Confessions of an Audiophile Junky-I Got Center Stage With Pitch Perfect Sound

Hi Joe,

You mean you would like the amps turned on even if they are not resting on the center stage footers?

mullard88 said:

Hi Joe,

You mean you would like the amps turned on even if they are not resting on the center stage footers?

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Hi Mullard88

I read your post to mean that you have the amps turned off while the upstream components are turned on. CS needs 3 things to settle in; electrical current fed into the components, time and vibration. It seems like you have 2 of those 3 boxes checked? If this is correct then, yes, I’m suggesting the amps be turned on to get the speakers generating sound. I honestly don’t think you could be lulled into imagining an improvement is occurring in your system when it really isn’t. You’re too smart for that and an A/B/A would verify your impressions.

If I read your post incorrectly, I apologize for that.

Hi Joe,

You read my post correctly. I will leave my amps on from now on. Is it ok to turn the volume control all the way down or should sound actually be coming out of the speakers?

Hi Joe,

You read my post correctly.

Can the amplifiers be turned on but with the volume levels all the way down?

I just listened to two songs from "If I Can Dream" Elvis Presley with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra cd.

The two songs were:
1) Fever
2) In The Ghetto

This is my bedroom system. The source is a Hegel Mohican that is connected to a Hegel 160 integrated amp. Speakers are a pair of Von Schweikert VR 1 bookshelf speakers on Von Schweikert stands. IC is Masterbuilt Signature, SC is also Masterbuilt Signature. Power cords are MIT AC 3.

First "Fever". What immediately caught my attention is that everything sounds more whole and clearer than the last time (two days ago). The orchestra's strings starts and is joined by some horns. Then I suppose Elvis starts snapping his fingers, then starts singing. His voice is solid and clear. I also hear a dynamic tight drum kit and equally dynamic horn instruments. I hear a double bass. The piano that two days ago sounded very faint and seem to be sometimes center stage and sometimes right side of the stage is now very present and steady on the center of the stage. When Michael Buble joins in the refrain, I can clearly hear two voices. The sound is very listenable. Soundstagewise, there is clearly layering from the front to the back of the stage. Width is good but not as wide as I know it is. Soundstage height is compromised, it sounds like the stage's ceiling is only perhaps five feet high.

Now "In The Ghetto". The first thing I notice is the stage starts in front of the speaker plane as compared to "Fever" where the stage is set back behind the front of the speakers. Elvis' voice is clear and I can hear that Elvis' voice in this song is more dimensional than his voice in "Fever". The guitar's strings are very clear though I don't hear the guitar's body. The back up singers blend and support Elvis in an excellent way. I can hear that some of the back up singers are singing straight ahead and there seems to be a second set of back up singers with their heads tilted up and singing higher notes. Soundstagewise, the layering from front to back is also clearly layered. Width is acceptable but height is still lacking.

Steve Williams said:

I did this the first time I used the feet. In my system the effect was cumulative so on the 2nd and 3rd time I inserted them all at once as I couldn't suffer through the break in all over again. I too am interested in the conclusions of rockitman as his intent is to do the scientific approach of one at a time. In my system I found efficacy under each component. To state that everyone will experience similar effects is just unknown at this point.

For my final experiment I intend to place these systematically under the power supplies of my amp, preamp and phono stage a total of 6 more boxes as mine are dual mono with dual power supplies

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Steve juxt scrolling to the thread and noitced this phrase."the effect was cumulative." Care to elaborate?

Steve: You need to replace your Wilson speakers with THESE. Talk about a "statement speaker"!!

But at least in one form of the phrase "statement speaker", you would have to agree it qualifies.

Good luck trying to sell them !!!

Hope you are doing well !!

Tonight, I listen to my main system. This is day 3 since I installed the center stage footers under the ARC CD 7. Power cord on the ARC CD 7 is a masterbuilt ultra. The ARC CD 7 is connected to an FMA 268 by a masterbuilt ultra IC. The IC from the FMA to the Croft mono amps is the FMA IC. The Croft are connected to stacked Quad 57 by masterbuilt ultra SC. Power cords for the Croft are Sensory Power while the Quad 57 use the stock Quad power cables.

Music is exactly the same as last night.

I'll start with "Fever". The intro starts with a beautiful interplay between the orchestra and a solo horn. Then the double bass and finger snapping enters before Elvis starts to sing. Elvis here is full size. After perhaps two stanzas, Elvis alters his voice and Elvis starts toying with his voice's dynamics before Michael Buble joins in. The two voices are very distinctive from each other. Elvis sings solo again and Michael Buble joins him again for another stanza. The piano is also very clear at this part of the song. The drums are very dynamic and very quick giving an excellent sense of suddenness. The soundstage starts from behind the speakers. Height and layering from front to back are excellent.

Now, "In The Ghetto". It starts with an intro by the orchestra. Elvis starts to sing and the drummer softly joins in behind him, followed by a guitar to his left and finally the back up singers join in. Elvis' voice is very solid and deeper sounding and he seems to be standing nearer the microphone than he did in "Fever". The back up singers seem to be in two rows, the back row standing on a higher platform than the front row. Also, Elvis seems to take a step back to be nearer his back up singers when he sings with them. The soundstage in this song is nearer, with more width and height than in "Fever". Soundstage depth layering is also excellent.

mullard88 said:

Hi Joe,

You read my post correctly. I will leave my amps on from now on. Is it ok to turn the volume control all the way down or should sound actually be coming out of the speakers?

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Hi Mullard88

Once again, I apologize for the late reply......more travel. It's best to have sound coming out of the loudspeakers. This doesn't need to be loud. It just needs to be quietly present. We've learned that even low level vibration helps settling. This will help make the settling period as short as possible. I don't want you to experience an extended settling period if it can be avoided. I hope this helps!

Hi Joe,

Copy. I'll follow your advice. Thank you and I hope to shorten the break in time.

Tonight is day 5 since installing the Center Stage footers. I listened to the other digital front end of my main system composed of Hegel Mohican CD player and Hegel HD 30 dac. Both are plugged into the outlets with Masterbuilt Ultra PCs. IC from HD 30 into FMA 268 is an FMA IC. Music played again are Elvis Presley's "Fever" and "In The Ghetto"

First thing I noticed when I played "Fever" was the orchestra has expanded and sounds fuller. I would say that the stage starts from the front of the speakers now and the orchestra and specially the double bass has air and bloom. The horn has added a brass-like sound now. Elvis delivery of the lyrics is so clear. I can effortlessly understand each word. However in the latter part of the song when Elvis and Michael sing together, the clarity of the lyrics is not as clear as when Elvis sings solo.

On to the next song "In The Ghetto". The stage is more spacious. From what I hear, the orchestra is split up taking stage left and stage right. Stage center is Elvis, guitarist to Elvis' left. Behind Elvis are the back up singers. Tonight the back up singers are not spread as wide as the other night. The back up singers have compressed together on the stage's center. Also stage center are drums, double bass and a solo violin. This is my first time to notice the violinist since installing the Center Stage footers. There are two characteristics in Elvis' voice that have caught my attention. First is the sadness in his voice, second is just like in "Fever", the clarity of the lyrics is so good it does not take effort to understand each word he sings.

Day 6 since I have installed the Center Stage footers and I am back listening to the same two songs in my bedroom.

As usual, I start with "Fever". The stage has really expanded. The stage is really wide, way left of the left speaker and way right of the right speaker. The ambience is very strongly recreated and blooms out to my seat. There are two distinct groups of back up musicians, one is the orchestra and the other which only became obvious now are some brass winds spread out behind Elvis. There are also two drummers, one stage center and the other stage left. The drummer on the left sounds unbelievable big, it is as if the Von Schweikert VR 1 speakers grew bigger. The piano seems sited between the two drums. I can hear the bass, but not as loud and clear as last night. When Michael Buble sings, there are times when he seems taller and to the left of Elvis and there are times when he and Elvis seems to occupy the same point in space. At this point, for this song, I feel that the system's performance has exceeded The performance I am used to. The improvements made after installing the footers are the ambience that bloom into my listening seat and the increase in the soundstage's and image size. I shall continue to listen and enjoy whatever new improvements will be heard. I expect improvements as I was told break in can take two weeks and I am only on my 6th day. I'm hoping to hear more soundstage height, not as much as my main system but any increase will be welcome.

Going to the next song, the first thing that catches my attention is the enormous amount of detail from the center of the stage. The two sides do not have the same density of sound but I can clearly hear the string sections of the orchestra. The solo violin I heard last night on my main system now sounds like a few violins. It seems like the orchestra has not been split up as heard last night. There is percussion, guitar, and bass as the main accompanying musicians for Elvis. There also seems to be a pianist lost somewhere in there that is only distinctly heard at the very end. Perspective of this song is nearer to my listening seat compared to "Fever". As for the back up singers, it seems like not all of them sing all the lines all the time. There are lines when I just hear a few back up singers, and there are lines when I hear more back up singers. For this song, I expect to definitely hear more improvements. I am most keen to hear the system to reveal the pianist. I am certain there is a piano as I definitely hear it at the end. It's just that the piano's sound seems to be buried by the other instruments most of the time.

I will continue to listen to all three digital front ends in the next days using just these two songs.

These Center Stage footers really need burn-in.

I do not keep an exact diary, but about three weeks ago I got another shipment of footers from Steve and inserted them under the ARC 250 amplifiers - previous experiences under the GAT, REF250 have been successful. But this time my faith was beginning to vanish - during some sampling listening I experienced some loss of bass and drive, and after all this time there was no strong evidence of something extraordinary really happening. To be true, as tube hours of REF250 have a significant cost I did not carry the full time burn-in at high levels, as I did with all other equipment - probably something around 40% of time, with power resistors.

However yesterday I hosted a few audiophiles and reconnected the REF250's in the main system. Immediately from start it seemed I had fed the amplifiers with steroids - there was a slam and drive in these amplifiers I never experienced before. The usual suspects - Gershwin by Grofé: Symphonic Jazz, Harmonia Mundi HARMONIA MUNDI HMU 907492 were astonishing - the hands moved on the piano keyboard as if the pianist was sitting there. Someone remarked that soundstage depth was unbelievable in spite of the presence of a few instruments staying more forward - and yes it was. By the time the Rhapsody in Blue was played, there was no doubt - the system was presenting instrument after instrument in a way I never experienced with this recording - rhythm sounded like Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Mercedes Sosa "Missa Criola" allowed me to confirm that bass and focus were also improved - and voice was more tuneful.

My preferred Tchaikovsky symphony is No. 4 - but always played by russian orchestra's, and Mravinsky is my usual choice. Today, when checking a small change in my Roon server I decided to try the DSD Pentatone recording - Russian National Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev. There is now really something different in these ARC 250 - they have are bringing more of the performance, the extra articulation is showing much more of the orchestra - even at low levels. The sudden changes in this symphony are very well served by the improvements brought by the footers - it is now easier to imagine the hands of the conductor!

The only negative was that the 200 hours will be 10% of the lifetime of a set of KT120 in the REF250's ...

microstrip said:

One more unnecessary post, as it brings nothing really new ... But I feel I must bring my testimony - these Center Stage footers really need burn-in.

I do not keep an exact diary, but about three weeks ago I got another shipment of footers from Steve and inserted them under the ARC 250 amplifiers - previous experiences under the GAT, REF250 have been successful. But this time my faith was beginning to vanish - during some sampling listening I experienced some loss of bass and drive, and after all this time there was no strong evidence of something extraordinary really happening. To be true, as tube hours of REF250 have a significant cost I did not carry the full time burn-in at high levels, as I did with all other equipment - probably something around 40% of time, with power resistors.

However yesterday I hosted a few audiophiles and reconnected the REF250's in the main system. Immediately from start it seemed I had fed the amplifiers with steroids - there was a slam and drive in these amplifiers I never experienced before. The usual suspects - Gershwin by Grofé: Symphonic Jazz, Harmonia Mundi HARMONIA MUNDI HMU 907492 were astonishing - the hands moved on the piano keyboard as if the pianist was sitting there. Someone remarked that soundstage depth was unbelievable in spite of the presence of a few instruments staying more forward - and yes it was. By the time the Rhapsody in Blue was played, there was no doubt - the system was presenting instrument after instrument in a way I never experienced with this recording - rhythm sounded like Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Mercedes Sosa "Missa Criola" allowed me to confirm that bass and focus were also improved - and voice was more tuneful.

My preferred Tchaikovsky symphony is No. 4 - but always played by russian orchestra's, and Mravinsky is my usual choice. Today, when checking a small change in my Roon server I decided to try the DSD Pentatone recording - Russian National Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev. There is now really something different in these ARC 250 - they have are bringing more of the performance, the extra articulation is showing much more of the orchestra - even at low levels. The sudden changes in this symphony are very well served by the improvements brought by the footers - it is now easier to imagine the hands of the conductor!

The only negative was that the 200 hours will be 10% of the lifetime of a set of KT120 in the REF250's ...

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Hi microstrip

No doubt about it........Steve owes you a set of tubes.

Seriously, thank you so much for sharing your experience. And thank you for hanging in there with Center Stage!
I wish the settling period was shorter in duration, but I can't control that part. I can only give you a product that gets you closer to the excellent engineering already inside your components and the recordings....

Microstrip,

If you are referring to my posts, then stop reading my posts.

I'm posting for some friends in this forum who wanted to know my break in experience.

mullard88 said:

Microstrip,

If you are referring to my posts, then stop reading my posts.

I'm posting for some friends in this forum who wanted to know my break in experience.

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Surely not - I really enjoy your posts since long. I was joking about a post in another thread ... Apologies for the unhappy coincidence, I am really interested in your findings! I will edit my post to avoid any possible confusion.