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Critical Mass Systems

72.133.34.30

Posted on February 22, 2015 at 19:02:09



Can this amp stand really be that good? Has any sane person tried them out? Price is nearly $6000.

 

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That's weird., posted on February 23, 2015 at 05:45:44
The web wire states:

"Critical Mass Systems racks are not isolation systems as they do not prevent the transmission of vibration. Rather, the filter system manages the flow of vibration into and out of the component as well as the rack architecture supporting it."

Filter system? That is precisely what a vibration isolation system is. It filters the (structural) vibration coming into the component. Anyone can dissipate the vibrations flowing out of the component, that's kind of low tech. I suspect they are mincing words to try to separate themselves from the pack.

 

RE: That's weird., posted on February 23, 2015 at 07:48:44
I'm wondering if that's the same guy I dealt with a number of years ago when I wrote for TAS If so, he's a lunatic. He sent me one of his early amp platforms to try out. When I told him I had experimented with several different interfaces (machined aluminum & wood blocks) he starts yelling that he wants his platform back. wtf??? TAS said send it back. I don't recall what he used as an interface between amp and platform, but I thought I'd try a couple I had here to see how they compared. And now Harley gives his current amp stand a rave review? Don't they remember what happened? Makes me ill.

 

Figured I better chime in here....., posted on February 23, 2015 at 09:51:54
Winston Smith
Audiophile

Posts: 1014
Location: PNW (summers) and Southern AZ (winters)
Joined: December 2, 2006
... just to keep "The Unholy Three" thing going.

Well, if that's the case, I get to be Lon Chaney, Sr. (as Professor Echo). I don't know which of you will play the midget, "Tweedledee", though.

You can duke-out that one through your respective 'agents'...... or draw straws.

(And what's all this nonsense about $6000 amp stands, anyway? You'd think this was an audio site, or something.....)

;-)

 

RE: That's weird., posted on February 23, 2015 at 13:30:00
It's such a black art. It all depends on a whole lot of things. Even the best of these gadgets like Halcyonics and Minus K and Vibraplane are almost endlessly tweakable in terms of how to interface them to the floor and how to interface the component to the stand, etc. To my knowledge I'm the only one who got the resonant frequency down below 1 Hz with the exception of Minus K. Everyone else is sucking hind teat as it were.

 

How about Sister Mary Stigmata?, posted on February 23, 2015 at 14:25:45
:-)

 

Sadly......., posted on February 23, 2015 at 18:38:54
Winston Smith
Audiophile

Posts: 1014
Location: PNW (summers) and Southern AZ (winters)
Joined: December 2, 2006
.........my VERY old and fucked up computer does not allow me such extravagances as watching most videos. Bummer. Only saw "Blues Brothers" once years ago, but remember that I laughed my ass off at the scene where Sister Mary Stigmata literally rolls in (and out) ala that witch/vampire/wtf in the movie "Black Sabbath" (starring Boris Karloff and a bunch of Italian people. Saw it as a kid, when it first came out a zillion years ago, so my memory could be off a wee bit there.)

Yeah, there are lots of unholy trios out there......

Hey, that could be a fun thread in Central Asylum.

(Then again, maybe not.) ;-)

 

RE: Sadly......., posted on February 23, 2015 at 21:52:24
The clip is one of my favorites of the Blues Brothers movie where Sister Mary takes a ruler to Jake and Elwood. That would be me, Sister Nary. Fifty shades of Sister Mary.

 

You're naughty! (But fun, too.) :-) (Nt.), posted on February 25, 2015 at 01:46:26
Winston Smith
Audiophile

Posts: 1014
Location: PNW (summers) and Southern AZ (winters)
Joined: December 2, 2006
.

 

Ridiculous, posted on May 6, 2015 at 16:04:26
gkirkos
Audiophile

Posts: 201
Location: Seattle
Joined: February 6, 2015

I've been an engineer studying structural dynamics for 25 years.

Nothing that a component is simply sitting on "drains" it's vibrations.

If something is rigidly coupled to a component, it can certainly affect it's dynamics. If you screw it down to a plate, it will stiffen it, and raise the bending modes of the case.

Components resonate with hundreds of vibration modes - PCBs bend, components vibrate on those PCBs, and it's all highly coupled. A lot of this can certainly affect sound. Placing it on something will affects those modes a little, but largely not at all, because the amp's structure is decoupled from the stand at the frequencies of interest.

If we were at all serious about isolate our components from airborne excitation (ie sound) we would put boxes around our amplifiers, and shield them from the sound. No one does that because of thermal reasons, and you can't see the pretty amp any more.

Now isolating it from low frequency modes, such as those in the floor, is a different topic altogether.

 

Really ........ ?, posted on May 17, 2015 at 09:35:42
JazzDude
Audiophile

Posts: 368
Joined: July 30, 2002
> "I'm wondering if that's the same guy I dealt with a number of years ago when I wrote for TAS. If so, he's a lunatic. And now Harley gives his current amp stand a rave review? Don't they remember what happened? Makes me ill."

This seems irresponsible. Original poster stated above his derogatory opinion about Critical Mass Systems and their products and that he's getting "ill" solely as a "lunatic" he deal with years ago works at Critical Mass Systems--regardless that the original poster states he does not know if that "lunatic" works at Critical Mass Systems.

I hope it is not the case though it appears when he started this thread about Critical Mass Systems, the original poster had something against that company from the get go and later in the thread made up evidence to further his point.

To each their own, though I don't recall a legit reviewer ever using derogatory comments like lunatic to describe a designer.

 

Well, not necessarily , posted on May 24, 2015 at 08:34:12
You might not have heard of Coulomb friction before but that is a phenomenon that drains vibration. Refer to Sistrum stand. Also you can place vibration damper(s), I.e., vibration dissipators or constrained layer dampers directly on the isolating device. That will drain vibrations from the component as well. That's what the big boys do.

 

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