When I had shipping confirmation, I also had this email and jpg: "We sent you two HardPoint Serene sets and two Dharmas. HardPoint comes in two models and Serene is our flagship. The difference between normal and Serene is vibration control efficiency. Serene adds 20%. Actually, our inventor Mr. Pyun Naïwon has created about 40 innovative items by now. Our focus is on addressing the issues which prevent fantastic sound due to electronic noise and mechanical vibrations. When we started, we made what we thought and measured was the perfect vibration eliminator. We were surprised and disappointed when we installed it in a system. The sound was very unnatural and imbalanced. We realized that simply squashing vibrations had a very bad effect on sound quality. Now our focus changed. We tried many times but failed. More was needed to achieve the sonic serenity we were after.


"We eventually discovered that layers of ceramic balls in regular or random intervals met our goal. Our HardPoint Serene and Dharma don't 'kill' a component's vibrations. They simply disperse them very quickly. If you apply a high-end oscilloscope, you will measure that they are very active at dissipating energies. On an invisible level, they always 'shake'. This silences the system without dulling the sound to become unnatural and imbalanced. Fabrication of the HardPoint Serene and Dharma isn't easy of course. We discard costly parts every day because we are about not just sonic effectiveness but perfect optics. So an attractive design was important as is flawless finishing. Thinking how most components run multiple circuit boards often stacked one atop the other, we realized that the HardPoint Serene alone would never be effective on the enclosure's top. That's where the Dharma comes in. As a resonator, it is even more effective than as an LP clamp. In Korea, we've already sold 5'000 pieces. Obvious measures of sound improvements are full-bandwidth accuracy, resolution and elimination of dirty bass."


Packed for bear not broke, the unboxed then uncarton'd goods still hid inside solid-wood display boxes with coppery plaques. It's the type presentation you'd expect with a royally dear 100-year old bottle of Armagnac. Whilst nobody needs or demands anywhere near such delivery opulence, it does buoy the shopping experience in the aftermath of the invoice. Or so expert retailers like London's Liberty Emporium would tell us. Not that I've ever set foot. But I did watch the 2-disc video for the full indoctrination.

With impeccable finishing, here we see a HardPoint Serene right-side up, from the side to show its hollow centre, and with the Artesania rack coupler inserted. As to mechanical jitters, not only does the body wobble atop the base with its numerical markers, the 'star' disc shimmies inside the blue sleeve. Once mounted, the rack adaptor prevents the HardPoint from slipping off the Artesania Audio rail which is far narrower than the black base. Still it's a double whammy of freedom of motion meant to dissipate input mechanical energies in easy-go fashion.

If you wondered what those numbers were doing, they track precisely calibrated height adjustments by turning the lower black ring in 0.05mm increments. Total play is +3mm.

Here we see the blue Dharma upside down, its coupling footer inserted but not yet pushed down. As a record clamp, you'd obviously not use that.


Clearly Hifistay had put a lot of thought and care into their items. With goods this fastidiously dispatched, finely turned out and presented, I really wanted them to work as impressively as all that. Would they?