IME spikes work well in certain situations. But the often quoted ‘isolation’ properties of them are IMO clearly incorrect. Particularly as they are often attributed properties of achieving ‘rigid coupling’ elsewhere in the very same blurb! One can’t have it both ways!
Interestingly the original raison d’être of spikes was simply to avoid the rocking of speaker stands when placed on carpeted floors. First introduced by Linn Products I believe on their then revolutionary (because up until then speaker stands were just to hold the speakers up at the right height!) floorstand for their Sara speakers. The idea being that the spikes pierced the carpet and rested on the floor beneath thus preventing the stand from rocking. Nothing magical or very complicated.
As time has passed all sorts of wonderful and magical properties have been attributed to them by various manufacturers who have jumped on the bandwagon. I have seen them described as mechanical diodes. What I have never seen or heard is a plausible explanation as to how they isolate anything. Just pseudo-scientific clap-trap from people who very obviously haven’t a clue what they are talking about.
I’m very much enjoying my Sugden amps thanks. Being Class A, they have a very different presentation to Naim, and they pair very well with Marten speakers.
Hope your appointment goes well next week. My thoughts are with you.
I had a chance at a pair of S600’s earlier this year, but was given a cautionary warning and didn’t buy them…
They almost certainly would not have worked in my space anyway.
I’ve heard S-400s sound very good and S-600s sound big, too big and too ‘full’. But when I compared 400 and 600 in the same system, at a dealer’s, the 600s had a definitely better midrange and overall balance.
Mysteriously, neither of the two shines by itself but in direct comparison the larger is audibly better.
In the end, the wisest choice is to buy a 400 without any comparison…
(Ovators may be often criticized by some, but considering level of engineering, build, finish, the ideas behind them, the amount of stuff you get for the money on the 2nd hand market, I’m frankly amazed at how someone can toss six, seven times as much for ugly parallelepipeds that sound like empty boxes when you knock on them, with a couple of plain drivers screwed on the front… How I’d love to name names, but each to his own. I’d gladly make, and possibly will, another experiment with S-400s in a different room.)
Oh go on Max. I would be interested to see your views on speakers. It would possibly help me a bit in my speaker quest for the second system. I cannot comment on Ovators but I’ve heard a number of times the bass integrates poorly with that full range driver. Then again maybe this is a Naim thing when the speaker is not in the right room and environment?
That’s incorrect I’m afraid. The bass integrates very well actually. It’s like electrostatics with good bass. I have to say that I’ve my ovator 600 now in my fairly large living room and there they are superb. I’ve also used them in small rooms but that wasn’t as great unless I listened on low volume and the bass wasn’t overpowering the room.
