Symposium Roller Blocks vs Aurious under SACD ...


Anyone AB the two isolation devices? Anyone compare both devices using Tungsten bearings?
128x128mikeg
No, but I was so impressed with the improvement in performance of a Neuance shelf under my old Rotel CDP that I'm even getting a larger one for my new EMC-1 MkII.
Great coherence without muddiness or treble edginess.
Clearly better than cones or air bladders, etc., and indeed I prefer to NOT have my 44 lb CDP rolling around! Maybe true for your SACD transport? Good luck.
Oh yeah, Subaruguru. I have travelled some new circles recently and used different rollerball products. But I am back to E-A-R feet and Neuance shelves, and the music just speaks for itself. I did not like the Aurios at all. If using a very heavy shelf the Aurios added the best clarity, but if using a light/rigid shelf like the Neuance (the only way brothers and sisters) they sounded worse than the Symposium or Final Labs. But I have concluded rollerball products are just a better mouse-trap than cones, but you are best to not use cones/rollerballs if at all possible - which is indeed possible.
Subaruguru, where can I read some info on the neuance shelves? I'll hunt around in the archives....thanks in advance....
Bluenose: yes, check the archives, esp re shelves and CDP supports, if I recall. You'll find Ken Lyons (producer of Neuance at Greater Ranges) to be enormoously helpful and
very technically astute. Lots of good ole R&D behind this product. His A'gon handle is caterham700 or the like.
My Beta heavy duty shelf should arrive by the weekend. I expect similar success to my earlier application.
Good luck.
I just got a set of Rollerblocks with the Tungsten Steel Balls, in the mail the other day. I was very excited and looking forward to giving them a try under my CDP. My first impressions were, Wow! more volume, more detail, more air. However, after listening for a few more minutes, it was becoming apparent that with the increased detail, came a shift towards a brighter sound and fatique. I tried repositioning the blocks into numerous configurations, but without successfully eliminating the effect. What was once a musical system was now a bear to listen to. I also tried it under my tubed amp. Now the Rollerblocks are just sitting on the side. I'm contemplating returning them. Does anyone have some suggestions!
Ckturtle....Do you have any pieces of styrafoam laying around? Try the rollerblocks on about 2" of styrafoam first and see if this helps....it may or may not give you what you want but it should change the sound and won't cost you anything...just a thought...I've had some great results using homemade darumas on a granite tile and foam combo on target stands...also, do you have a butcher's block? You could also sit a block on top of the rollerballs and sit the component on top...this will also change the resonace points , good luck, I hope you get it all to sing for you....if you're using a heavy Sacd player the foam will not handle the weight, though...cheers, Bluenose
I've been very pleased with SACD, CD, and DVD-V playback. Everything'a cleaner and the sound is more realistic. I've not tested other roller-bearing competitiors.
Thanks for the information Bluenose. I decided to flip the rollerblocks completely over. The ball bearing now sits on the rollerplates, which in turn are placed on the audio rack. Seems to work! I'll listen more, but for now, it seems to be keeping the benefits while eliminating the shift toward the higher frequencies that I had earlier. Thanks again.
Thanks for the feedback Ckturtle and others. Ckturtle, are the rollerplates included with the rollerblocks? Can you describe them? Does the Rollerblocks suffer from the issues caused by large/stiff power cords such as the Aurious?
Like Cturtle, I found the detail added with symposium rollerblocks under my Sony 9000es caused listener fatigue. I now have them under my Sonic Frontiers Line2se. Under the preamp they have a very different effect. Sound is fuller and soundstage opens up.
Mikeg,
The rollerplates are stainless steel plates which are included in the Symposium Rollerblock set. It allows you to place these smooth surfaced plates between your component and the ball bearings, should you find the underside of your component lacking the smooth texture that is required, for the proper movement of these ball bearings.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you where, but I do remember reading somewhere, that the Rollerblocks do deal better with larger/stiffer cords than the Aurious do.

I am thinking about returning the Rollerblocks that I've purchased since I find my CDP sounding better without them.