This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below
With the Daft Punk recording I also heard something which prior to the Wellfloat I'd perceived but not fully understood. On Within's very powerful kick drum hits the very low sound with and without platform was surprisingly different. This in fact might be the best nutshell capture of how the Wellfloat influences sonics. What you get reminds me of a very good sealed speaker rather than the previously heard sound of a bass-reflex design. Whilst the best ported designs might offer very good impulse response, their decay behaviour is worse. Sealed designs deal with ring-outs far better. This effect clarifies the sound whilst bass won't be as extended. You might occasionally miss the powerful punch of bass-reflex loading but with the CEC platform the lower midrange is so rich and the dimensionality of this range attracts so much attention that we might not notice that perhaps there's a small lack above or below.
Summary. This CEC anti-vibration platform is a quite inconspicuous design. You cant' really see and thus appreciate how elaborate the hidden suspension mechanism between the two basic boards is. At 30mm for the upper board and 15mm for the lower and just a few millimeters of clearance between them to make for low overall height, it becomes a perfect choice for space-limited systems. Its only downside—to my own way of looking at it, for others it might be an upside—is a rather boring appearance. Otherwise it's very effective whilst slightly pushing the sound towards a warmer more dimensional presentation.
Most manufacturers of resonance control/damping products specialize in just them. Some expand like Finite Elemente but most stick to what they know and do best. Some manufacturers of loudspeakers and/or electronics might introduce certain vibration control products but usually do so to complement their own portfolio rather than become an important player in the sector. It thus won't come as a surprise that CEC, synonymous with belt-drive CD players, asked a specialized company to license a support platform from them. I have no idea whether it's accidental but the Wellfloat approach is similar to how the TL-0X top CEC transport goes about its own business.
Another interesting fact is that these platforms were originally designed for loudspeakers as clearly stated by their full name in the manual. Later on the manual explains that they can be used with amplifiers, speakers and other components. The Wellfloat is highly recommended for turntables and CEC transports and players with belt drive. There are two logos on the platform so depending on application—wider side upfront for electronics, shorter side in front for most speakers—there'll always be a logo facing you.This platform measures 350 x 450 x 58mm and weights 5.5kg. Allowable applied weight is from 5kg to 90kg.
During this test I used the Wellfloat under the Ayon Audio Spirit III amplifier, Jeff Rowland Aeris D/A converter and Ancient Audio Lector Air V-edition CD Player. The review was an A/B/A comparison repeated many times with A and B known. The platform was placed on the top shelf of my Base VI stand with shelves made of special plywood. I compared the influence of the WellFloat by putting each device on it and then directly on the top shelf of my Base stand. I used 1-minute music samples, i.e. shorter than usual to allow repeat swaps many times without getting too tired from moving quite heavy components.
