Which cone's or platforms have helped?


I am curious which Cones or platforms you guys are using on your equipment that have given the best performance? Which products have you tested head to head? Which products were a big disapointment? I am currently looking at the mapleshade cones. I am already using a large maple base like they recommend. I am posting this under digital because I have been told that it can make the biggest difference on CD players.
tennispro
First - the cause of the vibration needs to be understood.

Second - the means at which to dissipate the vibration also needs to be understood.

"A specified geometry has to work with a specified material."

If you are missing either side of this equation the cause and effect is essentially void.

Geometry works - all cones or materials are not created equal.

Brass alone has different types of metallurgy. Each variation will yield a different sonic result. At the very least brass used in the development of musical instruments provides us musical history.
Performed my initial Nordost titanium Pulsar Points testing last night & these things do show some promise.
I installed 3 of the Pulsar's with their tops directly contacting the EAD Ultradisc 2000 CD player chassis - I figure that's a more valid comparison since the Orchard Bay's were also done that way.
Bear in mind however that for my last change recently I had gone to the ceramic DH Labs cones & did not like them at all, so at this point *anything* was a significant improvement.
I think that those ceramics were probably worse than nothing at all.

The rig was powered down Thursday due to thunderstorms in the area so unfortunately it was a cold startup, but nevertheless so far I like what I've heard.
Many of the same characteristics as the Orchard Bay titaniums, although with not quite as aggressive / articulated HF extension (pretty much a good thing) but also the LF's do not seem to be quite as deeply extended (not such a good thing).
Also the dynamics are not quite as lively; wife was listening too, & she basically decided right away that she favors the O.B's dynamics over the Pulsar's & she asked me right away to put them back in.
I held off however, reminding her that this solid state Accuphase equipment takes about a day or so to warm up & sound its best.
So this was just an initial assessment with cold equipment; take that for what it's worth.

The sound last night very much reminded me of the characteristics of the brass Audio Points & pucks, good, but not quite up to the level of the Orchard Bay.
Now I want to reinstall the brass cones & pucks just to make a close comparison, then I'll restore the OB's & then go back to the Pulsar's so I can make some very close comparisons & report back.
I also would like to repeat the whole comparison process after changing out the Black Diamond shelf for a Zoethecus Z-Slab; the Z-Slab being different in some ways just as the two sets of titaniums differ, & not sure which I actually prefer.

Since it was advised that 3 Pulsar's seem to be preferred over the 4 placed under factory footers, I probably won't bother to test with 4 but again there's another set of variables that could be played around with. Nordost's instructions actually recommend placing them 1ea. under the 4 factory feet.
More later...
Bob, I have found in using the Sistrum products they work even more effectively when I remove all factory feet, rubber or any other material. I think the rubber slows down the extraction of resonance that Sistrum drains away so well. I wonder how the Nordost product could be effective when placed under a hunk of rubber. Seems there would be very unstable contact of dissimilar materials to provide any physical value at all. Please let us know more about your findings. Tom
Hi Tom I agree with you completely about placement under the footers, in theory I don't see how that could work very well at all.
Are you saying that although you bypassed the rubber factory footers (by placing cones directly in contact with the chassis) that the effect was still enhanced when the rubber footers were completely removed from the equipment? That is my perception of your explanation, & while it doesn't seem to me that would be of any significant consequence, if that is in fact your experience then I thank you for the worthwhile tip & I will try it out myself.
Bob bundus. What are the design differences between Nordost and Orchard Bay titanium? Just wondering what could cause the differences in sound. I found Titanium grade 5 is a harder version than grade 2 and may transmit vibration better.
Just a raw 1" dia x 12" long bar is $110 for grade 2 and $140 for grade 5. Guess I'll stick to brass for my experiment - 1" dia. will remove plastic/rubber feet and attach brass cones with screws directly to case where original feet were.
Also making a set for my speakers - 2" dia.