What if I tried this under my turntable? Obviously I’m just kidding here, but if you read Part 1 of this review, you know the SMc Audio Panzerholz UFO Isolation Base is not your run-of-the-mill audio component. If you haven’t read Part 1, go back and take a look so that you will know why it’s round and how the design makes it “programmable”. If you read Part 1, you may recall that Steve McCormack, the original inventor of TipToes, is also the designer behind this product.
I will tell you that in the past 10 years I have had a LOT of experience with many isolation products. The list includes Grand Prix Audio, Black Diamond Racing, Golden Sound, Cardas, Stillpoints, Symposium, and many more. All have impacted the sound in various ways and to different degrees.
Stillpoints and the UFO Iso Base
I have to admit that I was asking myself how in the world would the Panzerholz UFO Iso Base differ from many of the past experiences I have had with isolation products. Would it add anything? And, how is the UFO Iso Base any different from just putting Stillpoints under a component?
My plan was to try the Stillpoints Ultra Minis under the component first and then replace them with the UFO Iso Base and report on the difference. After the third component, however, the results for each piece were virtually identical although to different degrees. For this reason, I am not providing individual descriptions of the impact on each component. Please consider this review to be applicable to all of the components I tested it with as the results were quite consistent. The consistently positive impact of the UFO Iso Base was very encouraging.
In all cases, the UFO Iso Base easily improved the sonics more than using the Stillpoints alone, including when I used the larger Ultra SS feet alone. I tried the experiment on my Esoteric X-03se that I use as a transport, a Pass Labs SIT 3 amplifier, and a Schiit Yiggy DAC.
The fourth and last component I tried it under was my Vinnie Rossi L2i SE integrated amp. This amp actually happens to have Stillpoints Ultra Minis as an integral part of its chassis design. What in the world could a UFO ISO Base add to a product that already has integral Stillpoints Ultra Minis built into it? Would it add anything?
Let’s Listen To It
When I assess a component, I sit down with a pen and pad in my hand and listen for a period of time. Then I write down words that capture my feelings/reactions during a few initial listening sessions. The evaluation period usually extends a month or so. I suspected that the UFO ISO Base does not require “burn-in”. For God’s sake, Steve, don’t tell me it does!
In the case of the UFO Iso Base, the first words on my notepad were “Soundstage Organization”, “PRaT”, “Musical Tension” and finally “Bass Focus”. I will take you through these words one by one to let you know what impact the UFO ISO Base had on my reference system.
Soundstage Organization
With the UFO Iso Base under a component, the soundstage was significantly
improved. Compared to Stillpoints alone, the soundstage expanded in all
dimensions, and there was a cohesion to the sound.
Over the years, I have had many isolation devices that increased the size of the soundstage in my room, but they sounded a bit disorganized and unfocused. They achieved their effect by sounding “phasey”, somewhat like the QSound effect used on some recordings.
The UFO Iso Base not only expands the sound stage, but it also does so in a very coherent way. Instruments are dropped into the soundstage with the correct proportionality, both in an absolute sense and in relation to each other.
Like Being There
Here’s how I describe the effect I heard. We have all gone to concerts and sporting events. To get to your seat you typically have to go through a portal. As you are walking through the portal and approach the opening to the seating area or stadium, your sense of space changes. As you stand at the end of the portal and are about to enter the venue, you begin to hear the size or scale of the area you are about to walk into, but it is all in front of you. Then you step out of the portal and are in the venue, and you get the feeling of the entire space—a “panoramic feel”.
That’s what I experienced when I went from listening to the Vinnie Rossi L2i SE on its integral Stillpoints Mini feet to putting it on the UFO Iso Base. I felt like I had walked through the portal instead of like I was standing at the entrance. This is something you have to experience to understand, but it was quite an addition to my enjoyment of music. I have never felt more like I was at the venue.
PRaT
Let’s talk about Pace, Rhythm, and Timing, or “toe topping” as I call it. This is the ability of a system to get you moving and emotionally involved in the music. Well, my friend, the UFO Iso Base is the King of the Hill in this respect. You can immediately hear the impact it has on the dynamic structure of the music.
The improvement in macro and microdynamics is much like you would hear if the dynamic range of the music was increased. The music feels less compressed, and my toe just wants to start tapping. The impact was larger than just Stillpoints Minis or Ultra SS.
Musical Tension
This leads directly to the next subject, musical tension. The highlight of the UFO Iso Base is its ability to create what I call musical tension. Please do not confuse this with the often mentioned “tension” a lot of digital devices create. This is entirely different.
I describe this as a combination of the “space” and “timing” between the notes and the dynamic expression of the leading edge of the next note. When it is right, you literally find yourself in a state of anticipating the next note to be played. This “musical tension” is very involving and connects me emotionally connects me to the music and the overall performance. I find myself almost “leaning into” the music.
The UFO Iso Base creates this musical tension better than any other isolation device I have previously experienced.
Bass Focus
It’s not a surprise that like the Stillpoints alone do, the UFO Iso Base cleans up and focuses the upper Bass, which opens up the lower midrange and provides increased clarity in that region. It also “individualizes” each instrument in the music to the point that I could easily follow any instrument through the performance.
But there is something else going on in the bass that is particularly noticeable on organ music. It seems that the deep bass notes take on a more omnidirectional feeling, much like you would get in a large church. The bass just enveloped me rather than the “stereo system feeling” of the bass originating from the general area of the speaker. Perhaps this is just a fortunate interaction with a bass node in my listening room, but I have to say it is the best-recorded rendition of an organ I have heard in a long time.
Conclusion
You will notice that the four attributes I mentioned above all have to do with an overall “feeling and sense of music”. These are hard things to put into words, but they are very easy to hear. The combination of these four attributes converges to offer up one of the most involving and musically satisfying experiences I have had in my listening room in a long time.
In my case, the UFO has landed, and the UFO Iso Base is not returning to the planet from which it came. I highly recommend that you give Steve a call and discuss how a UFO Iso Base can improve your system.
Isolation Base Details and Price:
The Panzerholz UFO Isolation Base is offered in 10” and 12” versions. Sales are direct from SMc Audio, and the cost is $1,400 for the 10″ base, and $1,600 for the 12″ base, including ground shipping within the continental US.
Each UFO Isolation Base will come with 6 pieces of the Stillpoints Ultra Mini Foot (3-up and 3-down), a hex driver for installation and adjustment of the Stillpoints, and 3 pieces of a steel spike with 1/4-20 thread for use on a carpeted floor.
Contact Information:
Steve McCormack
760-908-5263
www.SMcAudio.com
SMcAudio@cox.net
