Tgun5
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2008
- Posts
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Stillpoints ERS cloth is a self –stick treatment that comes in 8 x 10 sheets. I have grown to love this stuff.
Specifically, ERS rejects and absorbs EMI and RFI interference and it does so very efficiently. I say this because it doesn’t take full coverage to make a audible improvement. ERS does the best job if attached internally to your equipments case. I noticed an immediate improvement just laying one sheet on the top of both my CD player and preamp.
Most of us have bought in to the idea that EMI and RFI are detrimental to our entire audio chain. This is evidenced by the many power conditioners that are now sold to eliminate the same. The problem is that these only solve the RFI interference that exists in the power line. RFI is present in every part of your audio chain. According to Stillpoints, digital gear not only is more affected by EMI/RFI but actually produces RFI internally! For this reason, they feel the ERS works even better on digital gear.
This reminds me of a RFI toy that I had as a child. If you are over 50, you may remember the “radio rocket” which was nothing more than a transistor, potentiometer, and earphone. You would find ANY metal, attach the alligator clip, and you had a radio. Any metal object contained enough RFI to be an antenna. We would use fences, garage door tracks, and lamp cords – anything metal worked. This was a great toy back in the 60’s and proves that RFI is everywhere. Think of the increase of it since the 1960’s!
Stillpoints ERS works, and from a price standpoint, they are a steal. These sheets improve the sound across the board and do so in a similar manner to any well-designed EMI/RFI filtration product. This includes removing a level of grain that you previously didn’t realize was there. Inner detail and focus, and transparency can improve dramatically. Dramatic is a description that is easy to use considering that these sheets are only $20 a piece. I also gained an improvement in soundstage width. I treated my entire system with four sheets and actually went overboard on the CD player. This is the efficiency I spoke of earlier. There is an improvement with just one sheet on the inside top of you components. You gain slightly more using it on the bottom inside panel as well. Mounting it on the sides is overkill and a waste of material. I ended up covering only the power supply in my Aesthetix Calypso, and the top inside panel of my Magnepan 3.6 crossovers.
As with any tweak, ERS does require some experimentation. I read all the printed reviews to get a starting point for my use. I did initially mount a sheet above the analog boards in my CD player and after 6 hours, removed it. Although there was an improvement using it there, the highs were slightly too prevalent with it in place. In some analog circuits, the presence of EMI/RFI is tuned into the frequency response of the device. ERS can effect of the amplitude of the high frequency and/or the low frequency extremes resulting in a less than desirable balance.
Specifically, ERS rejects and absorbs EMI and RFI interference and it does so very efficiently. I say this because it doesn’t take full coverage to make a audible improvement. ERS does the best job if attached internally to your equipments case. I noticed an immediate improvement just laying one sheet on the top of both my CD player and preamp.
Most of us have bought in to the idea that EMI and RFI are detrimental to our entire audio chain. This is evidenced by the many power conditioners that are now sold to eliminate the same. The problem is that these only solve the RFI interference that exists in the power line. RFI is present in every part of your audio chain. According to Stillpoints, digital gear not only is more affected by EMI/RFI but actually produces RFI internally! For this reason, they feel the ERS works even better on digital gear.
This reminds me of a RFI toy that I had as a child. If you are over 50, you may remember the “radio rocket” which was nothing more than a transistor, potentiometer, and earphone. You would find ANY metal, attach the alligator clip, and you had a radio. Any metal object contained enough RFI to be an antenna. We would use fences, garage door tracks, and lamp cords – anything metal worked. This was a great toy back in the 60’s and proves that RFI is everywhere. Think of the increase of it since the 1960’s!
Stillpoints ERS works, and from a price standpoint, they are a steal. These sheets improve the sound across the board and do so in a similar manner to any well-designed EMI/RFI filtration product. This includes removing a level of grain that you previously didn’t realize was there. Inner detail and focus, and transparency can improve dramatically. Dramatic is a description that is easy to use considering that these sheets are only $20 a piece. I also gained an improvement in soundstage width. I treated my entire system with four sheets and actually went overboard on the CD player. This is the efficiency I spoke of earlier. There is an improvement with just one sheet on the inside top of you components. You gain slightly more using it on the bottom inside panel as well. Mounting it on the sides is overkill and a waste of material. I ended up covering only the power supply in my Aesthetix Calypso, and the top inside panel of my Magnepan 3.6 crossovers.
As with any tweak, ERS does require some experimentation. I read all the printed reviews to get a starting point for my use. I did initially mount a sheet above the analog boards in my CD player and after 6 hours, removed it. Although there was an improvement using it there, the highs were slightly too prevalent with it in place. In some analog circuits, the presence of EMI/RFI is tuned into the frequency response of the device. ERS can effect of the amplitude of the high frequency and/or the low frequency extremes resulting in a less than desirable balance.
