Sistrum or Neuance or...?

Gee, I posted the cement thing without even being a Sistrum owner...no bandwagon here. However, since posting, I recieved Sistrum stands for my speakers. Needless to say, I haven't "tested" them, nor have I returned to my physics books of twenty plus years to "figure" them out. Even with a white paper (that honeslty I won't fully understand anyway), why would I buy on that alone? I trust my ears...and I am keeping them, gladly. In the business world there is a lot of BS...but ultimately someone has to make a sale in order to remain in business. If you would like to know the differences I heard and the equipment that I own, etc. please feel free to email me. I will gladly assist a fellow audiophile who is honestly looking to upgrade their system. Otherwise, I really do have better things to do....like listen to music.

I fell upon this while looking through Ken Lyons' posts. Its interesting to see what has and has not changed in three years. Just for the archives:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?htech&980018129&openfrom&1&4#1

Ohlala:

I notice that a certain pinheaded poster, in the old thread, has @ least changed his moniker since then, but unfortunately his delivery remains the same.

I purchased a commercial audio rack and Neuance shelves shortly after the old thread died out (still using it/them).

I agree, not much has really changed, and Sistrum continues to be at, or regularly contending for, the top position of the performance platform and racking category.

When platform and racking systems get compared at the top of the heap, as to which one is sonically best, Sistrum is always mentioned in the mix. It has always been this way since the intro of the products(quite to the consternation of some).

When something is new or better, there are always those from the "old camp" who feel threatened and make disparaging comments, while never trying or experiencing the product themselves. No amount of explanation will do, because they simply refuse to accept it. The common name for such activity is "naysayers".

I think that this will continue, because it is, to some degree, human nature for some people.

I would only hope that this really small percentage of the naysayers would try the products themselves, and become experienced on the subject.

Of course, we at Sistrum never say that anyone HAS to try or use our products. Just that we RECOMMEND that they try them. And we cheerfully accept any returns of our products with a full 30-day refund without nitpicking. I really fail to see how this seemingly arouses such ire from a certain group. We make products for home audio use. If you like it, you can buy it. If not, then don't. It is as simple as that. Our strongest sales technique is to actually have people audition our product because once they try it, they keep it.

What some (unbiased?)people(who admit to never hearing the products) have to gain by trying to imply snake-oil claims, when the products obviously have legions of happy users and magazine awards over 4-15 years of time, is not too clear to me. But it is clear to me that these same folks seem very irritated that Sistrum supporters(and company personnel who clearly state their affiliations) would post on these forums, and we are always met with pretty close to the same group of opponents, year after year, who STILL have never tried the products and STILL refuse to accept any amount of explanation.

However, I would invite anyone to try any/all of these very good products and learn what the fuss is all about.

DISCLAIMER: For anyone who still is not aware of my affiliation, I am employed by Starsound Technologies, the manufacturer of Sistrum Platforms, Audiopoints, Sonoran A/V Wire Designs, and Harmonic Precision electronics and speakers.

That New Zealander knows his tuning, I have to say..............

But I reckon the idea of light and rigid, to make sure energy stored is minimised and released quickly, is in natural conflict with the concept of damping. By its nature damping tries to absorb energy and not return it later, but that is a difficult ideal to achieve in practise. It is in this trade-off that I feel there is as much art as science - finding the trade-off that does the least damage to the music. The reason why I like the items closest to the component to be damped or even compliant (in the case of the feet) is because the component needs to be both isolated from vibrations by the total structure, but also damped.