Long XLR's: PAD Venustas versus Mogami

Boston Audio makes graphite/steel tune blocks to be used under spiked speakers. Anyone tried this?

My experience with coupling versus de-coupling varies based on the room/floor/subfloor and speakers.

When I had my listening room in the basement with a concrete (carpeted) floor, coupling worked very well.

My current room incorporates a floating wood floor system and de-coupling works better in this room. I run Wilson W/P speakers mostly, but others as well. Though I am contemplating the use of a largish marble/stone slab for its mass/weight and placing the speakers on this. Have others tried this approach and what has their experiences been?

I spiked my speakers the other night to see what I was missing. I first tried it with the lowest setting but it produced way too much bass. Wilson provides spacers for this type of situation and so my next attempt was with both spacers (equaling the height of the casters).

With this I didn't hear much difference from the casters, but I did *feel* the bass more (concrete floor for what it's worth).

I have used the Adona platforms under my speakers. They are granite with a layer of MDF bonded to the granite. I used them granite side down and either set or spiked the speakers on the MDF side. They worked quite well.

For those of you interested the speaker/floor interface, there are already many threads on the subject, this forum is about cables.

Stringreen, your remarks (about your experiences with the Anti-Cables) is a perfect illustration of why I think it's SO IMPORTANT for people to post their systems!!

Just imagine me reading your post at face value -- which is what we all do first, of course. But your post as presented is (probably) interchangable with a dozen others just like it, maybe even word for word! As such, it can not, and does not tell me anything useful with respect to my own audiophile life/understanding/experiences/equipment etc.

Why should I believe you actually tried all the "top line stuff" you mention? And what difference would it make anyway? And the remark about "no best cable"? Yeah, right! We've all been treated to THAT "unique and profound insight" a few hundred times! So what? A flair for the obvious? Not very helpful . . . .

BUT WAIT! This person has posted his SYSTEM! OK, maybe he's put his money where his mouth is (literally, this time!) Let's see . . . .

OK. Nice lineup of stuff. Cost a few bucks. Solid manufacturers with good performance track records. Appears to understand the notion of synergy between certain kinds and makes of components. Nothing megabuck, but everything is at a similar level of (very good) quality. Perhaps he's working from an overall 'vision' of a system he imagines he will create or refine as he goes along. He doesn't appear to have selected anything out of expedience; that is, no budget/midfi gear (from the Advisor or Crutch catalogs ;--) just to "fill out" the "lineup" ;--) He's frugal, but has the 'scratch' to try/buy something he believes worthwhile; (so he probably really DID audition those fancy cables ;--) still, he sees no reason to have the 'latest version' of most things. Willing to wait patiently until something he really wants comes up on the used market perhaps. Someone with an intelligent measured approach to creating a system.

Does he know a lot of "audio science"? Maybe; maybe not. A hard thing to evaluate by just looking at a person's system choices, and no further discussion with them. Do I believe his remarks about the Anti-Cable? Yes, I do! Specifically when he says how he loves them with HIS components. I can fully understand the authenticity of that remark, simply because I know from my own experience, that the "top line stuff" he mentions, if installed in his current system, would very likely NOT improve its performance over what he now enjoys using Anti-Cables. The AC's have VERY low inductance-and-capacitance, which IMO is sufficient to fully optimize the performance of the components and speakers he has right now. His whole system, as currently constituted, is in an almost perfect state of balance; with no component/element 'out-classing' any other. The "bad news" about such a situation, is that if he makes a significant upgrade, especially to amp or speakers, then every element in the system will have to be reconsidered one by one, and probably also improved, including all the cable paths. At that point, the Anti-Cables themselves will NOT have all the attributes necessary to support a more refined system -- they will only hold it back from performing its best.

Stringreen's is the kind of system I used to put together myself when I was (much ;--) younger. I really took a lot of pride in what I achieved, and should have quit right there and gone on to stamp collecting ;--)) But there's no end to sonic improvements; until one day you realize, as I have, that your system has improved while your hearing has deteriorated, and it's time to stop.
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