One thing I have found about the Ultra Minis is that they actually work better
if you use four of them instead of three. (I didn't want to believe Roy Gregory,
but empirical experience proved me wrong.)
One of my amps was being repaired and I put the Ultra Minis under the NAD
C325 BEE integrated. The bottom of the NAD has vents all over the place, so I
had to place the minis in certain spots. It sounded fantastic, no two ways
about it. However, I inadvertently jarred the amp while removing the speaker
wires, and when I put them back in - with banana plugs - I noticed, listening
to the Helios release of the Rimsky-Korsakov 'Antar' recording, that the flutes
and piccolos did not 'dance' as fluidly - or as clearly - as they had before. I
immediately noticed the amp's orientation was, instead of facing, as before, at
a 9 o'clock - 3 o'clock position, was more a 8-2 position (maybe an 8 - 10
degree change). This put the Stillpoint feet at different points under the NAD.
I could hear it as a haze that held back the fluidity of the music, making the
aforementioned flutes sound more as though they were playing notes, instead
of playing 'emotions.' So, I pushed the amp back to the 9 - 3 position, and as
I did so, the upper harmonics of the flutes materialized. The stage also
widened a bit.
Now, the NAD has a very flimsy casing. But I found the same thing under my
Arcam FMJ CD player. If not balanced to the 'nth' degree, I could lose some
clarity - and transparency (not the same thing) - and dynamics. It should also
be noted that, due to the very slight haze, soundstage layers were
compressed as well, and imaging. I did this, by the way, about 10 minutes
ago, so it's clear what it sounded like at 11 am, and what it sounded like when
I (temporarily) put in a different set of bananas (old Monster Cable one, since
they were joined instead of single bananas, which can vibrate ever so slightly).
I'd also heard a consistent brightness on nearly all my music, but found out,
when I examined the single bananas, after removing them and putting in the
Monsters, that one of the single bananas had - without me seeing it - lost
some of the nine-point touch prongs, and, in addition, were dirty. I cleaned
the one plug with Deoxit, then did the other and put them back in the system,
making sure the connection was more secure. Brightness gone. Quiet, non-
hazy transparency and fluidity back on show, front and center! And the
layering is back.
After this experience, today I ordered 2 more of the Ultras, so I could balance
the main amps (the Hurricanes) on 4 feet instead of 3 when I return them to
the system this week. Given that the Ultras allow a little bit of height
adjustment, this is a good thing (I could NOT do this with the Nordost cones).
Roy Gregory strongly suggests 4 cones, and, given my experience with both
the CD player and the integrated amp where Stillpoints reside, as well as
under my PS Audio Power Plant (wow, what a different THAT made), I'd have to
agree. Three WILL sound good - until you put 4 under them, and then the
increase in transparency is like going from a good Canon lens to an "L" series
lens: so much more resolution and quietness in the background that one can
easily hear the trumpet players in the back row, while pausing for their
entrance, taking a breath right before they start to play.
The Stillpionts are, I suppose, expensive, relatively speaking (but no more
expensive than the Nordost cones. In fact, LESS expensive) it beats
auditioning a 6K preamp or amp or speakers, yet not truly hearing 100% of
the what you might end up buying. (And making purchases that one regrets 6
months later? My early days were littered with such purchases, and they were
expensive mistakes!)
I'd never have thought the NAD could be as delicate as it is. Truth to tell, it
almost sounds tube-like in its delicacy and emotional engagement. And I
recommend the NAD to any friend looking for an inexpensive integrated, so
I've heard them in 4 or 5 other systems, with many different brands of
isolation feet under them, up to, and including Goldmund cones, as well as all
the different iterations of the Nordost isolation feet.
The Stillpoints, which cost as much as a used NAD BEE integrated, elevate the
NAD to a sound quality level more akin to the Arcam FMJ 32 (which I have,
and is 5x as expensive). In fact, slight darkness aside, I prefer the NAD for its
full-bodied sound, extremely good focus, and very, very low noise floor. As
good as it sounded before, with the Stillpoints, aside from ultimate resolution,
there is little to not like if you're a music lover (and the audiophile stuff, such
as imaging, increases with the Stillpoints, too, so you get nearly everything!)
Finally, I find that the smaller changes (isolation feet, receptacles and,
perhaps, something that keeps speakers off the floor (I use Shunyata
Darkfield V2 elevators) allow one to audition very expensive
components with complete confidence that you are actually hearing the
COMPONENT under audition and not the shelf it's sitting on, or the internal
vibrations that shake, rattle and roll the power supply. I've made mistakes
before (haven't many of us??) buying 'up' when it would have made more
sense to have gotten a better ac receptacle or played with tube trap
positioning, than buy a new amp, which is surely a more expensive
proposition than making sure everything ahead of it is staying out of the way.
The Stillpoints are permanent fixtures in my system. I wouldn't even think of
evaluating a component without them under it. Really, the improvement
allows the purity with which music comes out of your speakers to sound
glorious and engaging.
