SRA VR vs. Ohio

what about an SRA CRAZ rack?

I have the VR 3 series under my preamp and it's power supply. It is also under my amp. These iso bases have completely transformed my system. Kevin at SRA is great to deal with. I have not heard the Ohio class bases, but they are beautiful. I hope to put a base under my turntable and cd player.

It would seem reasonable to expect that the more one isolates components from vibration, the better. However, that is not always the case. To some extent, it is a matter of tuning the system to one's taste. I generally find that vibration control under amps and preamp/linestage to have a positive effect, though sometimes subtle. One tends to get a much more dramatic effect under a CD player. By the same token, it is even more likely that too much vibration control under a CD player will dry the sound out too much and make the system sound analytical and cold.

I would suggest getting only a few platforms at first and then experimenting to see where they will help the sound and where the effect is not salutary.

With all due respect to Larryi (whose experiences are his own and thus valid), I too thought that, based on what I believed was conventional wisdom, with isolation you start with the sources first (CDP, TT etc,). Seven years ago when my research led me to SRA, Kevin was adamant that I start with my amps (and at the time I thought he was nuts -now mind you he IS nuts but for other reasons - like he overbuilds EVERYTHING!).

Well, I listened to him and he was right. I started with the VR Series and then went to Ohio Class XL+ under my amps and they provided the most dramatic improvement.

I now am fully SRA-ed with Ohio Class under my amps, a CRAZ Rack and VR bases between the Rack and shelves for various components.

I have reviewed the VR and Ohio Class bases (when I was at Stereo Times) and recently reviewed the Craz Rack for Ultra Audio now that I am with Soundstage so I direct you there for my impressions. We all have our own tastes, preferences, needs and hearing acuity but for me, the SRA bases and Racks are built like tanks to exacting standards, are based on real science and, most importantly, DO NO HARM (which I couldn't say for everything else I tried - many of which did some very nice things but always with a price to pay somewhere else).

If I were you and if you can swing it, I'd put the Ohio Class under the amps and, as funds permit, VR everywhere else (or as one person suggested, a CRAZ for everything else - NOT the amps!). As suggested by Slowhand - talk to Kevin too - he'll be straight with you.

As Larryi correctly points out IMHO, it's really all about tuning our systems to our own tastes.

Juts my $.02 and, as always, YMMV

Frank Peraino