Country of Origin
This review first appeared in October 2024 on fairaudio.de. By request of the manufacturer and permission of the author, it is hereby syndicated from the German original to reach a broader English audience. Ed.
Reviewer: Ralph Werner
Analogue sources: Drive: SME Model 15 Tonearm: SME 309 Pickup: MC: Denon DL-103R, Dynavector DV-20X2 H, Transrotor Figaro; MM: Shelter 201 Other: Flux-HiFi (needle cleaner), VPI HW-16.5 (record washer)
Digital sources: D/A converter: Rockna Wavelight+ Music server: Antipodes K22 G4 Other: Pink Faun LAN Isolator
Preamplifiers: Electrocompaniet EC 4.8 MKII, Pass XP-12 Phono : BMC Audio MCCI Signature ULN
Power amplifiers: Electrocompaniet AW 800 M, Pass X250.8 (stereo)
Speakers: Acapella High BassoNobile MK2
Headphones: Audeze LCD-2, Beyerdynamic DT-990, Sennheiser HD 800 S, Sony MDR-1000X, Teufel Supreme In
All-In-One: Ruark Audio R4
Cables: Speaker cable: Dyrholm Audio Phoenix, fis Audio Studioline NF cable: Dyrholm Audio Phoenix XLR, Boaacoustic Blueberry Signal.xlr, fis Audio Livetime (Cinch), Vovox and others Digital cable: Audioquest Cinnamon (Toslink), Audioquest Vodka 48 (HDMI/I2S), Boaacoustic Silver Digital Xeno (USB), fis Audio Magic (LAN cable), Wireworld Series 7 Starlight Gold (S/PDIF coaxial) Power cable: fis Audio Blackmagic, fis Audio Studioline
Power strip: fis Audio Blackmagic
Rack: Creaktiv Trend 3
Listening room: 40m², 2.45m ceiling
Review component retail: €89 mat, €232 stabilizer
Vinly with a twist. Attitudes on tweaking differ. Some appreciate sonic fine-tuning and leave no stone unturned, others think it's all too silly. For them silly gets stupid in the digital realm where we all know that a zero is a zero and a one a one. Well, it's grand that we can avoid that discussion today because for once we're deep in analogue territory. Even the most stubborn sceptic will admit that with vinyl playback, every micrometer counts, every speck of dust is audible, every vibration beyond that pressed into the groove potential distortion. And this review is all about reducing harmful vibrations. Cheerful and calm is how Google translates the word serene. This certainly proves that Theo Stack, owner and chief developer of Stack Audio, has a good hand at naming products. There are two new products from him, a turntable mat called the Serene Mat and the Serene Stabiliser, a record clamp which doesn’t actually clamp anything so is more like a record weight although it's too light for that. Okay then, a stabiliser.
Regular fairaudio readers already encountered Stack Audio half a year ago when we chronicled the Auva EQ so isolation footers for hifi components. The test ended with me keeping them. They took my system a noticeable step forward and thus earned our fairaudio favorite award. Readers may also remember something else. Stack Audio products aren't particularly expensive. This also applies to the new models. The Serene Mat changes hands for just €89, the Serene Stabilizer costs just under €232. By the way, Stack Audio sell direct, meaning you order from their British online shop. However, goods to mainland customers are not sourced from the UK but ship from within the EU to eliminate any Brexit-induced customs hassles or similar issues. Incidentally, a 60-day right of return comes with. That’s not to be sniffed at. If you're not completely satisfied, you can simply return the items.
The Stack Audio Serene Mat is as simple as can be: black, three mill thick, made of silicone without gold trim. The only highlight is the brand logo. But there are four strange spacers on the mat. Did someone not work properly on the injection-moulding machine? Alas, there are cut-outs on the underside in the same places. This doesn't appear to be a bug but rather a feature. And that's how it is. A short explanatory video on the manufacturer's website (nerd appeal: full marks!) describes the development process. The longer I watch, the dumber I look. Things seem to be quite a bit more complex with these nubs. I recommend taking a look. Here's the basic idea. In a car, shock absorbers—strictly speaking, vibration dampers—usually consist of two elements: the actual damper e.g. rubber plus a spring. If these were a single element, the result wouldn't be optimal. But that's precisely the usual problem with turntable mats. Or so Stack Audio are believe when those are usually made of a homogeneous material that damps across its entire surface. Not bad but not optimal, says Mr Stack. The spring element is MIA. You guessed it, that's why these nubs and mirroring cut-outs exist. The four small silicone pins on top of the Serene Mat represent defined contact points with the vinyl. Since there is no material beneath them, the whole thing acts like a spring.
Okay, got it. Easy I think to myself, just attach a few pins. But the world of vibrations is more complicated. You can already anticipate a few obvious variables: what size should the nubs be, what shape, how many and where, how large and deep the corresponding recesses? Last but not least, what about the optimal material-specific properties? Since modelling such questions is not without challenges, Theo Stack enlisted the help of Dr. Vaclav Ondra, head of Resonant Engineering, a firm specialized in vibration control who claim to have determined the optimal mix of parameters using mathematical modelling with the aid of the finite element method. The result, Theo claims, is a turntable mat that not only better damps vibrations at specific points but across a much wider frequency range than conventional solutions. The Stack Audio Serene Stabiliser also appears quite simple at first glance – you know, black, sleek, without gold trim. But like the Mat, it works somewhat differently. As already mentioned, the Serene Stabiliser can neither be clamped nor screwed in place nor do its 95g add significant weight. If your primary goal is to press warped records as flat as possible onto the platter, the Stack Audio Serene Stabiliser won't do the trick. It's not designed for that.
Like the Serene Mat, it aims to minimize sound-damaging vibrations and uses a silicone membrane on its underside with an integrated protruding aluminium spindle receiver. When the Stabiliser is placed on the turntable spindle and thus record label, its own weight slightly tensions the membrane. Inside particles that rest on the membrane are set in motion by the unwanted vibrations to significantly reduce them into heat. This approach isn't rocket science. Transforming vibrations to heat is something informed audiophiles have heard of before. However, I've never come across it in this form or location although have seen a solution without a membrane but with metal and wooden pins and other filling. Theo Stack calls this tech "tension-activated particle absorption" (TAPA) and has applied for a patent. The basic idea comes from his Auva absorbers which also rely on particle dampening for vibration management. However, the Serene Stabiliser doesn't contain stainless steel beads. Instead it's filled with lightweight rubber particles and the tensioned membrane on the underside is also novel.
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