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Stillpoint Ultra Minis

I'm wondering who else might have these.
I had purchased a pair of these a month ago, and had them under my ASL Hurricane (only bought enough for one amp).
I clearly heard their effect, which, in another thread - one I read just now - concerning the SR MIGS, one poster pointed out the significant difference they made. And I agree.
Today, I received another set of 3. Based on Roy Gregory's review in The Audio Beat, I put them under my PS Audio Power Plant,expecting an improvement - and a significant one - but not an I'm-dying-kill-me-NOW improvement. I would be wrong.
These surpass my Nordost Brass cones by a minimum of two orders of magnitude. It would be like going from a good set of speakers to a fantastic set of speakers (speaking of which, I bought Nola Contenders, which haven't yet arrived, so I'm using my old Hales. I have several Nola models, but not bi-wiring for them, so I'm using the Hales, which are excellent speakers, but not nearly as coherent as Nolas).
Needless to say, buy these and put them under your power conditioner FIRST. I had them under an Arcam integrated while one my Hurricanes is in for a resistor replacement...again (sigh). Great amps, but the resistor blows about once a year. Their realism, however, is phenomenal, easily the equal of my Jadis, Goldmund Mimesis 9,and VTL (300s) amps. Not in detail, but in dynamic range/contrast and sheer it's-right-THERE realism, they leave the others in the dust.
I have to mention I also just bought a pair of Nordost Frey 2 interconnects, and thought they were a superb improvement over the Tyr 1 interconnects I have, but when I put the Stillpoints into the system, I realized the Frey were nowhere NEAR what they must truly sound like, and now I can hardly wait to get my Hurricane amp back and the Contenders.
To the point: the Stillpoints drop the noise floor ENORMOUSLY. Nina Simone's 'Ne Me Quitte Pas' is so without noise that her breathiness is as though you moved from Row K to Row C. It's THAT obvious. No straining to hear the improvement. I actually looked around my listening room, trying to remember if it was one of my 40 tube traps that I must have moved to their very, very optimal positions (these things improve - or destroy - ambience with a turn that is so little, you can barely see that you moved the side with the seam at all (which I demonstrated to a friend Sunday night by turning on all the lights in the music room and showing him minute a change I made in the orientation of the tube trap).
I hadn't moved anything.
Try these beFORE you buy new amps, new speakers, new ANYthing. And look at Roy Gregory's review. It's an excellent review and he makes it clear where to start with these - and where to put them last (Ithink he said under the CD player. In other words, speakers first, then line conditioner, amps, then preamps and LASTly, under the CD player).
Staggeringly good footers. Better than my Goldmund cones, any of my different iterations of Nordost feet (I have every single iteration they've released), Finite Element Cera pucs/bases or anything else. Expensive? Yes. $375 for 3 feet. I'd never used Stillpoints before this, but I can tell you, I'm buying these for the preamp, the other amp, the CD player and my friend's NAD BEE integrated. Cheaper than new speakers and after reading Gregory's review, I'd have to agree that putting the feet under anything with transformers/power supplies is the very first place to put these. You can't go wrong with one set of these under your line conditioner or amp, and if you do, send 'em back to your dealer. (You won't.)
gbmcleod
tboooe's avatar
tboooe
1,009 posts
 
I have your same experience using these under my PS Audio P3. I tried the Ultras as well but did not hear any difference from the Minis. I also tried both the Ultras and Minis under my CDP/DAC and integrated but did not hear as much improvement. I may revisit using the Ultras under my integrated again in the near future after I complete my room treatments.
gbmcleod OP
428 posts
 
Tboooe:
I find Roy Gregory's observations to be exceedingly accurate.He rarely makes comments that are not repeatable by others. I would have started with the cones under the CD player first, but for his suggestion. I already had them under the integrated amp, but prior to that, I had it under one of my Hurricane amps, listening carefully to determine if I could hear the difference. I COULD and it was significant but when I got the second pair, I put it under the PS Audio. It was at THAT point that I found myself astounded, so I suppose the power supplies of a line conditioner does put significant noise back into the system.
I noticed that Robert Harley of TAS also had tips on how to make your system sound better. He used several examples that the late Enid Lumley of TAS espoused back in 1993: don't put your rack in a corner, because sound builds up in the corner (even with a 16-inch tube trap). He also suggested keeping the speaker cable off the floor (another original suggestion by Ms. Lumley, and one that many people say they can't hear. I'd say that, in that case, their room is interfering, because it is noticeable as intertransient-silences, making rhythm and flow much more obvious, and this is something the Stillpoints also do. I listened again tonight, after putting a 4th Mini under the Power Plant. Again, it made a difference, completely out of proportion to what it should have done. I should note, Roy said 3 were good, but 4 were better...and he was right.
It's unfortunate that people don't try these out. I'd do this after 1), treating my electricity AND room (I think these must be done first - and usually at the same time) and then, 2), getting a line conditioner to further clean up the electricity. I've had dedicated circuits since 1988, and used power cords since 1990, and receptacles..well, I came to those late.
Isolation devices under the amps: I came to those reasonably early, with Goldmund's cones. The Stillpoints surpass the Goldmunds pretty easily, to the point where I'd not use anything OTHER than the Stillpoints, as they were so clearly fantastic, and so easily heard (as long as you put them in exactly the right position, and don't just plunk them underneath the component - which many people don't seem to want to be bothered with. Too bad, because it always makes a difference where you place an isolation device).
Glad to have someone else on board with these. Music Direct, who is sending me another set, told me today they had sold out of these.
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divinetrader
5 posts
 
I have Stillpoints Ultra Fives under all my components/speakers except for the Oppo 105 under which I have the Ultra SS (as the Fives don't fit). I was blown away. Probably the best upgrade I've ever done, short of hiring Jim Smith to set up my speakers/subs. The best part is, these products last for a lifetime.
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