Platforms: granite, marble, maple or other?

Garfish, it was not that I am a believer or disbeliever here. But from all my experiences with "upgrading" my audio and HT systems, a piece at a time, after listening back and forth with and without the new item, it is often not as big a difference as I thought from the beginning.

There are times when the system sounds phenomenol and other times for whatever reason, not good at all......and nothing has changed. I can only assume it is the humidity, clean power or just my mood and interest at that moment.

I have done extensive cable comparisons from the line stage and amp, and yes, there can be big differences, but often they are difficult to hear as well. And this is between NBS, MIT and Cardas cable. So it is hard for me to imagine how simply putting a board or platform under a component can be so noticeable of a change unless you return briefly to how it was before for confirmation.

And of course a high resolution system will show this as well. But if an amplifier, of all pieces in a system, unless it is loaded with tubes, is susceptible to such problems when not on an isolation stand, that does not say much of the design/assembly of the amp.

I have experimented with a few platforms under my Clearaudio Ref Table and also BAT VK P10 / VK31SE and I have to be honest here, nothing has brought on any more detail or a change in the tonal character. This was the point of my question above as I went through all this myself recently.

Jafox; A good statement. The best way to explain my observations re audio, is actually by comparing it to a TV watching experience.

When the TV color balance is very slightly to the green side of neutral, viewing is vaguely unpleasant or even irritating, but with a slight turn of the color balance control, the viewing experience can be greatly improved, even to the point of now being very pleasant. So, in an absolute sence, the change was very small, but improvement in the level of enjoyment was quite significant, and some may even say great (my wife would say great).

When I added the maple boards, the improvement in music quality/character, in any absolute sense, was small, but the (subjective) improvement in listening pleasure or enjoyment was definitey worthwhile and fairly significant to me. Over the years I've developed what I think are very good "critical listening skills"-- and yes, sometimes this can be a curse;>)

As construction quality improves, potential performance improves, but so do the affects of negative outside influences such as poor AC supply, sensitivity to excess vibration, room acoustics, poor outlets (read .79 cents) and other associated AC conditions. Good manufacturers do their best to optimize their components musicality, but they cannot account for ALL conditions under which their equipment will be used. You can put $100K equipment in a cube shaped room and realize only poor performance.

Finally I would say that not all tweaks work, and I've rejected many either because their was no improvement or they actually made things worse. Cheers. Craig

Jdombrow; The McCormack amps all have large soft Sorbothane feet, and I now have the amp sitting directly on the maple board (spike not used), but I use-- and recommend-- Rcreations cork/rubber footers under the maple block. Cheers. Craig

Jafox, I haven't found many tweaks that have worked in my system. I will defend Garfish, not that you were attacking him, but because I have read many of his posts for the last couple of years and respect him and mainly because I caught a 5 pound gar in Reelfoot lake many years ago that could have been a relative. I do disagree with you when you state that you apparantly believe switching back and forth to determine what's best in a comparison. For me, I know my system so well that if it's an improvement I usually know fairly quickly. The only tweak that has worked for me is a couple of sandbags, one on the amp for internal resonance control and one on the preamp for the same. Everything else I've tried has either made things worse or made no difference but looks stupid as hell. But I'm probably lazier than most, I'm just not willing to try waterford crystal goblets on my speakers or cutting boards or bubblewrap, etc.... My equipment sits on target component and amp stands and sounds so damn good it brings me to tears sometimes. So IMHO through more than a few years of this psycho hobby - most of the time it's about the equipment hooked up to dedicated power and good rigid stands. Nuff said...

Thanks guys....I will continue to keep an open mind when it comes to tweaks. Ever since I borrowed an NBS Master interconnect and picked my jaw off the floor when it trounced a handful of other cables (Audioquest, Cardas, Transparent, Straighwire) so significantly have I learned an open mind here is a good thing.

As for me "knowing" the sound of my system, sometimes it just does not click for me at all and back upstairs I go to watch TV or do something else. And other times there is no way anybody can get me out of the basement as the music simply sounds so awesome. So this is why I "play" for 2-3 hours, swapping back and forth to confirm to me that there is or is not a difference ......and is the difference worth the price; I am a very value-conscious audiophile. And I like to feel good about a change or purchase I made or it will bug me forever to re-address that link in the system with an upgrade very soon after.