The taste of new Stillpoints Ultra 2

A lot of regular readers would have noticed that most of my recent reviews have been centered on Stillpoints components and they are right. I have the luck to get reviews of Stillpoints Ultra SS, Ultra 5 and now Ultra 2 from Telos Asia Pacific, who are the distributor for Stillpoints products. I have tried Stillpoints under almost all my components to hear what they can do and what improvement I can hear.

One thing I noticed when I add any type of Stillpoints components, be it Ultra SS or the Ultra 5, the noise floor reduces significantly. Everything becomes quieter and music emerges from blacker background. Because of the low noise, the sound becomes much more focused, imaging becomes more solid and depth perception is easily discerned. I didn’t need to imagine or strain myself to hear the soundstage anymore. It just comes very naturally.

And just when I thought I heard everything from Stillpoints, I got hold of a set of 4 pieces of Stillpoints Ultra 2. This is a new item from Stillpoints. I have been told that the Ultra 2 cost slightly more than half of the Ultra 5 but you get 80% of the sound of the Ultra 5. Hearing is believing, I would say.

Originally, the Stillpoints Ultra 2 I had, came with base plates and hard hat on both sides. I insert them under the BMC 1.1 cd player (in place of the Ultra SS). The base plate sits under the cd player with the hard hat placed on the Shunmook platform. I placed them very near to the footer of the cd player. Initial impression was that the highs become more extended. The low and mid frequencies are not affected in any major way. However, the longer I listen I noticed the soundstage has flattened considerably. What is also noticeable is that the mids are also sound thinner. Music was just less involving. I was thinking this can’t be right. This is not the Stillpoints sound I was getting previously.

So, I remove the base plate from the Ultra 2 and placed the Ultra 2 slightly further from the footer of the cd player, approximately 1cm away (as can be seen with the picture above). I also made sure that the top cap is loosened slightly and not screwed on tightly. As I am using 4 pieces of Ultra 2, I checked with the spirit level meter to ensure that the cd player was level. After the minor adjustments, I noticed the mids got meatier and depth returns. Another plus point is that the highs are still more extended than the Ultra SS. Imaging was a touch solider. The best music to demonstrate this is “I can’t stand the rain” by Tina Turner album, Private Dancer (JVCXR-0044-2). This track tests a system from highs to low. Poorer systems will let you experience listener fatigue easily. With the Stillpoints, everything clicks, and imaging is just solid. The next track from the same album, Private Dancer starts with the kick drum. I can safely say that this was the best sounding I had heard in my system. I don’t have the Ultra 5 on hand to compare it with the Ultra 2 but I do know that the highs with the Ultra 2 extends further. However, the Ultra 5 maybe meatier in the mids though.

A lot of people may think using such expensive isolation devices are counter-productive. I disagree with this view because if you can get such good isolation devices like Stillpoints, you let your gear perform at its best. Also, you may change your hardware may change over time as you upgrade, the Stillpoints will still remain in system. As in the case of Ultra 2, it just increases my enjoyment when I listened to my system. The Stillpoints Ultra 2 is highly recommended!

Stillpoints is distributed in Malaysia and Singapore by Telos Asia Pacific 

https://www.facebook.com/telos.apacsg/