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| Model: | Isolation Platform |
| Category: | Accessory |
| Suggested Retail Price: | $390 |
| Description: | 4 |
| Manufacturer URL: | Mapleshade |
| Model Picture: | View |
| Review by Siddigger (A) on March 17, 2007 at 14:34:52 IP Address: 69.24.185.170 | Add Your Review for the Isolation Platform |
I had a Mapleshade maple platform under my Sota Nova. I really like the folks at Mapleshade so this is hard for me. This will be a little long as there is quite a following of maple so I want to get all the details right. I purchase the Mapleshade platform the same time as the Sota along with a Shelter 901, SME 5, Brinkman phono stage. I wish I had not added the platform at the same time as I would have realized the problem immediately. Just too many varaibles. I was completely at a loss as to how my Sota Nova was sounding. Odd because this was my second one. My Jolida CD player was sounding better in every way. It should have been the other way around. The Jolida is very good. I had started with Legacy speakers. The difference was not great with the Legacy's but the Jolida was better. I then purchased Avalon Opus Ceramique's. Now the difference was much more pronounced. Did I mess up getting the Avalons. Odd because I have a set of Avalon Symbols I will never get rid of, ever! I could not listen to the Ceramique's. The midrange was recessed and bright, I know maple should not be bright by conventional thinking but it was. The sound was fatiguing. I then did something I should have right away to put a finger on the sound problem. I took matching CD's and Records I had both of. Both me and my wife listening. With the cd there was rythym and was easy to listen too. Better sound stage, upfront, better midrange but why. I finially started to get it. I could not get into the beat with the record. So I asked my wife if she wanted to dance with the cd playing. Yes she would. I then asked to keep beat to the music tapping her foot and moving her arms and shoulders (get into the music!)while sitting. Very easy to do with the Jolida. This is my first requirement in a system. When nobody is watching I want to turn it up and jump around the room. Be a fool. If I do not get that feeling, somethings wrong. Next a record. Try to keep the beat of the music. I couldn't do it, I kept getting out of time. Next my wife, wanta dance honey? No I do not feel like it. Bingo, it's the bass. Bass is the foundation of music, it effects everything, the rythym to make it fit together. The bass was out of time with the rest of the music which affected everything. How would you like to go see a live band with the drummer out of time? The drum's were even out of syn with each other. To be fair I had Legacy speakers before the Avalon's. It was not near as bad but the Jolida was better. The Avalon's are very detailed and musical. The equipment makes a difference as always. But if the Avalons let you see the problem more, then there is a problem when there shouldn't be. Period. There is no forgiveness with the Avalon's if something is wrong. Garbage in, garbage out. Before the maple platform I had a Kasota Stone sandstone 3/4 inch slab under the turntable. Brass tip toes under the turntable and Bright Star nodes under the slab. Took the maple out and sandstone setup back in. Well I'm bouncing in my chair to the music. As I said this would be long. Maple has a large following and nothing is going to change that and I do not expect it to. If you are thinking of wood but havent done it yet, maybe you should listen before you leap and make your own opinion. Once you buy you might not want to think anythings wrong because so many swear it's right.
| Product Weakness: | Not for music |
| Product Strengths: | Looks nice |
| Associated Equipment for this Review: | |
| Amplifier: | Channel Island D200 |
| Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): | Modwright SE |
| Sources (CDP/Turntable): | Sota Nova - SME-Shelter-Jolida100 |
| Speakers: | Avalon Cremamique |
| Cables/Interconnects: | Signal Cable |
| Music Used (Genre/Selections): | All |
| Room Size (LxWxH): | 15 x 14 x 8.5 |
| Room Comments/Treatments: | Eighth Nerve Adapt plus more |
| Time Period/Length of Audition: | 3 Months |
| Other (Power Conditioner etc.): | Monster AVS200 - HTS5100 |
| Type of Audition/Review: | Product Owner |
Follow Ups:
It's well known if you place a suspended table like a Linn on a high mass platform, you'll get results such as you've experienced. But high mass, suspensionless tables like my Teres LOVE it! (I've got a 4" thick slab of 'lytus wood, laminated, that has a very salutary effect on my Teres).
.
You didn't tell us what products you used, there's a host of Mapleshade products avail and the way your TT is coupled to it matters a whole lot.i've played with most of the MS toys and found that their Ultimate Triplepoint footers underneath a rigid turntable connected to their 4" thick 18" x 15" platform which is isloated via Isobblocks (man that is a mouthful) is a completely kick-ass mount for my Por-Ject Expression. $400 mount for a $400 'table, it is a hobby you know!!
But, the only reason I list this is that without this exact combo, you wouldn't be happy....noon eowuld if they are after the ultimate in sound. The cheaper flat topped 2" footers remove bass, Mapleshade's 2" wood reduces bass BIGTIME.
i use mapleshade's mount theory (Isoblocks but not their expensive wood) in other places in my system which work really well. Want a crazy experience with this stuff? stick a mount under your power strip/conditioner... buy the 2" thick plat that comes with Isolblocks - this way you can return it for a full refund.
Anyhoo, Sidigger, if you are gonna spend to time to give us info, give it all to us. no doubt this part of the hobby is truly subjective. next time post in Vinyl or Tweakers as well..
That review was a long-winded way to say that turntable isolation is not a one-size-fits-all proposition.Over the years there have been a lot of attempts to accomplish this. I fondly remember the old AR turntable. It was great for isolation from airborne interference, but God help you if your turntable was on a cabinet sitting on a wood floor with any bounce. At the far end were the tables with the solid bases with the decoupling through the feet.
I've found that that the only way to get a good turntable set-up is to try several options in your home. (Though I did have one friend who built a concrete pillar in his built-in audio closet that went down to the foundation. He was pretty free to use whatever table he wanted.)
a
Have you ever heard of a thing called a paragraph?
I was *just* about to author my Followup asking for paragraphs when I read the other two responses. I think I see a trend here...-RW-
I first tried reading this over at Audiogon and gave up.The word for the day: paragraphing. :-)
Sorry for being redundant, but I didn't read Dave's post before sending in mine.
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