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This Sistrum stuff works

Hi. I just got a bunch of Sistrum products to add to my system. The package arrived, with 2 Sistrum Speaker Platforms, 2 Sistrum Equipment Platforms, 2 sets of AudioPoints, a pair of Sonoran Plateau Desert Speaker Cables, and a pair of Sonoran Plateau Cactus RCA Interconnects.

I wanted to try an entire line of products that were designed to work together, using the unique vibration management system that the Sistrum and Sonoran products have. I thought this approach could have some merit.

I put the products into the system, 1 by 1, and listened for differences. I started with the speaker platforms. I immediately noticed that the slight "boxiness" that was present primarily in the lower midrange was almost eliminated. And the bass, and midbass was much more defined than before. Overall clarity seemed improved, but it was already quite clear to start with. One of the more interesting benefits was that I could play louder than before, with less audible distortion. Then I tried the equipment platforms under my preamp and amp. This improved the focus of the entire presentation by several percent. And again, I could play even louder before noticing any distortion occurring. The next candidate was the Audiopoints under my Teres TT. This was where I noticed an increase in detail and lowering of the noise floor. I had already used BDR cones and Cocobolo Cones under the TT, and these beat both of those quite convincingly. The final thing was the Sonoran Cables. These need some time to break in, but after about 4 hours of playing, this package is giving me the best sound that I have ever gotten from this system. The cables, even right out of the box, were quite open and detailed, with no high-frequency rolloff that I had experienced with some other cables I've tried, like Cardas Golden. After just a few hours, the bass was really showing excellent tonality and control. The mids were as open as my DIY cables, which had previously slain all comers. I expect these Sonoran cables to improve over the next couple of weeks, and that will be a nice treat, because they are already sounding quite good indeed.

Now, I have to admit that I have not tried a boatload of different cables, but I have tried a few. My cone and support situation was in need, and I didn't have a very good vibration control system in place before I got this stuff. Maybe other stuff can do very well too. But I can say that this Sistrum and Sonoran stuff does exactly what it says it does, and I am very pleased with the results that I got on my system.

In addition, I really like the appearance of these products, and that never hurts, even though my audio room looks more like a workshop than a living room. I go primarily for performance, and not looks. The sound is the key issue for me. But good looks are always a positive, if the sound is also good.

I would say that I recieved an honest 15% improvement in the clarity, tonal quality(especially in the low end), and in maximum SPL that I can now attain. Although I didn't measure it, I feel that I got an additional 3db SPL over what I was getting before. And with the improved clarity and tone at the same time. With my low power tube system, this was a very big plus, because it was like getting more power out of my amp. Sistrum claims that when you use their products, you get better efficiency from your system, including amps and speakers, due to proper vibration management. I now believe that this is true, because I experienced that in my testing with my system.

I could heartily recommend these products to others, because I feel that if they work on my system, they will work on others. The technology works. I'm happy.

While other isolation products may be very good, and also other cables may be very good, I feel that these are doing a great job, and have good neutrality, but let the sound and dynamics come through crystal clear, and from top to bottom.

This package wasn't cheap, at about $3000 retail for all the items I got. But it is not anywhere near the high price that alot of other cables and racks cost. I think it strikes a very good level of performance for a reasonable price. I can't buy $8k speaker cables, or $5k audio racks.

I'd recommend them for anyone to try out. They really do work, just as the manufacturer claims.
twl

Showing 18 responses by theaudiotweak

theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
We can go on and on, with this whole closet thing. I have done that too. I can tell you more about Sistrum rack placement in your room. But I will refrain because I know if I post this finding it will only stir up more antagonism. Try the product.... money back guarantee... call Robert he is extremely knowledgeable and is fun to talk to, if you don't believe him or he cannot answer your questions ask to speak to one of Starsounds engineers or even the chief designer. My final response is simply that these products are above and beyond any thing else out there.. They are so unique they deserve to be in their own special catogory. Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Twl and Garfish, I have been using Audiopoints for the last 8yrs and the Sistrum products for almost 3yrs. I have found with much experimentation that Sistrum alone is the best way to play your hi-fi. You cannot mix and match dampening and resonant energy transfer. As a pair they proved to me to be ineffective and tended to mask and hide detail all the while limiting dynamics. Sistrum grows on you. Once you hear it make your system grow in size, dynamics and detail you will go on a feeding frenzy wanting to buy more. As for the Sonoran cables they are as Twl and KSales spoke, detailed dynamic, smooth as silk yet revealing of differences in program material. I also own the Harmonic Precision Mono amps. These amps are a beautiful extension of the whole theory of resonant energy transfer. The shape and chassis design are an evolutionary progession in to the extraction of electro/mechanical/airborne noise from the electronic siginal path. 110 watts per chn may not sound like much these days driving a pair of still almost Dunlavy Sciv's full range. The Harmonic Precision amps offered a more detailed and faster bass line than my Krell Ksa150 and a larger more detailed and focused soundstage than my before unbeatable Essence power amp. Yea this stuff works. All of these products are an extension of each other all apart of the same food chain adding up to dynamic coherence. These little guys are onto something BIG. Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Dekay, If you place your audio in another room your speaker cables are still attached to your speakers and your speakers are attaced to the floor, which may or not be on the same floor but are still modulating your system. Are your cables immune from airborne modulations? Are your speakers immune from the modulations they produce in the room they are placed in? Are your speaker cabinets immune from the sound pressure feed back from room boundaries? Do speakers and cables feed back signal upon themselves and the amplifier attached to them? I know this to be so.. And so the continuim progresses. I feel that Sistrum and Sonoran have take these truisms into account upon their creation. After 35 years of being an audio enthusiast I have never before been so fortunate as to have been exposed to a product or product line such as the Sistrum Science.. Like Twl said... this stuff works.. Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Great picture improvement!! Place your DVD and Pig Screen on Sistrum. Yea, I can see a noticeable difference..If the science is right then it will work under most everything. And I do ...Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Dekay,, To "get real" as you say is what it is all about. You infer there is no true form of isolation. Hey you are right! There is no true form of isolation. Every thing resonates and moves so why fight Mother Nature. Sistrum Science explains the principles of capture and release of electromechanical and airborne resonant energy, so why the conflict. If you use it there will be no conflict in your system. Everything will become perfectly clear, especially if you place Sistrum platforms under your speakers in a so-called---------- ( isolated listening room ) and your components on a Sistrum rack in a so called------------------------------ (isolated location ). Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
We all need to carry a cushion so as to dampen the fall of each others ego. All of us here put much time and energy into this thing called hi-end audio. We also put much of ourselves into what we would like to be our own recreation of live sound. Our ways and means and personalities define the system we own. Its is our nature and our right to disagree. Some times reading other opinions that I differ with make wants me to scream down the digital highway "hey ya just don't get it do ya". I find it difficult to bite my own sarcastic tongue. I welcome a good read and the friendships I feel I have kindled on these forums. Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Hi Sc53, I also have a Linn Lp12 and a standard Sistrum Sp 6 rack. What I have found to be most effective for me is as follows. .If you remove the masonite bottom plate you will see 4 corner braces. For the Lp12 to sit on the three Sistrum points you have to make a center rear support. I used marine plywood and glued this into a groove that is around the entire perimeter of the Linn. I used this groove because this is where the corner supports reside as well. You have to make your extra rear support as wide and as deep as a Starsound apcd disc. So from the bottom up you have a shelf a point a apcd disc and then the Linn which has three braces now residing on the discs. This technique does not interfere with the Linn Lp12 suspension.. Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Brent Riehl designed the original Audiopoint in 1989 not Michael Green. Green was a pretty boy front man smart enough to capitalize on a good concept when he could grab one. As TWL stated a company north of Detroit makes a try to be knockoff of the Sonoran cable, also a Brent Riehl design. Sistrum Platforms and The Science of Resonance Transfer a unique and controversial concept is also a Brent Riehl design. I suppose the fact that most people--------------- " have not gotten it" has protected Brent and Robert of Starsound from being ----- off again! As I understand it Brent and Robert are two of the principals of Starsound. Nelson Pass patented class A designs of the early 80's were borrowed by JVC and other Japanese companies. You have to have big money to protect your published ideas from becoming public domain so they do not become an unearned profit vehicle for the fasthanded.
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Sean, I agree with your negative comments about the Michael Green clamp rack. Like all methods of dampening and so called isolation systems they serve to kill the dynamics and hence the music. There is only one parallel between the Green rack and the Sistrum rack and that is the Audiopoint. Green used the Audiopoint to collect and focuse resonant energy but then succeeded in dampening the exit of the noise . By having points at the bottom and a point at the top dampened by a shelf Green never allowed for the resonant energy to exit the device at all. As a result you had a system that was dark and dynamically depressed. You are totally incorrect in trying to say a MGD rack and a Sistrum rack are similar in any other way.. The Audiopoint is used in an entirely different method. Sistrum is a resonant energy transfer device it is not a music killing machine made of lead rubber or carbon fiber. Sistrum is designed to provide a high speed path for electromechanical as well as airborne resonance to exit the attached device. My daughter is quite a classical guitarist. I wonder how she would sound if she played a guitar with rubber and carbon fiber strings attached to a lead instead of rosewood body? Let the music be heard! Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Sean, as TWL has written in his Sistrum statements he heard more music with lower distortion and at higher perceived volume levels. You do not increase level by dampening or killing off dynamics. Green only used some of the tools at his disposal. The Green rack sounded better when you did not clamp and kill dynamics by compressing equipment between shelves. And it sounded way better when you replaced all the steel rods and hardware with all brass. Because he had the tools does not mean he had the science to apply these in a correct method. Yes he did try to tune his speaker with a tensioning system bolt, but again one major mistake in his method was to have a point of exit[ the Audiopoint} on the bottom and his tensioning method on the vertical panels. These are conflicting applications and are counterproductive. The only thing he had done was to retune the speaker, again by varing the storage time of the unwanted nasties he was properly trying to evacuate thru the use of Audio points on the bottom. Sistrum I feel is now a science. If you use it as long as I have and thruout your entire system it will become easy to understand what it does and thus how it works. The mysticism will then be in the music and not in the product. Sistrum contribution to the music is that it does not dampen and therefore does not retune your music. Again Sistrum does this by providing a high speed path of stored resonance to ground. Sean, do your self a favor and try this stuff, it works. Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Twl I guess I jumped into a question directed at you . Sorry about that.. Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Earth is the largest of sumps that humans have available to them. This is where I placed my Sistrum Sp6 and my Sistrum Sp101 platforms for my Harmonic Precision Mono Amps. Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Audiopoints attached to the bottom of the support rods are singular directional transfer devices. In no way are bi-directional devices a positive in this design type. The geometry of the Audiopoint was designed as follows: The flat surface and or the shaft are collection areas. The tip is the exit point. The point was designed to be an exit point only, it is not a re entry point. The tip of the point is therefor a coupling point. This one way in, one way out purposeful design makes the Audiopoint the most efficient coupling device on the market.You do not want to de-couple you want to couple. You want to capture extraneous resonant energy and not store or dampen it. You want to capture extraneous and resonant energy and have it exit as quickly as possible. These devices are a kin to a heat sink or polarized capacitor. The previous have a defined entry area and a defined exit point. So do the Audiopoint and Sistrum devices. Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Fbhifi you are correct. The points on a Sistrum rack are with the point side up, facing the bottom of the equipment. The point itself is is directly coupled to a much larger tuned Sistrum collection device, namely the shelf. The shelf if it where simply a solid rectangular piece of metal, wood or resin would not act as a resonance collection device. Shelves as discribed would act much like any other branded shelf namely to dampen and store. The Audiopoint in this application is only effective when mounted to the Sistrum shelf. It works like mechanical amplifier/megaphone, when mounted to the much larger Sistrum shelf.. If the point where mounted upside down directly to a much larger mass such as Earth the Audiopoint would be rendered totally ineffecvtive. Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Only Voodoo to those who see earth and physical science as such. The same laws apply today as those of 400 years ago. It is all in your physics books of yorn. Wake up and actually turn the page, butt read it first. The science is there in the product.. If you do not believe it and you did not try it, well I guess ya missed out!.. Tom... PS coupling and dampening in combo are counter productive.
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Gentlemen I feel I have tried to answer your inquiries as accurately as possible and with all of my personal integrity. I have stated many times before that I have used Audiopoints and Sistrum for almost ten years. It is and will continue to be my personal felling that these are the finest products available in there respective catogory. The controversy I feel can be answered by going to the Starsound web page and read the science presented for yourselves. Let me state that the Sistrum and the Audiopoint are two different devices. The Audiopoint is only a minor part of the actual device know as the Sistrum. I suppose the explanation is beyond my ability to geometrically as well as verbally articulate. Like I said I believe in and can demonstrate in my own personal system what I feel are huge sonic improvements with the use of Sistrum Science. My sincere apologies for trying to describe and failing to deliver the full 100% scope of the engineering behind these complex shapes..Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Wow! Almost two months has has gone by since the last post on this controversial , emotional and finally, I am so glad , humorous thread, originated by Twl. I am digging this original thread up because of a lazy man's implementation of a not so recent product update. I am the lazy man... Some three years ago I purchased what I believe was one of the first Sistrum racks. I had been using The Original Audio Points for many years prior to this purchase. Sistrum platforms followed and allowed me to hear further into my music. When the Sistrum rack first became available I felt from prior experience that this rack would be a major step over and above my Michael Green Clamp Rack. It was, and has recently become to my system, and ears much the better! The rack has tubes to which the shelves are attached. These stainless steel tubes are hollow with which in are placed threaded stainless steel inserts surrounded by steel Micro- Bearings. These functional materials I believe to be the conductive path to rid my system of the electro-mechanical pollution I now know is so detrimental to the audio and video experience. A couple years have passed with which in my system several updates have been implemented. Crossovers, cables and room accoustics all which are passive all of which are appreciated. Well I am not now so passive! Robert of Star Sound, maybe a year ago informed me of an update of what he described to be the center conductor of the Sistrum Rack. The steel inner conductors could be replaced with ones of brass. Me being some what lethargic and complacenent at times, new the better, and having heard prior improvements of brass over steel as an audio conductor simply blew the swap out as to much trouble. Skip three years ahead to the recent. This past Sunday after mom and mom went home from their day with us. I began the replacement of the steel conductor with ones of brass. Damm I suppose I needed some relief from the large family tribe. Some three hours latter I succeeded in the transfer replacement of the center conductors. 3 am ,I was still up and listening maybe in a haze but one of glorious 2 channel envelopement. Now a few days down the road my euphoric audiogasim has not subsided. The brass innner conductors has brought the music to me! All the old is also the new! Tube texture, with solid state speed and authority! Soundstage never lacking and always large became tactile! Specific yes. Faces of artists you always wanted to see! Yes! Only wish I had replaced the steel with the brass a year ago! Tom
theaudiotweak
2,769 posts
 
Those appear to be direct coupled devices that transfer the textural feel of the visual reality rather than the overdamped silicone type that mask and compensate for thinness and lack of body.
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