Business as usual
We are fully open and back up to speed after a lovely holiday. Thank you for your patience.
Speaker setup using Dark Star feet
Dark Star feet will work well under any HiFi component, though they were originally specifically designed for speakers as an isolation device. They can take a lot of weight and keep your speakers stable. They decouple the speakers from your listening environment to let them sound their best. They can totally transform your listening experience by detaching the sound from the speakers for a more natural, almost holographic soundscape.
Cork disks are included – These can be used on hard surfaces and on top of the feet to stop things sliding around, or make fine levelling adjustments. On carpet it may be better to leave them off.
A few setup tips you may wish to try:
The first image, A, shows a typical setup with speakers opposite a sofa or seating area.
The second image, B, shows how it may be possible to improve the sound.
1. It may be beneficial for soundstage to ‘toe in’ the speakers, so the lines of fire cross just in front of where you sit. Try different angles to find the best for your space.
2. Move the speakers away from the walls.
3. Move your seating away from the back wall.
4. Avoid multi-strand speaker cables. Single insulated wires give a cleaner sound as the signal has a fixed cable length. With multi-strands touching each other there are so many different paths that the signal looses fine high frequency detail.
Best wishes and happy listening
Miles – Solidair Audio.
Solidair Audio Ukishima Mag-Lev feet
Some advice on choice and setup
Our Ukishima (floating island) mag lev feet will work well under most HiFi components. They were originally designed for CD players and turntables as an isolation device, but work very well under amps, pre-amps, power supplies and lighter weight speakers.
They come in different capacities. As standard we sell 4, 6, 10 and 15kg versions, though we can mix the magnets to give roughly half way increments to these if needed (5, 8 and 12kg)
As a rough guide it is usually best to pick a capacity about half way up the loading, which usually leaves 2 to 3mm between the magnets. Vibrations which these are designed to reduce are very small in amplitude, so as long as the magnets are not touching the feet will work. There is a minimum load on some of the feet, which is required to move the feet off their stops, so don’t overspecify the capacity. The 4kg feet work from almost zero, four 6kg feet will need at least 2kg of HiFi unit weight to make them work..etc
We normally recommend using four feet, as it is easier to set up and more stable. It is perfectly acceptable to mix and match the feet to level a component that is heavier to one side. Sometimes three feet will be fine. Small speakers will tend to be heavier at the front as the drivers are there, so two feet at the front and one at the back (or two lighter duty ones) is not unusual. Heavy valve amps may need three rear feet and two front to carry the heavy output transformers. Cable weight can also add a fair bit of load, especially on amplifiers.
Some tips on placement.
It may help to remove any standard feet to allow better positioning. It is usually better to not put the mag-lev feet under standard feet, they usually work better directly under the unit.
Start with placing them under each corner. Look to see if the unit is level. If it is not you have several options.
If one foot is more compressed, move the other feet towards that one to relieve it’s loading. Often it is better to leave the front feet where they look best and move the rear feet, which are not so visible. The front feet can move forward and backwards without looking odd, but look best if they are the same distance from their respective sides. Moving the front feet in towards the middle will give the rear feet more influence.
For fine adjustment an extra cork pad can be used as a packer.
We do make adjusters which screw into the top of the feet, which may be useful. The adjusters can also be fixed to the HiFi unit, usually replacing the standard feet or pads.
If you are having problems we are here to help, so please feel free to contact us.
Best wishes and happy listening
Miles – Solidair Audio.
Heads up for holiday closing 5th to 20th May
Please note we will be closed from 5th May until 20th May for a holiday. Orders can still be placed in this time, but will not be processed until we return. Please get any urgent orders in before the end of April. Thank you.
