I used Nordost Sort Kones, which replaced various devices: Tip Toes, Finite Elements rack with Cerabases and then Cerapucs. After the Sort Kones came the Stillpoints Ultra Mini Risers and SS footers. And shortly, the Townshend Seismic Isolation Platform will arrive. The Townshend is the 3rd generation successor to its Seismic Sinks. The first Seismic sinks didn't do much for my equipment, and I missed out on generation 2, which isolated in the horizontal AND vertical planes, something that was not true of the first generation sinks, and which was then supplanted by the Vibraplane (not in my system, just in the affections of the late HP of TAS). I am curious to see - as it isolates down to 3hZ, how the sonics will affect my turntables: an old Rega Planar 3 and a Notthingham Horizon. Unfortunately, my old Versa Dynamics 2.3 is out on the West Coast.
So far, the Stillpoints are the best, but there is a caveat with ALL footers: do not simply put them under the 4 corners and then think you've done everything you need do. You will need to move them around - and it can take a LONG time - to find the ideal spot, which is on in which dynamics have great range and contrast, transient accuracy is evident, low-level detail is at its highest and then - the one most people comment on - the bass is transparent. Most people who've posted just say, "oh, it was the usual thing, the bass was a bit tighter..." If that's all they got, then they did not wring maximum performance out of their isolation device. TAS did an article in December of 2015, about how the authors experimented with the placement of several devices: Nortost Sort Kones, Stillpoints and several other devices. They found that tiny movements of the foots either improved or harmed the sound. Placement is crucial and you should be prepared to spend at least 20 hours finding the perfect spot. CDs work best for this: turntables will have you jumping up every 30 seconds.
