Guest Benjet Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 SOLD Item Condition: fair to middlin' Shipping Options: Shipping is included in price. Suburb or Town: Birkdale State: QLD Payment Method: Paypal as a friend Reason for selling: NLR Further information: Very effective isolation devices, especially for CD / SACD devices with micro vibrations to deal with. Selling as they won't suit my setup. A blurb from a review. " Description and use The Daruma 3-II isolators come in sets of three that consist of six all-metal "cups" and three ball bearings. The pieces are expertly machined and quite attractive. I found it interesting that this version represents evolution from what Final used to offer -- the very first Darumas were made of wood and used a dowel instead of a ball bearing! The three isolators are enough to "insulate" (Final's jargon) one component. The Daruma 3-IIs isolate on the horizontal plane (i.e., side to side), not vertically. Essentially, the ball bearing rolls with relative ease inside the cups, and the swaying motion -- back and forth -- is how the Darumas 3-IIs isolate (or insulate, I guess) the device they're under. Besides your CD player, you can also use the Daruma 3-IIs under your amplifier and preamplifer. The only thing I don’t see the point of is using them under loudspeakers, despite the fact that company does recommend their use there. Even though speakers are susceptible to vibration (and they certainly generate enough of their own), I’m a firm believer that speakers should be rock solid in their placement, not "swaying" around. Companies go to great lengths to establish sure footing for their speakers -- for good reason. When a speaker driver operates, it is attempting to move air at the required frequency. If it is pushing against the air and the cabinet itself is allowed to shift backward or sideways, you can undoubtedly expect a change in sound. But I would consider that change to be a distortion element and not something I want to add to my audio system. The first time I floated a CD player on the Daruma 3-IIs, I was more than surprised. I was listening to the Vecteur I-4 integrated amp and L-3 CD player, and I slid the Daruma 3-IIs under the L-3. The clarity of the music improved, the soundstage became more specific, and the bass seemed to tighten and become more authoritative. "Friedmann: Passion and Pride" (from Friedmann: Passion and Pride [Biber 76671]) provides a good demonstration of this. The percussion was more dynamic, the myriad of performers were subtly more delineated from each other, and soundstaging was a notch more precise. I found no ill effects. The overall improvement was of the magnitude of a component upgrade -- one CD player to the next in the product line. I’ve used the Daruma 3-IIs under a variety of CD players, like the Redgum RGCD5 and Audio Aero Prima 24/192, and I heard the same things. Do I know why the Daruma 3-IIs work? I surmise that CD players are susceptible to vibrational effects, both from external sources, such as loudspeakers, and internally, from the player's mechanism. The first time I took a CD player and removed it from its vibration-prone shelf and placed it on rock-hard marble slab, I also heard an improvement. Vibrations have an effect on the player's internal components and thus the sound you hear, good and bad, so it’s not really all that surprising to hear improvements with something like the Daruma 3-IIs. I’ve tried these devices under other components like amps, integrated amps and preamps -- "solid" stuff without any real moving parts like a CD player (and it should be noted, solid-state stuff, not tubes). The improvements haven’t been nearly as great as with CD players. For example, after I placed the Daruma 3-IIs under the Vecteur L-3 CD player, I added them to the I-4 integrated amp -- which produced not nearly as noticeable a difference. Under these types of components, the changes range from, "uh, maybe," to "yeah, perhaps." In any case, the nature of what I hear (when I do hear it) is similar -- greater clarity, better staging, improved bass. But, as I said, the improvement isn’t nearly as great or as consistent as with CD players. So using the Daruma 3-IIs under preamps and amps isn’t the priority it is with the CD players. But try for yourself. I didn't use the Daruma 3-IIs with tube components, with which they may be far more beneficial due to tube microphonics. Conclusion I really like the Daruma 3-II insulators. Their effect, particularly with CD players I’ve had in and out for review, is easily noticeable. Setup and ease of use for the Daruma 3-IIs are also very good -- very easy. And finally, their $99-per-set price is quite reasonable. Given the type of improvement they bring to my CD sources, if the Daruma 3-IIs were double or triple their cost, I could justify their purchase. Any more, though, and I would have to invoke the cost-effectiveness rule and apply the amount to a trip somewhere south. But the Final Daruma 3-IIs are so reasonable, I'll stay home and listen to some hot music instead." Photos: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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