They are not the prettiest or most resolving of isolation products but the Mini-ARCHs are so flexible, I keep them around to isolate smaller devices. It doesn’t try to alter the tonal quality of the components as much as the other isolators. There’s also more bloom and softness to the outlines.
If you value the preservation of tone but don’t mind a loss in resolution and air, the Mini-ARCHs would be a great fit.
After all this testing, I was wondering what it would sound like to throw some random shit under the amplifier.
Aside from, at times, unbearable sharpness, especially with busy rock tracks, the bags of chips and pistachios do offer up quite a bit of the sonic technicals. Including better soundstage, clarity, speed, and dynamics. The largest change was tone. It was much brighter – leaving little warmth left. Taking one of the bags out and the warmth comes back.
Maybe I’m onto something…maybe not. lol.
So I tried some random stacking of the various components. Long story short, you seem to hear more of the qualities of the last isolator used.
So if I were to use the ARCHs + MiGs, the sonic signature of the MiGs takes precedence. Does it sound better? It was pretty hit or miss. It doesn’t exactly mesh the best of both worlds so experimentation is required.
Obviously, there aren’t enough data points from this non-scientific experiment to draw any strong conclusions. Nevertheless, these were my overall thoughts on isolation based only on listening:
The recurring benefit of isolation seems to be better layering and imaging. Dynamic projections and transient speed are also adjusted – mostly for the better.
All of this is most likely component-dependent (although those Synergistic Research MiGs do make me wonder). Even if a company claims “absolute isolation” via measurements and charts – you still don’t know how it’ll affect your equipment.
So the thing about mechanical vibration is – you don’t know how it sounds until you try it. It may actually be worse. You just have to accumulate as many demos as you could. And hear it in your own listening room. Even if the vendors recommend a certain number of pieces and how those pieces are to be arranged, I would encourage you to experiment on your own.
Page: 1 2
The ULTIMA INTEGRATED is now available globally The British-made ULTIMA INTEGRATED is now in full… Read More
Børresen is proud to launch the Børresen X1 stand-mounted loudspeaker. This two-way loudspeaker is the… Read More
Innuos has released the latest version of its operating system, innuOS 2.6, offering an improved… Read More
Four-way Aphrodite Designed for Best-in-Class Two- and Multi-channel Sound Reproduction MELVILLE, NY, January 24, 2024 – Alta… Read More
Cameron MacLeod wrote nice piece on how Shazam actually works. I've been curious since… Read More
STERLING, VA, U.S.A. — YG Acoustics, one of the leading loudspeaker manufacturers in the high-end… Read More
This website uses cookies.
View Comments
Here in the UK we call them crisps instead of chips and we have Bacon flavour Crisps. I really would have thought you might have tried those!
I like the sound of crisps :) Although I prefer "candy" over "sweets" ;)
Thanks for posting this. I have two sets of the MiG footers and to be honest, I never read the instructions. I just put all of the footers pointing up. I also had things reversed in that I had 2 footers in front, 1 in the back of each unit.
After reading your article I played around and also ended up preferring two in the rear pointing down and one in front, pointing up. I had the same sonic impressions you had.
Thanks!
The SR MiGs seem to behave the same, regardless of component. Out of curiosity, which component were you using with the MiGs?
I use the MiG's in my system at work, under a Job 225 amplifier, and a Schiit Bifrost Multibit.
In my home system, I use Stillpoints under everything except the amp, where I use Rollerblocks. I preferred the Stillpoints and Rollerblocks to the MiG's when I compared them on the home system, so that is why the MiG's are in my work setup instead of the main home setup.
Now that I know how to properly deploy the MiG's (thanks to your article), I should probably compare again. The MiG's provide a nice uptick once used properly.