Esoxhntr, the differences in the Sistrum platforms is related to the size of the component(or speaker) and the expected weight of the component(or speaker) and the expected vibrational energy present in the component(or speaker).
In reality, the Sistrum platforms will do their job to the maximum capability present in the design, no matter what is placed upon them. They will work well under source components(such as a CD player or turntable), or preamps, or amps, or speakers, interchangeably. This is because they are engineered to effectively transfer vibrational energies from whatever sits on them, to the floor below. They will do this job, whatever sits on them. The different sizes of Sistrum platforms, and different sizes of Audiopoints, relates to the maximum level of transfer that they can achieve before overload. The Audiopoints are the "entry level" product, doing extremely well at the price range. However, the Sistrum Platforms are designed to be the "next step up" in performance, and any Sistrum Platform will exceed any application of just Audiopoints alone. You'll notice that Audiopoints are used with the Sistrum Platforms to achieve the contact points on top and bottom. This is because the Sistrum Platform was an evolutionary design that started off of the desire to improve the basic technology of the Audiopoint to a level beyond what the basic Audiopoints were capable of. And there are 4 types of Sistrum platform which comprise levels of quality of performance in the range.
The larger Sistrum Platforms can transfer more vibrational energy without overload, but in some cases it is not needed to go to the largest platform to achieve the needed result. If you are not overloading the smaller platform, there is no need to use a bigger one. Also, the bigger ones place the component(or speaker) higher off the ground, which may or may not be desireable.
In all our systems, it is necessary to have no intervening items between the component, our points or platforms, and the floor. Any dampening layers or other kinds of shelves, etc, will have some negating effects on the performance of our engineered designs. In some cases the effects are minimal, and don't cause much difference, but in some cases the performance of our products is defeated entirely, depending on what is being used as an intervening layer. Our products are designed to work as an engineered system, and if things are introduced into the system which we had no control over, we cannot guarantee the correct results.
So yes, you can try a platform under various components in your system, to see which place makes the best impact on your sound quality. Obviously, we recommend their use under all the components for best results, but often we find users try one at a time, and then add some more as they find out how well they work.
