Stillpoints LPI v2 For my DAC! Wait! What??

[Audiophilehi]

Yesterday my 3 pack of Stainless steel door stoppers came. https://tinyurl.com/37ndebaj

Since I already had my Stillpoints LPI v2 on top of my DAC I started my evaluation with it first. The LPI made a very nice improvement. I moved it around a bit and found the best spot was over the transformer covering about half of it.

The music really came alive when adding the LPI. I never really noticed but gone was a haze that was now lifted. Everything was just better. (Seriously) The soundstage grew in all directions. The higher frequencies like symbols, horns and strings were now clear and crisp. Bass was tighter and better controlled, and the midrange a bit more forward.

After about 1 1/2 hours I moved to the door stopper. The 1st thing I noticed was that the door stopper was heavier. It weights 2.2 lbs. compared to the LPI's 1.6 lbs.

I placed the door stopper in the exact same place as the LPI. It didn't take long to figure out that the door stopper was not in the same league as the LPI. I was hoping it would be especially with the added weight to further dampen the vibrations and its low cost but it didn't. I would have to assume that the LPI's design was the key. Let's face it the LPI was designed to tame vibrations by dissipating the heat. The door stop is just that, a weight that holds a door open.

It's not that the door stopper was bad, it just didn't measure up to the LPI. The door stopper was still better than having no dampening on top. If I didn't have or try the LPI I would be very satisfied with the door stopper. In fact I placed one on top of my SACD transport and one on top of my Preamp and that bumped it up another level. I would have loved to try one on top of my Aurender but due to rack space it doesn't fit.

I did try to use the 3rd door stopper on the DAC with the LPI but more is not better. The soundstage collapsed a bit and some of the sparkle was gone. With that said it appears there is a limit in how much dampening you can do before it starts to work against you.

To sum it up, if you already have the Stillpoints LPI for your vinyl it doesn't hurt or cost you anything to use it somewhere else as a dampening device. The LPI took my digital listening to another level as it did for my vinyl listening.