Silent Running Audio vs Harmonic Resolution System


Which of the two is better based on you own experience?
thesaint519

Showing 3 responses by whart

Saint- I think Myles Astor used the SRA; you might write to him- on the HRS, there must be some folks who use their big rack in their systems, based on a search you could write to them. You are thinking about this stuff for your Lamm gear and digital front end? I have a large HRS platform under my turntable, but it is less about isolation and more about having a large, stable platform to hold a heavy, high mass table and arm set-up that has no plinth of its own.
When I had the L2 line stage, I used Grand Prix Monaco as a rack, and used various things to damp the resonance of the chassis, including the small HRS 'plates.' You might also look at what a number of people are doing to bypass fancy 'isolation' racks and use simpler heavy duty shelving or platforms (not even 'audiophile approved'), along with free standing (not tied to a rack) decouplers like Stillpoints. But, you have to experiment. The Stillpoints and other decouplers, while effective, are not a panacea- any of these things that are effective also change the tone and character of the sound. Good luck.
Saint- The HRS platform is fine, but as I indicated, it really has less to do with isolation than just providing a platform for my big Kuzma table, which has no plinth and needs something to mount it on.
The Grand Prix stuff was great in its day, and I still use it, but do replace the sorbothane pucks every six months or so, not a big deal, but I get where you are coming from.
I think if I were starting from scratch I'd look at some some basic constrained layer platforms and well built shelving, furniture consoles or other well-built furniture that is not necessarily 'audiophile approved,' and do the isolation or decoupling separately. That seems to be the route several people have taken- folks who could conceivably buy anything they wanted to enhance system performance. The advantage is, you are not stuck with a spendy 'rack system' that may be last weeks' flavor after a couple years. (Though admittedly, things like Stillpoints as separate decouplers get pricey pretty quickly when you are doing a bunch of components). There is also a pretty well made wooden rack by the Box Company that a few people on the Hoffman forum were discussing. I think this is made by the same guy that builds the cabinets for DeVore speakers, so he may be local to NY. Worth checking, anyway. (It is not 'high tech' but looks pretty nice and you could probably add some additional platforms or decouplers as necessary).
I saw that you pinged Myles on his system page- I'm not sure he visits A-gon that much. See if you can't find an email for him via Positive Feedback Online. He's usually pretty responsive.
The only thing I'd add to all of this (and I think Larry alluded to it earlier), is that, in my estimation, there is no one 'all purpose' solution for all components in a system. The more effective a device is at isolating or decoupling, the more it may change a given component's sound. You can fine tune a system that way, or, after listening to the effect of various devices, decide that 'different' isn't better. Thus, I'd be reluctant to paint an entire system with a broad brush that says "here's an ideal solution for an entire system.' Obviously, if it is possible to try these things at no risk before you invest, you can make that decision for yourself. In that respect, I'm product agnostic- different solutions will have different effects on different components in different systems. And while I appreciate that you are doing your due diligence and research, Saint, there ain't no substitute for listening to it in your system, over a variety of source material, for more than an afternoon.
Best,