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In Reply to: RE: SHOOT-OUT: Stillpoints Ultra SS Footers vs. MSA BlackPod Footers posted by Winston Smith on November 30, 2014 at 02:38:10
Thank you Winston Smith for the review. Thank you for bringing this footer to my attention. Having said that there needs to be more reviews to confirm
these findings.
Follow Ups:
Checking in here: I have recently acquired a set of 3 Black Pods in order to compare with the 4 Stillpoints Ultra Minis and 28 Ultra SS/Ultra AL that I have, as well as the one set of 4 Herbie's firm tall Tenderfeet, and perhaps other footers I have remaining as suited. I have avoided reading any reviews of the same in order not to throw me off in the process; this includes Winston's review above. While not being in any way connected to any associated audio entity it ought to be interesting as to the outcome.
I will be reviewing the Black Pods with my headphone system and my living room system, presently with modded MG1.6QR speakers. Already, with the Black Pods in the headphone setup I can say that it "sounds" to me that it is not simply a matter of apples vs. apples. I will attempt to explain further when I find the right words after some more listening; until then, there is something going on between the 4 Ultra Minis and the 3 Black Pods that I can not form into words yet....
Happy listening until then.
robss,
waiting for your review.
My Mom just let me use the computer, so here goes:
As I have been able to only recently, there are a few revelations that have come to mind since using the 3 Blackpods I now have. However, I find I am not nearly done with the discovery process of the Blackpods; hence, I will be continuing to post as I move to my other system and/or compare to other footers I have, as mentioned previously here.For the notes below, I compared the 3 Blackpods vs. 3 Stillpoints Ultra Minis under the same 3 spots - 2 at rear and 1 under the center of a spinning CD so as to keep things uniform - of my upgraded (dampening in and out, w/ HiFi Tuning fuses installed) CD player, Cambridge Azur 840C in a fairly highly resolving headphone system:
Stock Denon AH-D2000 'phones, stock Bryston BHA-1 head amp. (w/4 firm Tall Herbies Tenderfeet under it) w/Shunyata Python CX pc to it, Shunyata Talos conditioner (w/ 3 Maple wood blocks under it) w/ Shunyata Diamondhead pc to it from wall outlet, and the CDP w/ Telwire PC to it and using Shunyata Python XLR ICs in a balanced system. Rack: old DIY solid oak and Michigan Maple top (I will try to post the pix); feet are only temporary and not ideal.
Note that I have not read any reviews about Blackpods so as to not influence my findings. No test/measurement equipment was used in the review here.
The conclusion: I found the Blackpods to be a surprisingly successful product vs. the Stillpoints Ultra Minis in my system. I found the Blackpods had little, if any, trade-offs vs. the Ultra Minis as well. The comparison between the 2 products is difficult to make due to the way each "works" (ie, their advantages and other characteristics). It is not simply one of one being "better" and the other "more better". They produce recorded music differently, so it is a matter of what suits the listener, and their system, in the end. The value of the Blackpods (~$45 USD ea.) is crazy good vs. the Ultra Minis (~$125 USD ea.). I will attempt to explain below.
1) I found the old quick 'n' easy A/B comparo to not work for this review. There were differences noted done this way but I found the 2 products to "sound" more similar than not, and, found those differences to not mean that much vs. long term listening. I found the full characterization of the Blackpods identified only after long term listening.
2) Essentially, I found the Stillpoints Ultra Minis to influence the entire spectrum frequency fairly evenly - to my ears and without any other testing. Their benefit was throughout vs. the Blackpods that (again, to my ears) most favorably influenced the midrange. No downsides to either here - how do you like your tea?
3) With the Ultra Minis the soundstage takes a much wider, deeper and higher expansion. Detail and venue are brought forth uniformly. Placement, number of footers used and orientation of footer will influence the results in this regard. There is more musical information of everything: UF, midrange and bass, notes begin sooner and end latter. UF and bass are noted improved more than with the use of the Blackpods.
Downsides: one must keep the footer so as to not lock up (unscrewed). Also, the Ultra Minis do not make the music more listenable, just more technically correct, if you will. I am a "truth" camp person so it does not bug me, and my system is neutral so I can listen through Stillpoints without being overwhelmed by the increase in detail. Some listeners find this distracting.
4) With the Blackpods the soundstage takes on a somewhat less wide, less deep and less high expansion vs. the Ultra Minis. Detail and venue as such are not that obvious a change - but the improvement is not that much less than the Ultra Minis. The real advantage I discovered is that the midrange is benefited better with the Blackpods vs. Ultra Minis. In the end, the Blackpods make music more listenable vs. the Ultra Minis. I had a difficult time realizing this fact until after quite some hours of listening; I think I felt like the Ultra Minis *should* be better, being used to them as I had and knowing how vast the price difference was.
No downsides found with the Blackpods as used. With the Blackpod balls as they are there was no sliding around as found with other ball-to-chassis footers. Advantages vs. Ultra Minis: No moving parts. Value is greater vs. Ultra Minis.
Surprisingly, I found myself drawn into the music more with the Blackpods than the Stillpoints Ultra Minis.
Hope this helps.
robss
Edits: 12/17/14 03/28/15
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