Gingko Audio

In our last newsletter, we rhapsodized about the sonic improvement that can be obtained by using the Gingko Audio vibration isolation devices to prevent parasitic vibrations from getting into your equipment. The manufacturer, however, recognized that there is a problem using his products with lighter weight components since those under 30 lbs don't compress the isolation balls properly. Hence the arrival of the new Cloud 14 products. The Cloud 14 has a heavier top plate, with the added weight being a wood insert under the top surface. The combination of the added weight and the constrained layers of wood and acrylic results in the best performance for equipment weighing less than 30 lbs. In a recent turntable review in the March, 2009 issue of The Absolute Sound, Paul Seydor made the following comment after placing one of the review turntables on a Gingko Audio Cloud:

Less than a minute into Kind of Blue, I was picking my jaw off the floor. The improvement was staggering: in the bass alone, greater clarity, definition, detail, pitch stability, and dynamic range. Removing the Cloud resulted in an undifferentiated wodge, thick, phlegmatic, and mushy....With loud playback levels and/or big, demanding music, especially in the bass, the effect of taking any of these four turntables off the Gingko platforms is to make it seem almost as if they're all literally broken.

He actually had much more that was very favorable to say, both about the Clouds in general and the Cloud 14 in particular, but you get the idea. This new product comes in two flavors, the Cloud 14A at $549 and the Cloud 14B at $449. The 14A has a heavier, dual layer bass structure while the 14B has a single layer bottom. Once again, we invite the most skeptical among our readers to come down and audition the spectacular improvement that can be obtained by using one of these isolation devices.