The StrataBase Platform

I've had this for three months (although for one of those I was without the CDP).

With a CDS2 it brings about quite large improvements relative to the standard Base platform, which was quite good in the first place.

I have also tried Mana glass and thicker glass with ball nutters and or ally spikey cones. This option is preferable to the standard platform in most ways, IMO.

The StrataBase is a significant improvement on anything else I tried. It gives far greater weight and authority to instruments, defining them much better; double basses and pianos almost sound like double basses and pianos. The scale of an orchestra is better presented but so is the close miked voice of Ricky Lee Jones on Pop Pop, for example.

So, for the CDS2 this is some product. I've heard it transform an Arcam FMJ into something almost bearable too. It does not, however, seem to improve the amps performance much. The LP12 I far preferred on Mana but the Base isn't really big enough to evaluate properly TT-wise.

I think it improves the CDS2's performance by about 10% (I had to throw a meaningless figure in somewhere). It is likely to cost about £250.

A StrataBase looks much like a standard platform but is thicker and with a more elaborate beam assembly underneath. Internally, I believe it to be a multi-layered sandwich of sorbathane and stuff.

Alex