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

spiritofmusic

Well-Known Member
Jun 13, 2013
14,605
5,413
1,278
E. England
Who/where are you visiting in Blighty?
 

Blue58

Well-Known Member
Jan 20, 2013
890
675
1,155
London, UK
Our usual spots in London. Music at St. Martins, pizza express, a couple plays and two football matches.
Pizza Express? YUK!!!!
Try Homeslice Pizza in Neals Yard, 20 inch pizza with fab toppings like goat or anchovy.
 

Blue58

Well-Known Member
Jan 20, 2013
890
675
1,155
London, UK
I go for the jazz, not the pizza.

Silly me, I should have known. I saw Patricia Barber there a few months back and chatted to her after the show.
Great performance from her and the band.
Still recommend Homeslice if you get chance.
 

mullard88

Well-Known Member
Jun 5, 2010
948
62
1,588
This afternoon, I decided to install my four sets of center stage feet.

In my main system, I installed them under the ARC CD7, Hegel Mohican, and Hegel HD30.

In my bed room system, I installed them under the Hegel Mohican.

The immediate effect was a muddied sound; a more distant sound; a shrinking of all images and the entire soundstage; the disappearance of the ends of the frequency range.

I was not prepared for such a severe loss of both systems' abilities.
 

mullard88

Well-Known Member
Jun 5, 2010
948
62
1,588
This afternoon, I decided to install my four sets of center stage feet.

In my main system, I installed them under the ARC CD7, Hegel Mohican, and Hegel HD30.

In my bed room system, I installed them under the Hegel Mohican.

The immediate effect was a muddied sound; a more distant sound; a shrinking of all images and the entire soundstage; the disappearance of the ends of the frequency range.

I was not prepared for such a severe loss of both systems' abilities.
 

PeterA

Well-Known Member
Dec 6, 2011
12,522
10,688
3,515
USA
This afternoon, I decided to install my four sets of center stage feet.

In my main system, I installed them under the ARC CD7, Hegel Mohican, and Hegel HD30.

In my bed room system, I installed them under the Hegel Mohican.

The immediate effect was a muddied sound; a more distant sound; a shrinking of all images and the entire soundstage; the disappearance of the ends of the frequency range.

I was not prepared for such a severe loss of both systems' abilities.

Do you attribute this to the infamous ten day break in period? All reports suggest that the sound upon initial installation is pretty bad but then it completely changes over time. Please keep us updated.
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
12,308
1,425
1,820
Manila, Philippines
Hi Sam

I just got mine last week but all I've done so far is inspect them. They are not what I thought they would be. I was expecting more of a variation to the RiZE footers not a total departure. They do not have compressive parts at all.

I need to run in the the new pre and amp and allow the Black Platinums and Sapphires to take the fresh loads on the test system (W20, TD DAC, KR P-135, KR VA 200, LH Lightspeed, MB Signature, Endeavor E3 Mk1) which while through the major roller coaster-ing is still changing as the tubes and parts settle. It is sounding very good already but I would like to get a firmer grip on the baseline performance. Gotta get through the crush stage on these triodes. I should be able to try the footers in 10 days. I'm curious to see how bad the first few days will be.
 

mullard88

Well-Known Member
Jun 5, 2010
948
62
1,588
PeterA,

This is my first experience with a Joe Lavrencik product in my systems. I do not know what to attribute the effects to. All I know is there is an immediate effect on the sound. I shall keep the forum posted on my journey with these footers. Currently, the CD players are all in repeat mode. The dac is also on to receive data from the CD player. The other parts of the systems are off. I will turn the systems on again in two or three days.
 

mullard88

Well-Known Member
Jun 5, 2010
948
62
1,588
Hi Jack,

I got mine in the last week of November. I was reluctant to install the footers since I was not ready for a change in sound yet. I am pleasantly surprised at how wonderfully these are packaged. This is my first time to have a Joe Lavrencik product in my systems. I'm giving these a chance because they do not need months to break in. I don't know if the sound of my systems will become similar to yours or not. I'll just listen every once in a while and allow the footers time to let me to hear what positives they will contribute in the next two to three weeks.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
This afternoon, I decided to install my four sets of center stage feet.

In my main system, I installed them under the ARC CD7, Hegel Mohican, and Hegel HD30.

In my bed room system, I installed them under the Hegel Mohican.

The immediate effect was a muddied sound; a more distant sound; a shrinking of all images and the entire soundstage; the disappearance of the ends of the frequency range.

I was not prepared for such a severe loss of both systems' abilities.

Do you attribute this to the infamous ten day break in period? All reports suggest that the sound upon initial installation is pretty bad but then it completely changes over time. Please keep us updated.

PeterA,

This is my first experience with a Joe Lavrencik product in my systems. I do not know what to attribute the effects to. All I know is there is an immediate effect on the sound. I shall keep the forum posted on my journey with these footers. Currently, the CD players are all in repeat mode. The dac is also on to receive data from the CD player. The other parts of the systems are off. I will turn the systems on again in two or three days.

Hi Jack,

I got mine in the last week of November. I was reluctant to install the footers since I was not ready for a change in sound yet. I am pleasantly surprised at how wonderfully these are packaged. This is my first time to have a Joe Lavrencik product in my systems. I'm giving these a chance because they do not need months to break in. I don't know if the sound of my systems will become similar to yours or not. I'll just listen every once in a while and allow the footers time to let me to hear what positives they will contribute in the next two to three weeks.

Hi Sam. It's good to know that you are finally getting these under your components. As to your comment and Peter's question, there is no doubt in my mind that this is totally normal and is experienced by everyone who initially use these in their system. It is totally normal and I assure you in a few days that not only will it be gone but you will be scratching your head asking yourself why you didn't put them into your system sooner

Please keep us informed by posting your thoughts here

And to Jack and Jimmy as well as Sam it will be good to hear your thoughts as these burn in

As to any similarity to the Rize footer Joe made previously, there is no similarity and there is no comparison as they are vastly different
 

joelavrencik

Industry Expert
Nov 15, 2016
331
60
158
Chicago
www.criticalmasssystems.com
This afternoon, I decided to install my four sets of center stage feet.

In my main system, I installed them under the ARC CD7, Hegel Mohican, and Hegel HD30.

In my bed room system, I installed them under the Hegel Mohican.

The immediate effect was a muddied sound; a more distant sound; a shrinking of all images and the entire soundstage; the disappearance of the ends of the frequency range.

I was not prepared for such a severe loss of both systems' abilities.

Hi Mullard88

Sorry it took me so long to respond.......out of town. Please don't worry. The initial degradation is quite significant as you rightly describe. But, the performance improvement on the other side of the settling process is equally as significant compared to your sans-CS starting point. Please hang in there and let them do their thing. I researched your components and see no issues.

Thank you for trying Center Stage!
 

joelavrencik

Industry Expert
Nov 15, 2016
331
60
158
Chicago
www.criticalmasssystems.com
PeterA,

This is my first experience with a Joe Lavrencik product in my systems. I do not know what to attribute the effects to. All I know is there is an immediate effect on the sound. I shall keep the forum posted on my journey with these footers. Currently, the CD players are all in repeat mode. The dac is also on to receive data from the CD player. The other parts of the systems are off. I will turn the systems on again in two or three days.

If I may, I would suggest powering up the amplification from time to time to get some added vibration into the components. Vibration accelerates entropy and we want the feet to get a good workout as time passes. Thank you for your feedback and your future comments will be very much appreciated.

As a side bar, CS is not really a "typical Joe Lavrencik" product as my other work does not initially result in general sonic degradation. CS follows a different, or maybe better said, "unique" design path because of its intended use.
 

mullard88

Well-Known Member
Jun 5, 2010
948
62
1,588
Hi Steve,

I will post my impressions as I listen. I have turned off the components in the chain that do not have the feet under them. This way, I will not "get used" to the new sound.
 

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