Stillpoint Ultras anyone?

Tbg:
If you read Gregory's review on The Audio Beat website, he clearly states one must place the isolation devices directly into contact with the component and he states that removing it in any way from direct contact with the component has deleterious effects. Perhaps that accounts for your experience. I couldn't say myself. Just a speculation.

Gbmcleod, I think my problem originates from the power of the Ultra Fives. I have used them on top of many components with great but expensive benefit, but in some instances they do harm. It also seems to depend on what is under the component. Ultra Minis and Ultra SSs are okay but not Ultra Fives.

I really have no explanation for the problem with the HB Designs Acrylic PowerSlave.

I should note that in the vast majority of cases, the various StillPoints Ultra are marvelous. For their impact per cost, the Ultra Minis are clearly a best buy. I would not try them under 80 pound amps or speakers, however.

I have noticed incidentally that Minis are isolators under components. The ceramic balls isolate the component from the base of the Minis. I have had mixed results with the Ultra Fives and have yet to try the Ultra SSs. I think this is important for the same reason that getting cables off the floor are important, namely static electricity.

Mphnkns you are so right. I have a high end system (cost wise under $50k) and stillpoints,audios,pillows, etc. for vibration control. The last upgrade component was a preamp. I was disappointed in the congestion of orchestral tuttis, difficulty in finding a good tonal balance, especially voices which my equipment/cabling exalts (or should), soundstage and imaging. I already tried several sound absorbing panels between the speakers and mid-room with Hallographs. I finally realized adding more panels, mixing them with reflective panels totally changes the room sound. After about 100 hours and 50 panel setup changes, I realized my goal, open, uncongested sound with superb tonality, soundstaging and imaging. I ended up with stillpoints under my monoblock tube amps (big ones at 140 watts), stillpoints under my VPI SDS, aurios under my EAR Acute, a pillow under my EAR 324 and a Seismic Sink under my VPI TNT VI. Funny thing, the sorbothane feet under the pre-amp sounded better than with any of the other vibration items.

While the vibration control devices are wonderful when placed correctly, the room is about 50% of the sound quality
of the music.

Fleschler, I have seen many vibration devices come and go and have boxes of them. I had thought it was all merely a matter of what resonance point pleases you, but Star Sound Technology's Audiopoints proved this to be more complicated than I thought. Their brass Audiopoints sound better than any other brass point I have tried.

Halcyonics active isolation units, however, have no resonance frequency at low frequencies. And StillPoints' Ultra series seeks to convert all vertical resonances into heat. The Halcyonic units are too expensive and the SP Ultra Fives are expensive.

So we now have mechanical ground versus isolation devices, with the question being, which sounds better. I do know that on my TriPoint Troy Signature, the Star Sound "mechanical grounding" was better.

I agree with your statement, Fleschler: the room is an extremely important part of the quality. I have used components in 4 rooms: 2 in San Francisco, in which one room was narrow (I didn't know about first reflection points then), but the speakers were at the bottom of the "L" shaped room and therefore had access to the entire apartment. Then moved again and had a room with a concave ceiling back in 1988. That room sounded okay, and I used Sonex (too much) but had stellar imaging. Another room was 13 x 27 with 10 foot ceilings. Got great sound from that. The most recent two are here on the East Coast and the first room was my basement: 23 x 45. Of all the rooms, that one was fantastic, but I had to put RT-13 insulation between the ceiling joists (unfinished basement, joists just as it would be in a ranch built in 1965) and concrete walls and floor. I had to put area rugs in front of the speakers, and hauled the 30 or so tube traps into service. Despite the low ceiling, that room is easily the most transparent. However, I had an addition built onto the house and the new room, while good - and has a 10' ceiling in the new part (8' in the old) is no match for the basement where you could nearly just "drop" the speakers into any area and they sounded better (and this with water pipes and heating ducts overhead and the basement is only 7'6" high to begin with).
I heard my CD player many years ago in the rom of Tom McFaul, who wrote the Meow-Meow cat commercials. His living room is around 30 x 50 (bigger than my mother's ranch) and his setup atrocious, but the speakers he had (cheap Infinitys) had so much open space, they didn't care. Sounded astounding, given his speaker cable was cheap, he didn't even have speaker stands for the speakers AND the speakers were just 'thrown' into the back part of the room (where a grand piano was directly to the side of one speaker).
Room comes first: everything else is the equivalent of 4th place.