A set of M8-fitted 68 eliminated the previous Boenicke SwingBase. At CHF900/3 vs. CHF775, it was a reasonably close toss on coin but cosmetically favored the sound|kaos. That reduced the already big sub's footprint. Challenge met yet of special note not just for that but how. It's easy to think isolation is linear, non-leaky and broadband. It's not. Something always seeps through. The final result is shaped by where escapee vibes scale the frequency fence and in what numbers. I heard no real difference in the low and mid bass. I did hear a distinct difference in the upper bass and lower mids. That was enabled by our smart xover sitting at 100Hz on a 4th-order Linkwitz-Riley slope to exploit the sub's cardioid dispersion across two room modes. At the filter point the sub is in by 6dB. And it was in these higher bands and beyond where the 68 did more than the SwingBase had. Be it Nik Bärtsch's Holon or Sevara Nazarkhan's Sen, Mercan Dede's 800 or Aytac Dogan's Deva, the warmth region had cleaned up. This created even less overlay higher up. It meant even better layer separation. Subtle congestion spots declumped into discrete events for a demonstrable resolution increase. My presumptive takeaway is that the Vibra 68 betters the SwingBase's isolation effectiveness upward of 60Hz. This became ever more obvious as I dialed up SPL. Darkness and opacity stayed at bay like a bad odor blocked by sealed windows. More light permeated the soundstage. I saw more image distinction, more complexity unraveled. Truth told, this was entirely unexpected. I'd have been thrilled with a wash just for the 68's physical miniaturization gains. Instead I got resolution gains as well.
My swaps drove home extra benefits. 1/ The Vibra 68 can bolt to kit thus travels. Pick up gear, plunk it down. The mounted isolators move along. The SwingBase doesn't. It requires careful reinsertion to not bind up. 2/ because it has a long bolt, the Vibra 68 easily height-adjusts. The SwingBase is fixed. 3/ the Vibra 68 fits all. SwingBase struts are ordered to length unless we love beastly outriggers. In short or rather quite long, looking for alternate employ for our temporarily laid-off SwingBase proved futile. To suit anything, its +50cm struts would have to shorten. Hence the sound|kaos execution of wire suspension wins on universality and practicality then adds unexpected barrier effectiveness. To be clear, that's no 100% claim for absolutely zero resonance transfer. It's just more effective and broadband than my previous best. That makes it ideal for the most rambunctious of all disturbers of the musical peace: subwoofers and related low-hanging but loud fruit in the speaker sector.
No sooner thunk than done to hoof upstairs, 2nd set bound for under a Dynaudio S18 sub. There M6 adapters were the threaded ticket. Being a classic sealed hence omni sub, I've set this smart analog xover to 60Hz to minimize the sub's room involvement. It simply takes over for the micro monitors which are naturally good to ~60Hz. They perform far better when high-passed to see no low bass at all. An extra isolation challenge is the upper storey's suspended floor. Couple a potent 2 x 9½" bass maker to it and delayed structural gain is the result. With my wife down the hallway, grosse Scheisse. When the Vibra 68 stepped into it and a quad of Carbide Base Diamond out, the bandwidth of change was certainly narrower than downstairs but the improvement over before no less audible. By losing remnants of resonant leach which my prior solution still caused, I could dial up the low-pass level by 1.5dB. Presto, more clarity and articulation at the same power. Sticking a 68 trio beneath the DAC registered too but obviously now more subtly. Big things beat little things. To keep our footing firm, I don't wish to shout about extreme scenarios much farther down the line. Being so often overlooked entirely, resonance control still strikes the average hifi hobbyist as 'out there' already. No need to go over the edge. Once you've mastered the basics, venturing farther comes naturally. No reviewer prompts are required but perhaps these next two photos could, cough, inspire going for broke?
The prosecution's exhibit #1…
Hifistay Mythology racks, inverted Carbide Diamond bases beneath DAC and xover/pre, Divine Kepler isolators under amp, Vibra 68 under sub
… and #2. Use mouse-over loupe enlarger for the more extremist details.
How does the accused hifi freak plead? "No comment."
