Anders
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Vibration damping is mostly relevant when you use speakers and the sound induces vibration in other components, especially source components as CD players and turntables. It should have very marginal importance for headphone only users.
I will here give my first, positive impressions of a medium expensive vibration device, the Final Daruma 3-II (about $100). I have tested it on a system with a Krell KAV-250cd, Krell 300i integrated amp and Revel Performa M20 stand-mounted speakers; with Synergistic and Nordost cables and medium-prize powercords. Components are placed on steady rack between the speakers. The rack was good looking and reasonably prized and I didn’t think about the glass shelves then, but have later understood that hard tree or fiberboard may be better. Glass is said to give a little bright sound.
There are several types of vibration damping devices. Soft shoes and hard cones or spikes are most common. The Daruma is entirely different and consists of two metal cups with a metal ball between. Three such devices are placed under the component that then floats in the horizontal direction, moving with the sound rather than absorbing vibration. In this aspect it is similar to much more expensive alternatives as Aurios and Rollerblocks.
It was easy to place the Daruma’s under the CD player. It is said that the surface must not be absolutely level and my rack tilts slightly (one degree or so). One has to be a little careful when touching the CD player, no heavy punches, but this is easy to adjust to. Earlier I had some cheap soft shoes under the player that made a slight improvement. After replacing them with Daruma, I listen to three selected CDs that I had heard recently. Testing was at a normal to high level.
1.Messiaen: Turangalila Symphony (good performance and recording on a 2 CD Naxos). This is a very rhythmic and intense piece with frequent crescendos. Sounds probably terrible on equipment that cannot handle it. It sounded quite good before the Daruma but I had problems with some brightness and the coherency tended to break up in crescendos. With the Darumas, brightness was reduced and instrumental timbre cleaner and with better texture. The soundstage deepened. The total improvement was more than marginal.
2.Rage against the machine: Rage against the machine. This CD sounded good before and I had nothing to complain about. With the Daruma it sounded as half an octave was added in the bass. I don’t think the actual volume changed, but the usable, good and well defined bass extended while resonances and soft, free-floating bass decreased. Cymbals sounded both somewhat more metallic (meant positively) and with more refined shimmer and ambience.
3.Björk: Post. A listened primarily to the second track with very high bass output. This previously flabby bass was now clearly tighter. What previously sounded overlaid on the music (cheap trick?) was now much more integrated with the music.
I didn’t feel any need for A-B testing as the differences were so obvious and easily could be analyzed, but not always easy to describe accurately in a foreign language. It was not the “it just sounds better experience” you can have on a good day.
The effect is not less, rather more than changing to a good IC or power cord. I believe it is replicable in most systems because of the principle of damping. Soft shoes and cones, what I understand, mainly works by changing the resonance to a less disturbing frequency and hard to predict (there is an interesting article about this in the Stereophile online archive, but I can’t remember the title just now). I don’t compare it to alternative damping devices, but for me the Daruma was a very good value.
You can find more information and reviews on www.finallab.com
I will here give my first, positive impressions of a medium expensive vibration device, the Final Daruma 3-II (about $100). I have tested it on a system with a Krell KAV-250cd, Krell 300i integrated amp and Revel Performa M20 stand-mounted speakers; with Synergistic and Nordost cables and medium-prize powercords. Components are placed on steady rack between the speakers. The rack was good looking and reasonably prized and I didn’t think about the glass shelves then, but have later understood that hard tree or fiberboard may be better. Glass is said to give a little bright sound.
There are several types of vibration damping devices. Soft shoes and hard cones or spikes are most common. The Daruma is entirely different and consists of two metal cups with a metal ball between. Three such devices are placed under the component that then floats in the horizontal direction, moving with the sound rather than absorbing vibration. In this aspect it is similar to much more expensive alternatives as Aurios and Rollerblocks.
It was easy to place the Daruma’s under the CD player. It is said that the surface must not be absolutely level and my rack tilts slightly (one degree or so). One has to be a little careful when touching the CD player, no heavy punches, but this is easy to adjust to. Earlier I had some cheap soft shoes under the player that made a slight improvement. After replacing them with Daruma, I listen to three selected CDs that I had heard recently. Testing was at a normal to high level.
1.Messiaen: Turangalila Symphony (good performance and recording on a 2 CD Naxos). This is a very rhythmic and intense piece with frequent crescendos. Sounds probably terrible on equipment that cannot handle it. It sounded quite good before the Daruma but I had problems with some brightness and the coherency tended to break up in crescendos. With the Darumas, brightness was reduced and instrumental timbre cleaner and with better texture. The soundstage deepened. The total improvement was more than marginal.
2.Rage against the machine: Rage against the machine. This CD sounded good before and I had nothing to complain about. With the Daruma it sounded as half an octave was added in the bass. I don’t think the actual volume changed, but the usable, good and well defined bass extended while resonances and soft, free-floating bass decreased. Cymbals sounded both somewhat more metallic (meant positively) and with more refined shimmer and ambience.
3.Björk: Post. A listened primarily to the second track with very high bass output. This previously flabby bass was now clearly tighter. What previously sounded overlaid on the music (cheap trick?) was now much more integrated with the music.
I didn’t feel any need for A-B testing as the differences were so obvious and easily could be analyzed, but not always easy to describe accurately in a foreign language. It was not the “it just sounds better experience” you can have on a good day.
The effect is not less, rather more than changing to a good IC or power cord. I believe it is replicable in most systems because of the principle of damping. Soft shoes and cones, what I understand, mainly works by changing the resonance to a less disturbing frequency and hard to predict (there is an interesting article about this in the Stereophile online archive, but I can’t remember the title just now). I don’t compare it to alternative damping devices, but for me the Daruma was a very good value.
You can find more information and reviews on www.finallab.com