Another update on this:
I put my last platform under another Sony NS500V player (unmodified) in my second system. I put a plastic coated weight on top of the unit. BOOM. Major improvement right there. All of a sudden, the focus was SNAP tight ! All the improvements I heard in my main system, I heard again here to some degree.
There's a track on a CD from Beth Nielsen Chapman I love to listen to. CD is "Sand And Water," song is "Seven Shades Of Blue." The recording is very good not great, she is too closely mic'd IMO. But this song features mostly just Beth's voice and an acoustic guitar (some organ and guest vocals are there, too).
The detail & focus of her singing, and the sharpness & clarity of the guitar were really brought out by the platform and weight combo.
Another point I wanted to make, I stated it in the original review, but it needs to be restated: these are not the most amazing looking things. The unit I put in last had some marks on the steel top, and the sticker with the Audio Resolution logo is actually a little crooked. Nothing functionally wrong at all, but visually not as stunning.
This makes no difference to the sound, though, and therefore not to me. At $115, it is SO much cheaper than Symposium. The Symposium has superb craftsmanship, but you pay for it. I haven't compared these DIRECTLY to the different Symposium shelves/platforms, so I can't say if one is markedly better or not. Based on my experience in dealers, though (I wasn't shopping for Symposium's, but heard their effects on components and speakers I WAS looking at), I don't think the difference would be big if at all.
So again, hats off for this fine product, and inexpensive price. Really elevates the system a whole level....
I put my last platform under another Sony NS500V player (unmodified) in my second system. I put a plastic coated weight on top of the unit. BOOM. Major improvement right there. All of a sudden, the focus was SNAP tight ! All the improvements I heard in my main system, I heard again here to some degree.
There's a track on a CD from Beth Nielsen Chapman I love to listen to. CD is "Sand And Water," song is "Seven Shades Of Blue." The recording is very good not great, she is too closely mic'd IMO. But this song features mostly just Beth's voice and an acoustic guitar (some organ and guest vocals are there, too).
The detail & focus of her singing, and the sharpness & clarity of the guitar were really brought out by the platform and weight combo.
Another point I wanted to make, I stated it in the original review, but it needs to be restated: these are not the most amazing looking things. The unit I put in last had some marks on the steel top, and the sticker with the Audio Resolution logo is actually a little crooked. Nothing functionally wrong at all, but visually not as stunning.
This makes no difference to the sound, though, and therefore not to me. At $115, it is SO much cheaper than Symposium. The Symposium has superb craftsmanship, but you pay for it. I haven't compared these DIRECTLY to the different Symposium shelves/platforms, so I can't say if one is markedly better or not. Based on my experience in dealers, though (I wasn't shopping for Symposium's, but heard their effects on components and speakers I WAS looking at), I don't think the difference would be big if at all.
So again, hats off for this fine product, and inexpensive price. Really elevates the system a whole level....