Star Sound Sistrum pltfm? About to pull trigger.

Platform ordered on Wednesday, arrived on Friday. Pretty quick shipping! Impressive (favorably). It's installed, and appears like the will be much more stable than the points.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THE POINTS: The origin of the problem was NOT with the points: The bottom of the Onkyo Integra DPC 8.5 universal carousel player is VERY uneven, with dips and peaks and ledges, etc. It was quite a challenge to find suitably spaced areas on the bottom of the unit that protruded downward by the same amount, allowing one to level the player on the SP 003. The bottoms of the Dodson and the three Odyssey pieces are much flatter.

Tom,

Looks like the only one guaranteed to fit in the space is the SP 003, which is what I just ordered.

To everyone: Thanks for all your help!

Tom,

Here's a link to a photo of the entertainment center:

Photo of where the player is, right below the TV

Mdhoover a Sistrum Sp1 with 1.0 Audiopoints [a treaded male/female pair] and a set of upper and lower coupling discs will provide you with the most reactive platform for your provided space. Putting extra mass atop a device resting on Audiopoints or Sistrum will only provide confusion to the sound. You will have two different reactions in both time and direction for vibration to collect and to exit..resulting in a loss of clarity. Do we know the type of rack you are using and the surface type it is resting on? Tom

Tom,

The Sp 101 is too big to fit in the space in our entertainment center, which is only 23 inches wide. The added height due to the platform also can be absolutely no more than 3 1/2 inches.

So NOW WHAT?

Mdhoover, WOW! great to have alot of friends on the Gon. Coupling discs and surface material as well as mass all need to be thought about. Discs under any point that may come in contact with wood or plastic materials.Disc between any point tip and a mass of less than 15lbs. These are my personal findings to be used separately or combined with Audiopoints or a Sistrum platform.Brainwater may be speaking about the Sistrum Sp101 platform which is simply a single shelf Sistrum rack. Same foot print only singular same reactive character only better because it is intended to rest directly on the floor and is for sure direct coupled in the shortest path to mechanical ground.Tom

Go with sistrum . Its one of the most effective racks available at any price as long as you get the audiophile rods that are filled with micro berring. This version is far superior to the older version . Sistrum has small brass component couplers that go between the component and spike and are not expensive. Also larger sistrum racks have legs that protrude above the side of the component and offer greater protection from accidental misuse. Finally , they offer a near solid top shelf that the unit can safely rest on .

AAAHHHH, just saw Dennis' system, (waayy cool, btw!) and the price tag for the 101 is 550 bucks! Oh well. Sounds like it's well worth it. Unanimity is pretty darn rare among us A'gon-izers, so I'm still going for it.

(Plus it's pretty darn impressive how fast Mr. Lyons answered my email; that says a lot to me.)

Cenline wrote:
"I just hate when I get better resolution and better dynamics with a lower noise floor."

LOL, yeah, me too. (Sounds like you're the kind of guy who'd enjoy my "alien abduction" followup thread! Don't forget to check out the link!)
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Listener57: Thank you. Based on Tom's (Theaudiotweak) suggestion, I may use the second set of coupling discs. The unit is an Onkyo DPC 8.5 universal player, which is decent on its own, but benefits GREATLY from the Dodson DAC in the signal path. Don't know its weight, but if I get truly desperate, I may refer to the owner's manual to find out.
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Theaudiotweak:

Thanks for the information. What about the notion of putting some weights on top of the player to increase its mass? If it goes over 15 pounds, does the second set of coupling discs become a bad idea?
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Krell_man wrote:

"I'm going to say something and I hope that it doesn't offend you."

Not offended at all. Thankful that you're willing to share advice with me. As it turns out, our living room is where the stereo is and it's in an open configuration, with wide open entryways surrounding it. The kitchen and kitchen eating room area, for example, are completely contiguous.
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Thanks to all.

Based on the quick responses to this thread, I just called the dealer and ordered the 101's and the only remaining question is whether to get three more coupling discs, based on the weight of the player, to sit between the points and the player.
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{{{Now, how about some additional responses to my headphone thread??? (I'm greedy for Audiogon knowlege!!)}}}

Tvad,

It wasn't clear in the initial thread (sorry), but the player wasn't totally falling off: what was happening is that when the player moved, one of the points would tip onto its side, and the player would tilt a little.

{{For some reason, this has been a total NON-problem with both of the monoblock amps (about 70 pounds each), the preamp (something like 30 pounds), or the Dodson DAC. Just the player, which admittedly gets more "touches."}}

{{{{{As for the Dakioms, we'll just have to wait and see about that, but it's certainly a valid consideration. Maybe after the holidays, when there's more time. Sooner than that only if someone asks by posting to the Dakiom review follow-up thread, which seems..., umm.......
...UNLIKELY. :) }}}}}
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Nrchy,

Thank you. That is EXTREMELY helpful.

I have been a user of Audiopoints for 10years and have been using Sistrum since its inception..and I am now a dealer. Sistrum will provide you with more stability than will only three Audiopoints. On the Sistrum platform someone would have to bump the player hard enough to make it slide off one of the points. I have never seen or heard of that happening. The platform to use should be the Sp-1 or even better would be the Sp101 whch is a single shelf Sistrum Rack. By experience I would only use the coupling discs to improve the sound on electronics that weigh less than 15 lbs..they seem to improve the surface tension on lightweight components. I also prefer the sound when using the platform on plastic or wooden shelves to place the coupling disc between the shelf and the bottom point of the Sistrum. Tom

I just hate when I get better resolution and better dynamics with a lower noise floor. I still think that the sistrum stands are one of the best values in high end today!!If you like the points ,then the stands ( get the 101's and you won't have to update any further)will simply blow you away.Tvad and Nrchy are both right and have really understated what they do for a system, all my friends run them on sources and speakers ( all 101's). By not pulling the trigger you'd be shooting yourself in the foot.Just remember advice is free and trust your own ears once they are in the system-Take care Dennis

Why would you want to shoot it?
.

I have the Sistrum rack which I bought based on having heard it at CES and RMAF and the recommendation of Tom Lyons. I have had it for a couple of months and I'm terribly impressed with the rack.

There are points which point up and contact the bottom of your gear, so employing something between the gear and points might be desireable. I don't use them since I'm not that concerned about the bottom of the gear, and I don't move the stuff once it's in place...

Pull the trigger!

I have the Sistrum SP-6 rack and really like it. Tried all of the damping stuff and went with this, you'll really like what it does.

I'm going to say something and I hope that it doesn't offend you. I've got two daughters, 24 and 20. Neither those two nor their friends treated my equipment with the respect it deserves, so they were banded from it, period!

I bought them small systems and told them that mine was off limits. I wasn't being mean, but having them and their friends mess with a system costing around $30-K wasn't about to continue.

I even put it in a locked room which really irritated my wife. But like I told her, we can't afford to replace these pieces if they break something.

Saw this at a recent demo, and it does not have a built in barbed wire fence to keep away bodies in motion. Worked perfectly to hold a big CDP in position while the sound was wonderful. Is your plan to have points up into bottom surface of your CDP, or to use upside-down discs (which could be moved by family members) to interface with bottom surface of CDP?
This is a great idea for getting best sound, just never underestimate the ingenuity of the masses to push and shove your gear.
I'll buy any of your leftover Audio Points which I also use with great benefit.