Marigo Labs Signature 3-D stabilizer.

I just bought one of the Marigo 3D Signature mats after hearing all of the raves. I'm sorry but I think it's garbage. Both me and a friend listened to music with and without the mat. The difference is so incredibly subtle that it is very difficult to hear any difference other than the mat washes out the body in the notes. We listened to different CD's for an hour. Then after listening to 10 second stretches of music, back to back with and without mat, these are my conclusions:
The mat washes the music taking out body. The overtones, which are very important in music, seem to have vanished. For example, on my system you can hear the guitar body vibrate the overtones, which produces a nice round image in the notes. You can tell what type of guitar it is and how the string was plucked. With the mat this is diminished, giving the music a flat presentation.
This mat seems to do the opposite to what it claims. Although I must admit, it's subtle, but it's noticeable if I listen for it.

I just upgraded the tubes in my preamp to tungsol (for $35) which made a phenominal difference. This mat at $200 is not worth it.

Consider the psychology of this: You just spent $200 on a tweak. You don't want to be cheated and you certainly don't want to look stupid, so you convince yourself that it works. You create the illusion that it works and you become convinced. You don't believe me? Ask any quantum physicist or even a psychologist. We do this subconsciously all of the time. We live in a subjective world.

If you're wondering, my system is all less than 6 monthes old comprising a Jolida 1501RC amp, Music hall CD25.2 player, Musical Fidelity tube buffer, Quad 21L speakers, upgraded power cords, Mapleshade power strip, Quantum EMI reorganizer, and soft annealed silver interconnects with Eichman connectors (Guerrilla audio).

I just returned from CES 2007 where I met Ron, the creator of the Marigo Labs Signature 3-D Stabilizer. In the KR Audio room, which had their new "Kronzilla" 50wpc SET amp teamed up with a pair of Escalante Design Fremonts, using an Esoteric X-01 CD player, I played some tracks from different CDs, both with and without the stabilizer.

Let's understand one thing: I am hardly a babe in the audio woods. I have seen more than my share of 'snake oil' in the realm of audio gear, and consider myself to be extremely objective when it comes to the evaluation process. I have walked away from many products if I heard no difference, or if the differences were not clear or consistent enough. I have heard 'uber-systems' that stood on reputation, but did not stand on their sonics, in my opinion.

But in this case, the difference in sound was astounding! Voices and instruments fleshed out, and the background was considerably quieter -- much of the digital 'haze' had been removed. The bottom end was more solid, while the top end was smoother. Overall, the entire system had more focus and clarity.

I bought two immediately, knowing that one would be lost to me forever once I installed it into an audiophile friend's system back home (it was). Upon installing it into said system, not only were the above improvements achieved, but the imaging improved by leaps and bounds as well: the entire image no longer seemed constrained by the speakers, but instead seemed to fill out spaces around and beyond the physical location of the speakers themselves.

My friend remarked that the system had improved as though I had brought in a new pair of speakers, along with a new amplifier.

As to why it works: the theory behind the improvements may or may not be valid; perhaps Marigo Labs has stumbled upon something that their theories are not explaining accurately. To tell the truth, I don't really care. What matters to me are the results.

Actually, what matters to me just as much is "bang for the buck" -- how much improvement is realized for the amount of money spent.

In this, the Marigo Labs Signature 3-D Stablizer excels. I cannot think of a better "upgrade", for anywhere near the price. Now I am left with a choice: buy more of them, or disown some of my audiophile friends. Hmmmmmm...

Can the 3-d Stabilizer work on any type transport system or are there variables involved? Thanks...

I tried Ron's mat on my Theta Miles. This CD player has "Stable Pioneer Platter" , which means the label side of the CD is on the actual platter with the shiny side up. Although I too was very impressed with this product, the mat was placed between the platter and the disc causing tracking / operational difficulties due to, I believe, a decrease in the vertical distance from the laser to the disc.

So, if you are going to use with the Pioneer platter, be advised that this can be an issue.

I want to share my amazingly positive experience with the new Marigo Evolution Signature CD Tuning Mat. I have used Marigo's CD mats over the years from their very first offering, I believe about fifteen or so years ago. The Evolution Signature mat is the fourth iteration of the Marigo mat. Each successive "generation" had wrought positive improvements from my Mark Levinson Reference 31.5 transport. (While the top loading Levinson comes with its own CD clamp, I have ordered parts from Levinson and have made my own CD clamp, substituting their carbon fiber disk for your Marigo mat.) The latest Evolution Signature mat's improvement is so substantial that it is a larger "jump" in performance than from the standard Levinson clamp to the last generation "V2 Reference" mat!
I hear a startling increase in the focus of imaging placement within the sound stage. The focus of everything in that sound stage is both tighter and possesses a three dimensional body that most digital simply lacks. Tone saturation is richer. The bass not only goes deeper, but is more tuneful as well. The highs are better defined and extended. The mid range is the icing on the cake. Voices are much better defined and clarified, combined with the improvement in density of tone and harmonic texture now sound shockingly real and alive. The sense of space and performance venue is greatly improved as well.

Overall the music has so much more of a relaxed quality to it similar to that of master tape analogue that allows me to simply listen to the music and not work as hard having my brain trying to connect the "digital dots". The increased resolution, focus, dynamics, detail, sense of space, articulation, and what I would call a "continuousness" of saturated tone, all combine to literally transform my digital playback to a level that I have never experienced before! I know that this must seem like hyperbole. The overall improvement is SHOCKING!

In the context of my high end system the $200 that I had paid for Evolution Signature mat that replaced the Reference V2 mat, was the cheapest money that I have ever spent for the most improvement in my system!

If anyone has a Reference V2 mat, they may be loathe to replace it, as it is most excellent. I can tell you from first hand experience, that the new Evolution signature mat is on a whole different and much higher level of sonic improvement.

For anyone has never tried a Marigo CD mat or any mat for that matter, this is the one to have. This is not just a simple "tweak", this is an essential and basically "give away" priced in terms of the substantial sonic upgrade that truly must be experienced to be believed. In the context of my high end audio system, this is making an improvement that I did not think possible and at a price that was ridiculously low. Based on my listening experience, this may be the biggest bargain in audio today!