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The American products enhance sonic depth. This was incredibly clear and tangible on Sinatra's "I've Got A Crush On You". After placing the amplifier on the Symposium platform his vocals became bigger and fleshier. By comparison they seemed crippled before, desiccated and lifeless. It was a very interesting experience because I was dealing with mono material more than 60 years old. Sometimes this puts the vocals closer to the listener. If everything else is okay we're happy with that.


However sooner or later, usually on other tracks, it turns out to be an exaggeration. We realize that some breathing room is needed, some distance from the recording first plane. The Symposium gives us something like that. It indulges us with a larger space in the foreground and at the same time brings us emotionally closer. Really great! Lifelessness is probably the best word to briefly describe the sound without the Rollerblocks and platform despite what I’ve said earlier- that without a point of reference it can’t be easily heard and hence we’re not aware of it. What’s really puzzling is how much our evaluation of sound depends on our conditioned experience which is patterned by listening to audio products and systems better than our own!


Conclusion. The anti-vibration system from Symposium will bring out the best from our components without changing their timbre and general sonic parameters for which we already value them. The amount of treble does not change for example. With the platform the treble gets more vibrant and saturated but its overall level remains exactly the same. Some improvements like superior resolution, vibrancy and definition are clear and reproducible from album to album. Nevertheless none of it changes the overall tonal balance.


We can however still think such is the case with the midrange. The reason is better tonal saturation. That adds flavor and maturity. Hence vocals and instruments seem stronger and better defined in that range. This in turn creates a feeling of a stronger midband but it's not a fact. I had to listen to a few albums I know very well to come up with a kind of explanation for this effect. The entire range from mid-bass to treble had a very similar tonal balance with or without the Symposium products. Nothing was emphasized or withdrawn. Subjectively however, the midrange seemed stronger. It wasn't a zero-one type of change from a real shift of accent and color but rather a different flavor. This new accent did not change as clearly as with platforms from HRS or CEC reviewed in the same issue but it was actually even deeper and more visceral.


If we are presently missing something like it—if we like deep full vocals which slightly dominate the presentation—the Symposium system will be the best high-end modification to our system we can imagine. It won't 'break' anything we've already accomplished but instead emphasize the features we care about most.


During the review the platform was placed on the top plywood shelf of my Base VI rack supported by three sets of Rollerblock Series 2+ , one in front, two in the rear. The component auditioned was the Ayon Audio Spirit III integrated tube amplifier. The audition was a multiple-repeat A/B/A comparison with A and B known. For a cross comparison I used the RST-38H platform from Acoustic Revive and the Pagode Edition from Finite Elemente. I listened to 1-min. music samples.
opinia @ highfidelity.pl
Symposium responds:
Lately I have been receiving emails from various sources calling my attention to a new review of some of our products which has recently appeared on your website. It has never been my practice to contact a website owner regarding a review unless asked to by the website owner himself, however there are some extraordinary circumstances regarding this particular instance. Specifically the deployment of the double-stacked Series 2+ Rollerblocks by the reviewer and depicted in a prominent photograph is completely incorrect as regards the recommended application and setup of this product! Series 2+ Rollerblocks are designed and meant to be used on top of our platforms and between the component and the platform, not under the platform. I do not know why this reviewer set them up this way; this setup is absolutely incorrect, gives relatively poor results and is not recommended as a primary setup procedure in either our product instructions or literature. It would be like reviewing loudspeakers which are turned around 180° and facing the wall and wondering why the sound isn't so good.

To make matters worse, the reviewer states that this is the recommended method for deploying our equipment! I assure you that it is not. We specifically state both in the equipment instructions and on our website that Rollerblocks should be primarily deployed directly under a component, especially double-stacked Series 2+ Rollerblocks since their patented body design was expressly made to optimize the mechanical interface between component chassis and the platform or between the equipment chassis and whatever kind of support surface is being used.

Also to further compound the problem, the reviewer used Fat Padz and other devices of ours on top of the platform where the Rollerblocks should have been used. Again he states that this is the setup recommended by Symposium. This is also not expressly recommended nor is it the original design purpose of these footer devices, which are meant as stand-alone damping pads to be used when a full platform is not economically feasible or possible. They should have been evaluated by themselves as inexpensive damping pads to be used under equipment by themselves. While some users have used them in conjunction with the Ultra Platform as a top 'coupler' device, this is a relatively rare instance and in any case is not a normal configuration and thus should never have been used as a review example in the course of seeking accurate results or an accurate reflection of the efficacy of our products.

The problem is of course that someone not familiar with the proper use of our products is receiving misinformation when reading this review. I do not know where the reviewer got the idea to set up our equipment this way; it certainly was not from us. He could not have read the instructions (at least I hope he didn't) since Rollerblock Series 2+ instructions specifically state the correct setup method (the Series 2+ instructions are four pages long and quite detailed!) to be the opposite of what he did. We would have gladly assisted him with setup advice as we routinely do with all reviewers of our products, which require some care and attention for proper results. Unfortunately no such assistance was requested nor were we ever asked for any verification of the proper setup of our equipment. As a result, his results are of little or no value (at best) since the products were essentially set up 'upside down'. And yes I believe your good reputation and your website deserve better than this.

To avoid immediate and irreparable damage to the dissemination of accurate information and in the interest of journalistic integrity, I would respectfully ask that you withdraw or cancel this review as it stands pending a correct and thus valuable deployment and audition of these products. Our Rollerblocks and platforms have been in production for almost two decades, are well-known and popular and are known to give excellent performance value. We would hope for an adjustment or at least a chance to have the products evaluated properly and ask for your kind assistance in this regard.
Thank you for your attention.
Best regards,
Peter Bizlewicz
President
Symposium Acoustics

As this was a syndicated review which also appears in Polish on the original website, we had no control over the review process itself and I can't comment on how or why Wojciech got the notion to employ your devices in the wrong fashion. However wrong employ of a device is still useful information if identified as such. Having added your explanation as to the proper use, that has now been accomplished and should satisfy your request. Thanks for letting us know and alerting our readership. I've also informed the author and publisher of the original Polish review so he can respond in kind if he sees fit (over that I have no control either).
Srajan Ebaen

I did try the Rollerblocks both ways and in my opinion the one pictured was better. Reviewing is just an experiment and I always try different options. Manufacturers have a right of course to guide us how to use their devices but in the end we use them and we listen to them. Thus my choice is clear. Claiming that vibration-control devices can be used in only one way and not another is... well, what to say, that's simply wrong!
Wojtek

Symposium Acoustics website