Final Labs Daruma Bearings, Opinons?


At the HE show this weekend I saw some great looking bearings(vibration control). They retail for $99. At a third of the price of the Aurios and Symposium offerings they look very attractive. Does anyone have any experience with these or even better comparisons with the Aurios, Symposium, etc... devices.
newkstime
I've tried Darumas and Aurios under my Sony SCD-777ES...the Darumas first. Made a noticeable improvement in tightening bass, rendering more stable images, etc. The Aurios made an even bigger improvement in all areas--the sonic presentation was more open, the soundstage broader, images better defined--and, in my opinion, are worth the difference in price. I kept the Darumas and put them under my tubed line stage...with good results.
Actually the Darumas are more similar to Symposium RollerBlocks, Aurios MIBs are a bit different. I have both Rollerblocks and MIBs and if very carefully set-up (perfectly level) the MIBs are slightly better, in both cases heavy/stiff AC cords and ICs can make set-up hard/impossible.

It is very hard to find Darumas, but for the price they would be a good start to see if you like the effect. Then
you could try MIBs for upgrade. I basically agree with Jim
above, this type of isolation is used to greatest effect
under CDP which has internal rotational vibrations to deal
with.
I'm still using them under my Dodson DAC and Sony SCD-1. I have an unused set of Symposium RB IIs w/Tungsten Carbide balls, but until I removed my phonostage today for sale, there was no room under the Dodson to use them. I may give it a whirl. They are a 1/4" taller than the Darumas and I can't fit them under the Sony while using this rack.

I don't doubt Jim's take on the MIBs vs. the Darumas, but I bought two used sets of the Darumas for $155 delivered and I don't know if the money needed for the Aurios is not better spent elsewhere, as I need a couple more AC cords for things.

I paid $200 delivered for the NEW RB IIs w/TC balls, so I got a great deal on them. They look cool, but I can't comment on their affect on my system just yet.

Chris