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These rollerblocks operate on a similar principle to what we find in the Cera spacers from Finite Elemente and the feet from Franc Audio Accessories. A ball bearing becomes the mechanical interface between two hard surfaces. In these rollerblocks we get what for their size are very heavy tungsten carbide balls. The Finite and Franc equivalents use ceramic balls and the Human Audio Libretto HD CD player uses steel.


In the Symposium isolation devices the balls sit in precision-polished steel races. The latter in turn sit in rectangular blocks with drilled-out bores in the bottom said to improve mechanical coupling between block and supporting surface. The blocks themselves are aircraft-grade aluminium hard anodized. This structure resembles a roller bearing design which was highly praised in the context of vibration isolation by Mr. Wladyslaw Skrzypczak of Pro Audio Bono all the more so as the ball can be put into the double stack kit to create a three-layer structure. The Rollerblocks are mainly used under components but can be added beneath the Ultra platform which I did.


A review published by Confessions of a Part-Time Audiophile quotes the following from Peter Bizlewicz of Symposium on his newest Rollerblocks:


"In 1999 Symposium determined that grade precision—that is, how perfectly round each ball is and how similar in size to each other—is of critical importance to performance in ball-bearing isolation devices. All tungsten carbide balls now supplied by Symposium are grade 10 precision. Off-the-shelf bearings by comparison are grade 100 or 10 x less precise. How perfectly round a ball is has a profound effect upon its performance characteristics and directly influences the amount of distortion produced by the Rollerblock system as it responds to micro displacements caused by vibration. The more perfectly uniform each ball is, the better the Rollerblock system responds to vibration and the less distortion is induced into the electro-mechanical system which the Rollerblock system protects." [Scot Hull, Symposium Acoustics: Rollerblock Series 2+, Junior, Svelte Shelf, Precision Couplers and more, see here.]


Records used during these auditions: A Day at Jazz Spot 'Basie'. Selected by Shoji "Swifty" Sugawara, Stereo Sound Reference Record SSRR6-7, SACD/CD (2011); Dominic Miller, Fourth Wall, Q-rious Music QRM 108-2, CD (2006); Daft Punk, Random Access Memories, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3817, CD (2013); Nirvana, In Utero, Geffen GED 24536, CD (1993); Danielsson, Dell, Landgren, Salzau Music On The Water, ACT Music ACT 9445-2, CD (2006); Frank Sinatra, Sinatra Sings Gershwin, Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music Entertainment 507878 2, CD (2003); The Modern Jazz Quartet, Pyramid, Atlantic Records/Warner Music Japan WPCR-25125, “Atlantic 60th”, CD (1960/2006); Johann Sebastian Bach, St. John Passion, BWV 245, Smithsonian Chamber Players and Chorus, Kenneth Slowik, Smithsonian Collection Of Recordings ND 0381, 2 x CD (1990).