in my opinion.

But in this case, the difference in sound was astounding! Voices and instruments fleshed out, and the background was considerably quieter -- much of the digital 'haze' had been removed. The bottom end was more solid, while the top end was smoother. Overall, the entire system had more focus and clarity.

I bought two immediately, knowing that one would be lost to me forever once I installed it into an audiophile friend's system back home (it was). Upon installing it into said system, not only were the above improvements achieved, but the imaging improved by leaps and bounds as well: the entire image no longer seemed constrained by the speakers, but instead seemed to fill out spaces around and beyond the physical location of the speakers themselves.

My friend remarked that the system had improved as though I had brought in a new pair of speakers, along with a new amplifier.

As to why it works: the theory behind the improvements may or may not be valid; perhaps Marigo Labs has stumbled upon something that their theories are not explaining accurately. To tell the truth, I don't really care. What matters to me are the results.

Actually, what matters to me just as much is "bang for the buck" -- how much improvement is realized for the amount of money spent.

In this, the Marigo Labs Signature 3-D Stablizer excels. I cannot think of a better "upgrade", for anywhere near the price. Now I am left with a choice: buy more of them, or disown some of my audiophile friends. Hmmmmmm...

Can the 3-d Stabilizer work on any type transport system or are there variables involved? Thanks...