Let me reiterate that the progress between original and latest Diamond Base is obvious. Although both look quite industrial, the latter scores extra luxo points. Lastly, Jeffrey is refreshingly open about his work. The published data on his site build confidence that he knows his stuff. My latest compact yet unapologetically heavy package from Texas held a dozen footers in black, one in silver for photo ops, a set of four spikes sold separately for $29 and four Evo top sections should I want to compare those to the original counterparts with felt pads. To be fair, this was more than I needed. A simple quad would have sufficed to conduct my review. Still, thrice as many parts could replace all my originals under preamp, DAC and speakers for the full-bore Diamond effect which promised to be a really cool thing to do at the very end. Speaking of originals, prior to their arrival my setup included no other standalone isolators to be a welcome environment for Jeff's first product which now played proper competitor for the newcomer. Many customers who already own the basic Evo model are probably curious whether upgrading is worth it. Levelling the playing field was simply my first order of business.

Jeff's suggestion was to use four Diamond footers under each speaker and as many under my DAC. The pre-installed new super-light green ViscoRings were why. These boast 20% higher damping versus the grey versions in my original set but want lighter loading. So three or four per component, green or grey? These were questions to answer first. Being of identical size, all the squishy bits at my disposal were easily swappable. A set of 3 or 4 green cylinders supports up to 25/35kg, the grey counterparts 50/70kg. My LampizatOr Pacific DAC weighs 20kg, Trilogy's 915R preamp is 5% lighter, each sound|kaos Vox 3afw monitor bolted to its stand packs about 11kg. These numbers suggested all green ViscoRings to get close to their upper limit. To compare apples to apples I transplanted six inserts from the Diamond footers to their older counterparts. Now I could map how much the 3rd anti-vibration stage contributes. As for the number of isolators, the Lampizator DAC as the first test subject sat atop three. Then I added one more, had a listen, removed it again and so forth. I bypassed LampizatOr's own footers so Jeff's made direct contact with the component. The difference between three and four decouplers was mild to say the least. My ears registered a more grounded sound with three. This meant extra bass mass and a touch more body above without crippling the DAC's signature speed, openness, resolution and its particular spatial emphasis on instrumental and vocal intimacy. At this point I knew how many Carbide Bases to apply and with what ViscoRings. Both footer versions housed only green stuff as my baseline.

To set the stage, let's revisit my experiments with the originals. Each sound|kaos monitor's plinth floated on three to decouple from my concrete floor. Two swaps sufficed to track impressive sonic shifts. This observation alone was telling. Jeff's footers seemed to reduce in-room SPL somewhat, not surprising considering reduced structural gain. Vocals were noticeably less coarse and texturally more oily than water-colour like. Images outlined finer and positioned closer. This meant better hydration and saturation plus higher specificity with no strings attached. The greatest gain was reduced room boom particularly in the upper bass. Simultaneously the lowest octaves felt more extended, anchored and full as if the Swiss speakers had developed a way of tapping into previously off-limits power reserves for more visceral, tactile and controlled beats. This superior bass reach with reduced resonance was a useful reminder. Potent anti-vibration accessories beneath speakers can truly curtail room talk to a meaningful extent. When the associated blur and mud depart, the sound cleans up without any liabilities. All in, the first Carbide bases struck me as brilliant performance boosters for Martin Gateley's compact monitors. These accessories worked so well that my take on the speakers' excessive bloom rewrote itself. I'd now try anti-vibration means under seemingly troublesome speakers before even considering letting them go. Perhaps presumed room interaction is less acoustical and more mechanical in nature so can be rescued.

Whenever it gets tamed, bloated uncontrolled bass makes for shorter fiercer attacks. Those we perceive also as improved dynamics with higher overall impact. It even turns the backdrop for images into an inkier canvas upon which resolution, clarity and oxygenation ramp up. Less mud, more clarity and little details. Such foundational work even prettifies gentler music genres. With them my Vox speakers on original Carbide Bases felt more atmospheric, intimate, precise and orderly while energetic tracks became far spicier and more rambunctious. Such repertoire demands excitement by way of spatial trickery, finely controlled attacks, ease, directness, control, authority and immediacy. Music by Tool or Queens of the Stone Age makes such traits essentials. Although steering towards clap trap and shoutiness is easy to do with such fare and party SPL, now I was nowhere near crossing that line. Cranking up the volume just got gracefully louder and louder. Upon removing the footers my bass instantly devolved back into being fatter, woollier and nowhere near as vital. Vocals morphed into coarser, drier and less sensual versions. Simply put, Jeff's pucks had to stay and so they did. Carbides under the Vox ticked all the right boxes at a cost of slightly softer outlines and reduced midbass presence which was a fair price to pay. Although less pronounced, the Carbide effect replicated under my Trilogy 915R preamp for more aeration, superior image size, wider dynamic range and more vocal intimacy. Long story short, I saw no reason why this pre shouldn't also sit on Jeff's footers. The same applied to my tube DAC. It sounded gutsier, rounder, faster, more elastic, spatially grander, snappier and dynamically twitchier. These gains across the gamut marked the LampizatOr as more susceptible to isolation than my preamp. Upon removing the footers it became more one-dimensional, lighter, edgier, drier and structurally a touch hollow. The clear takeaway was that this DAC really mustn't be fired up without being mechanically floated.