PLATFORMS
Suitable for use as dedicated platforms or as replacement shelves in
existing racks and stands, Symposium platforms allow you to realize optimum
performance from your audio and video components by draining and dissipating
mechanical energy without unwanted resonances. Symposium platforms also make the
perfect companion to Rollerblock systems.
Svelte Shelf
Although Svelte Shelf's most noticeable feature is its attractive, slim
design (hence the name "Svelte," meaning slim or slender), the fact is, it's not
just a shelf, but a sophisticated, anti-resonant platform for the support of
high quality audio and video components. Placed under CD Players, DVD players,
amps, preamps, speakers and more, Symposium's Svelte Shelf will improve the
performance of your system without changing its inherent tonal character. Prior
to its introduction, equivalent performance required much greater thickness and
mass. The Svelte Shelf's design is simple, but effective. Now, even the most
vertically-space-challenged rack or stand can benefit from Symposium vibration
control. The Svelte Shelf works well on most surfaces; it can be placed flat on
an existing shelf or floor, or substituted for an existing shelf by ordering an
exact size replacement.
Svelte Plus
The Svelte Plus is an expanded version of the Svelte Shelf, with a center
foam section twice as thick as the center foam section of the standard Svelte
Shelf. In addition, the foam section of the Svelte Plus is protected by textured
vinyl edgebanding, similar to that found on the Ultra Platform. Including its
polished stainless steel top and bottom, total thickness is approximately 1.125
inches or 2.9 cm. A more affordable alternative to the Super Plus and Ultra
Platforms, the Svelte Plus is a synergistic combination with hard equipment
footers and a perfect interface for Symposium Rollerblocks. Doubling the
internal foam section increases damping power, isolation effectiveness and
rigidity, and allows further benefits in transient preservation, microdynamics,
timber resolution and top-to-bottom musicality.
Super Plus Platform
Symposium designed the Super Platform to satisfy the problems and
requirements of equipment support from a perspective which takes into
consideration not only isolation, but also energy drainage out of equipment. The
original Super Platform was the first dedicated equipment base to use
symmetrical constrained layer damping with metal top and bottom layers.
Ultra Platform
The Symposium Ultra Platform evolved from our first product, the Super Platform,
and was created in an attempt to push the performance limits for a solid
equipment platform further than had previously been possible. Experiments and
listening tests in many different types of systems indicated that those aspects
of the Super which could directly benefit lay in the thickness of the foam
center section (which serves as a "heat sink" that converts mechanical energy to
heat) and in additional constrain layering of the critical top layer. Also, a
new, larger coupler was made which would provide more surface area contact
between the Ultra's top and the equipment chassis.
Quantum
The Quantum embodies an accumulation of all that Symposium has learned about
the effective coupling and damping of electronic components in a dedicated
platform. The Quantum spares nothing in the quest for ultimate performance.
Utilizing stainless steel technology borrowed from the very successful Svelte
Shelf and "expanding the envelope" to the very limits of practicality and
design, the Quantum is the last word in neutrality, nuance, dynamics and
transient preservation.
ROLLERBLOCKS
Ball-bearing isolation devices can make improvements in system
performance unmatched by other isolation devices. SYMPOSIUM introduced the
bearing isolation device for active components with the original ROLLERBLOCK in
1997. Constantly improved since then, we make the finest bearing isolation
devices anywhere - because when it comes to bearing isolation for audio and
video, we wrote the book.
Rollerblock Series 2+
Symposium Rollerblock Series 2+ is an equipment support system providing
simultaneous coupling and decoupling of audio and video equipment. When properly
installed, a set of Rollerblocks can increase overall system performance by an
order of magnitude similar to a wholesale upgrade of the component it treats.
Utilizing technology employed in earthquake protection and combining it with
proprietary mechanical transmission techniques, Rollerblocks are the most
sonically beneficial coupling devices available. Used beneath digital equipment,
DVD players, preamplifiers and other components, results can be nothing less
than astonishing. Increased focus, soundstaging, image stability, dynamics and
delicacy are just a few of the sonic delights awaiting the serious audiophile.
When used with an effective equipment base (such as Symposium Platforms), the
Series 2+ Rollerblock system provides an additional step toward ideal equipment
support, which is simultaneous component isolation and drainage of chassis-borne
vibration. Symposium Rollerblock Series 2+ systems achieve their seemingly
"magical" results by obeying laws of physics. Their strict manufacturing
tolerances (much higher than usually found in an audiophile "tweak" device) are
responsible for their world-wide reputation as the best ball-bearing isolation
device available. Professional reviewers and private owners alike have spoken
emphatically about the ability of Rollerblocks to enhance and improve the
performance of virtually any component, including CD players, DVD players,
digital transports, preamplifiers, amplifiers, and more.
Rollerblock Jr.
Symposium introduced lateral ball bearing isolation with the original
Rollerblock® in 1997; since then, Symposium's Rollerblock® Series 2 has been the
standard of excellence for ball bearing isolation in the high end audio
industry. Many rave reviews and customer comments reinforced their position as
the premier ball bearing isolation device. However, it became evident that there
was a need for a lower cost "introductory" ball bearing isolation device
designed with the same audio expertise and commitment to quality as the original
Rollerblock. Thus, Rollerblock Jr. became a reality.
POINT PODS, FAT PADZ, and COUPLERS
Stationary footer devices which work independently or in conjunction
with Symposium platforms.
Point Pods
The Point Pod is a very slim, "mini" Symposium platform- only 2" by 3" small
(5 x 7.6 cm), and only 1/3" (0.84 cm) thick. Their tops and bottoms are layers
of hand finished, polished stainless steel, and their interior consists of 3
constrained layers, including a 3/16" (0.5 cm) thick foam center section.
Point Pods are ideal for use with small active components, such as mini-digital
processors and power supplies, or with loudspeakers. They are also ideal for use
with an inverted Rollerblock setup, as their stainless steel tops are hard
enough for direct contact with the Rollerblock ball. Point Pods are most
effective when used in direct contact with the chassis of components. In this
primary application, they are effective either beneath or on top of the
component, or both. They are also excellent for use when larger or taller
isolation devices aren't appropriate or practical, as in equipment racks with
limited vertical space. They are ideal for use on wood floors to protect spikes
and cones from damaging surfaces, and can be used together with Symposium Large
Couplers and Rollerblocks to improve overall sonic results by providing a more
neutral support surface. Point Pods are very effective with loudspeakers; in
this application, they improve sonics by damping cabinet wall vibrations which
cause loudspeaker driver intermodulation distortion.
Fat Padz
Fat Padz are stand-alone, vibration-absorbing devices which provide effective,
"problem-free" resonance control and vibration damping with active and passive
components. Compared to conventional cone-type isolation devices, Fat Padz are
more tonally neutral, and more effective at reducing distortion, since they have
the ability to dissipate energy as well as reduce the amount of new energy that
can be introduced into the component from its support surface. They are more
convenient and somewhat safer to use than cones, since they are physically more
stable and cannot topple over. The Fat Pad is a mini Symposium platform-
only 2" by 3" (5 x 7.6 cm), and 7/8" thick (2.2 cm) with tops and bottoms that
are layers of precision laser-cut, polished stainless steel. Their interior
consists of 3 constrained layers, including a 3/4" (1.9 cm) thick foam center
section banded with textured vinyl edgebanding. The foam section is the same
thickness as the Super Plus Platform. A Fat Pad can be considered an "expanded"
Point Pod, since it is identical save for its thicker, banded foam center.
Precision Couplers
Symposium's new Precision Coupler replaces our former Large Coupler to
provide superior performance and convenience. Made of top-grade 7075 aircraft
aluminum and precision machined to scintillating surface finishes, Precision
Couplers are used to form an efficient mechanical connection to the components
placed upon Symposium Platforms and Isis Rack levels, for effective damping of
internal equipment resonances - an essential requirement for best results with
vibration control devices. The high mechanical transmission efficiency of the
aluminum alloy also provides an excellent transmission path for the evacuation
of mechanical energy out of components and into a mechanical ground, where it
can be absorbed and/or converted to heat energy. Each Precision Coupler features
nearly perfectly parallel top and bottom surfaces, and one side has a threaded
1/4-20 hole for attachment to many existing foot posts or for screwing two
Precision Couplers together to form one high coupler to clear very high feet.
Each Coupler is 0.8125 inches high (13/16" or 2.06 cm) and 1.875" (4.76 cm) in
diameter.
EQUIPMENT RACKS
Designed to interface optimally with Symposium platforms and
Rollerblocks for top performance from today's electronics, the Precision Rack is
made to your specification and has virtually no weight limits. The Isis Rack is
an innovative, modular and expandable state-of-the-art support system for audio
and video equipment.
The Precision Rack
The Precision Rack is a "no holds barred" attempt to make the best support
structure possible for our shelves. Instead of using more common construction
techniques, using wood, or hollow metal tubes, the Precision Rack is made from
solid rectangular bars of aircraft grade aluminum, precision cut, machined, and
beautifully hand-polished. We have heard the opinion that a rack isn't
important- that the shelves, the footer devices, and those things that actually
and directly contact the component are the only things that matter. Although we
would agree that these have the most profound influence on the vibration
treatment of the component in question, the support structure is also important,
and for several reasons. The rack, or frame, should be rigid and have excellent
energy drainage characteristics, and the frame should be damped to discourage
resonance. As we stress in the description and design of our platforms, energy
drainage is of primary importance in the grand scheme of vibration control and
isolation. Without it, energy remains trapped in the active circuitry to cause
more signal distortion (spikes and cones function on this principle). Racks and
stands which provide stopgap "isolation" schemes (with, for instance, rubber air
balloons or sorbothane motor mounts), then disregard the drainage or sonic
signature of the actual shelf, are making a bad problem worse. We have found,
after years of experimentation and research, that the battle for vibration
control is fought and won at the component itself. That is, the closer to the
component you provide proper damping and isolation, the better will be the
ultimate result. Whatever energy is left over should be conducted to ground as
efficiently as possible. The rack, therefore, should be like a cone or spike-
rigid and dense in order to provide for proper grounding of mechanical energy.
The Isis Rack
The patented Isis Rack fulfills the goals which any equipment rack should strive
for - acoustic neutrality, simplicity of design, excellent energy drainage and
dissipation, isolation from floor borne vibration, and an optimal mechanical
ground path. The design goal of the "perfect" equipment rack has been addressed
by the Isis Rack in a modular solution that offers the convenience of being
expandable at any time to accommodate additional components.
The Isis Rack combines two innovative technologies pioneered by Symposium: the Svelte Shelf and the Rollerblock isolation system. The combination makes for a startling advance in rack technology.