Do stands make a difference for equipment?

The OP has to decide if he seeks isolation type products or energy conduit -transfer engineered products such as Star Sound.They are very different.
Regards,

This is also about the best way I'm aware of to take a direct shot at reducing digital "self noise" inside a component.

Bravo. Someone is taking the "discipline" forward through innovation. The whole concept of self-noise is integral to this discussion. It is akin to what Nordost demonstrated with jitter and cabling changes using software measurements. I know Starsound has provisions for formal testing in the works.

Total cost, about $500. How much better can a expensive stand improve on this?

There is only one way to find out! I have used Herbie's stuff in the past and it is a very good value. One thing to remember is that a lot of this comes down to system voicing. Herbie dots or Sorbethane or possibly Equarack can soften a front end that is prone to brightness. I have heard that....

...at the end of day most stands should be seen as a design element.

Au contraire. It is not decorative but is an engineered, holistic extension of your equipment. Again, that thought is a vestige of yesteryear. By way of analogy, look at how speaker manufacturers are pursuing mechanical grounding and isolation. Gone are the days of hollow, MDF boxes along with sideburns, tweed coats and crooked, yellow teeth...

tweed coats and crooked, yellow teeth

Yeah baby, yeah!

The first thing to do on your way to the design table for your first rack or platform rendering is to say to yourself over and over again..isolation is only possible in the absence of matter. Now to step two. Tom

Agear:

"Bravo. Someone is taking the "discipline" forward through innovation. The whole concept of self noise is integral to this discussion".

I certainly agree. In general, electrical stands like these purify the DC and power conditioning purifies the AC. But, doing one alone only ends up revealing the shortcomings of the lack of the other. BUT, when you do Both, it seriously transforms your system...and I do mean 'transforms'! All this Alan Maher gear for me is now the single-most important 'component' in my system...by far the first one I'd take toward building a new rig if I could only take one. But, you know what?? I'm not EVEN thinking of ever doing that. I'm sure some will think me crazy for giving so much attention to "tweaks", but I've come to realize that any of my prior notions of spending on tweaks "according to (any monetary) scale" were really a myth...you must spend according to a performance scale (same as any other component) to reap the best and most relevant benefits. And I think That's the way forward. But, by being well on my way toward having done that, I find myself already laughing like Renfro!! Regards. John