Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Yes, thanks. That was a good summary. The mystery is that users report that the CS footers take a while to “burn in”, up to 7/10 days apparently and before that point, they sound terrible. Sounds like some sort of annealing process going on due to the vibrations passing through? 

I have the IsoAcoustic Orea’s Indigos on test at the moment. They work really well and considering their cost they are a great starting point. I’m sure the Symposium will be a step up though, but with shipping costs from US it will be a much more expensive set up.

 I’m also talking to Stacore in Poland about their shelf’s. I’m in touch with someone who really likes Symposium and who has gone over to Stacore. He currently uses both. It’s seriously expensive though and weighs 100kg. Something I’m going to explore in the longer term.

Critical Mass says the same of their shelves. I think it has to do with the viscoelastic material compressing to its fully compressed state over a few days before it achieves proper thickness to effectively distribute heat. As I have said, I believe CM is on the cutting edge of shelf and rack design, the best in the industry. But you pay for that!!! And I am not convinced that for the same money that you can get the CS footers, you can probably get the same or better performance from a less expensive Symposium Ultra shelf. But until I hear that I can’t say for sure.

Yes, the Orea and Gaia are ridiculous value for the money. Nothing comes close for that price.

The Stacore looks interesting. But at almost 100kg and not available in the US it’s not on the table, so to speak.

PS - My Giant Diamond Resonator ShunMook footers have arrived. I haven’t had a chance to do anything but look at them. They sure are nice to look at though. Eval to come.

In the event you decide you don’t like the Shun Mook jobbers I’m an instant buyer. 😎 Oh, by the way, you guys can keep all that other stuff, just gimme a Minus K and the Shun Mooks to put under it. 🤡

@geoffkait, I know somebody in the U.K. who recently had both the Minus K and Stacore side by side in his system for evaluation. The long and short is that he thought the Stacore worked better in his system and he now has four. Active vs passive systems, he preferred the passive solution. He uses and still recommends Symposium before he moved on to a “different level” with Stacore. I believe he uses Symposium couplers with the Stacore. However they weigh 100kg and the cost of one is equivalent to 5 Ultras and RB’s. So it’s a serious investment. Build quality I’m told is excellent.

@mattnshilp , seems Shun Mooks are a bit Marmite from what I gather, you either love or hate them. I’ve been offered some to test out but waiting on your response because at this stage I’m not that positive about them, I think there are more interesting footers out there. I won’t tell you what the Stacore lover said about the SM’s until after you have tried them.