Final Labs Daruma Bearings, Opinons?

I've asked people about them. Here is what I've heard. The aurios are better but the question is are they $200 better? The darumas will not hold as much weight as the aurios. There have been a couple cases reported of the the bearing scoring the aluminium cupsof the darumas when their weight limit was exceeded...simply watch your weight and they will work. There is archived info at audioasylum. A short mention on enjoythemusic.com and I've been asking soundstage to try them....You can make a cheap knock-off by using vibrapods. Put a little modeling clay in the hollow of the pod to hold a spoon[remove the spoon handle]. Then ride a marble in the spoon. Place three of these devices on a granite tile. Float gear on top carefully and level. I use another granite tile on top of cd player....there are a number of similar designs at Asylum. Please note to be very careful when you float anything. And you do this at your own risk. But it works beutifully under my CD and Roxan Zerxes.....can't help it. I confess. I'm a tweakaholic....the darumas are now available here in Canada. One further thought. The aurios could be used for the very heavy equipment, I.E. speakers...and the darumas for the lighter stuff....this would save money. Cheers, Bluenose

I've tried Darumas and Aurios under my Sony SCD-777ES...the Darumas first. Made a noticeable improvement in tightening bass, rendering more stable images, etc. The Aurios made an even bigger improvement in all areas--the sonic presentation was more open, the soundstage broader, images better defined--and, in my opinion, are worth the difference in price. I kept the Darumas and put them under my tubed line stage...with good results.

Actually the Darumas are more similar to Symposium RollerBlocks, Aurios MIBs are a bit different. I have both Rollerblocks and MIBs and if very carefully set-up (perfectly level) the MIBs are slightly better, in both cases heavy/stiff AC cords and ICs can make set-up hard/impossible.

It is very hard to find Darumas, but for the price they would be a good start to see if you like the effect. Then
you could try MIBs for upgrade. I basically agree with Jim
above, this type of isolation is used to greatest effect
under CDP which has internal rotational vibrations to deal
with.

I'm still using them under my Dodson DAC and Sony SCD-1. I have an unused set of Symposium RB IIs w/Tungsten Carbide balls, but until I removed my phonostage today for sale, there was no room under the Dodson to use them. I may give it a whirl. They are a 1/4" taller than the Darumas and I can't fit them under the Sony while using this rack.

I don't doubt Jim's take on the MIBs vs. the Darumas, but I bought two used sets of the Darumas for $155 delivered and I don't know if the money needed for the Aurios is not better spent elsewhere, as I need a couple more AC cords for things.

I paid $200 delivered for the NEW RB IIs w/TC balls, so I got a great deal on them. They look cool, but I can't comment on their affect on my system just yet.

Chris