REVIEW - APTITLIG Board + Hifi Accoustic Spikes - PT 2

I wrote a small review with regards the APTITLIG bamboo chopping board several weeks ago. I'd always wondered if more could be gained by adding a decent set of spiked feet and the ability to level the board. I promptly bought a nice set of spiked feet from Hifi Accoustic in Japan for about £22 delivered. The chopping board needs slightly modding in that you'll have to drill x4 12mm holes, one each corner and then superglue each spike into place. They can be purchased from here

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SSS02-HiFi...IAAOSwo4pYQuGu

Once modded the board should look like this.

http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q...pswoyqzu9s.jpg

I choose to review my Technics 1210 alongside some reference vinyl that I use.

The platter on the 1210 is level.

http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps2pb5sygt.jpg

The 1210 sitting on it's swanky new spiked isolation board.

http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q...psejl4yz4i.jpg

Installing the spikes proved to be a revelation. I listened to several pieces of Iron Maiden and noticed an increased 3D character to Steve Harris bass playing. Low level listening suddenly sounded very detailed indeed something which my 1210 wasn't so good with. Bass also seemed to have slightly more heft and a slightly faster transient attack. I additionally noted that the 1210 seemed to develop slightly more poise to it's presentation and that I seemed to have more time to see into each track. The speed and attack of several tracks seemed to have moved up another notch and I found myself staring at the deck thinking that's not quite how I remember that track. I would say that the level of microdetail has moved up slightly and I did have several occasions where Powerslave and Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner threw up several previously unheard nuances in that Nicko Mcbrain's cymbals appeared to have slightly more sparkle and shimmer. I noticed the very same improvements whilst listening to several Judas Priest albums. All in all for £21 and a few pence I'm extremely happy to recommend the spikes as a worthwhile cheap upgrade, I like the spikes so much that my Lenco 75 has also recieved the treatment. Your not going to see a night and day improvement but one which I think is Linear to the amount of money you'll pay for the spikes.

http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q...pskjcioztg.jpg

Thanks for reading

A.

Looking good , and sounding good too , by the looks of things Andy . Thanks for the link to the adjustable spikes mate .

I use acrylic semispheres under my bamboo boards. I found subtle differences with the acrylic Not directly under the equipment feet. Be interesting if you placed your spikes Not under your equipment feet.

Buy the Aptitlig direct from IKEA, much cheaper than eBay .

B and M stores locally had big bamboo boards at a good price. If anyone has a shop nearby

I use the smaller version of the boards under amp/mac mini. When I had a Ming Da Piccolo it hummed a bit on the oak TV unit it was on but a board with just those felt furniture feet under eliminated the problem When I switched amp to a Wyred4Sound MiNT there was no hum but using the board there seemed to be minor improvements in focus and detail. Also work well under my speakers. Cheap enough to experiment with and if they don't work you can put them in the kitchen :)

I wouldn't say it's an isolation method though, because those spikes will couple, not decouple. The isolation is provided by those Isonoe feet on the Technics.