am familiar with Divine Acoustics as a manufacturer of unique, very interesting speakers, with a wide front panel resembling an open baffle but with a classic cabinet sporting a midwoofer assisted by a bass-reflex port. Their appearance is absolutely unique and while in the details their finish reveals a tiny manufacturer, it is very interesting. I am sure that with appropriate capital that allows to go crazy with CNC machines and with unlimited access to the materials Mr. Peter Galkowski, the owner and designer in one person, would be able to make products looking better than most swanky Italian designs. It doesn’t mean that now there are some problems; it’s simply that the limits force him to think harder than if they were not there which is reflected, again, in the details. Generally, however, it is a high quality assembly work, a lot of it put in fine-tuning of the details and a "tasty" look. An e-mail about a new product of the company, thrown in my mailbox in October 2012, concerned, however, something completely different – an anti-vibration platform:

Hello and welcome!

I'm preparing the latest product - GRAVITY. It will be an anti-vibration platform in the form of a base resting on four legs. It consists of more than 200 elements and uses over 20 different materials including gemstones for vibration damping.
Currently I’m assembling the first few units and around Saturday / Sunday I am planning a photo session.
Would it be possible to place photos and description in this month’s news section? If so, when at the latest can I send the information? I will be grateful for your response.

Yours sincerely
Piotr Galkowski

The surprising move turns out to result, as I assume, from working with speakers that, due to a very shallow cabinet, require an appropriate platform to keep them in the vertical position and at the same time isolate them from the ground. In the Electra 2 model, for example, Mr. Piotr employed a sandwich type platform, consisting of two outer layers of MDF with a plastic mass in the middle. An additional absorber was a layer of cork under the speaker. The whole sat on spikes that we also find under the Gravity anti-vibration platform, which is what I would to talk about this time.

This platform has been designed for CD, DVD and Blu-ray players, amplifiers (especially tube amps) and turntables. Although it seems to remind many other platforms, especially the 3SG30 from Rogoz Audio, a Polish manufacturer (see HERE), its design and look are quite different. While it’s a platform with a frame and a worktop "lying" on it, it is housed in a kind of enclosure and uses a different type of mechanical coupling between the support and the top. Although, as I said, they are completely different designs in details, their similarity results from using round tubes with spikes, acting as feet. I assume that the frame is also similar; here the pipes are not welded together but mounted as a lever to the bottom. But that's where the similarities end.
The Gravity, although it costs surprisingly little, is a product composed of 200 items! As the manufacturer says, more than 20 materials with different densities and damping factors has been used to build it, and the resonance damping and distribution system was created during testing that employed a variable frequency vibration generator. And he adds further:

It enables the platform to very effectively suppress the vibrations in the range of 40-120 Hz which are harmful vibrations generated in audio components transformers and caused by electrical network.
The platform rests on four aluminum feet with adjustable chrome spikes. Each foot is connected to the lower deck of the platform independently by using rigid thick wall steel tubes coated with black PVC and filled with a mixture of damping materials. Each tube has a different length and, thus, suppresses a different range of frequencies.

At first sight the Gravity looks classic, though there’s no denying its character - it looks quite predatory. Its sides are covered with eco-leather with the model name embossed at the front. The sides are rigidly connected with the top surface that looks like an artificial coral, something known from the German Copulare platforms. It turns out, however, that this is another "patent". The top (visible) layer on which the component is placed is described this way:

It has been made of a combination of epoxy, acrylic and filling - irregularly shaped fractionated minerals. The structure of the layer requires a very complex process during its application and slow drying to prevent the formation of internal stresses, because after drying the material exhibits shape memory properties. The irregular layer structure perfectly dampens resonances coming from the component sitting on it.

Close to the front edge of the platform the level scale has been mounted, similar to those found in turntables, to help in leveling the platform. The whole structure - the sides and the top - is independent of the feet. They move quite freely up and down, in the range of 1 cm. After placing the platform, it does not feel to have any spring elements inside. The whole unit is rigid, although the box is independent of the supports. As we read in the company materials, the lower deck has been dampened with a special acrylic coating containing silica and cork mats. It provides the basis for the three steel rods. At the top, there are gemstones that were selected during listening sessions, as a result of matching them to this specific project. Thanks to their crystal structure, high hardness and a diamond cut they are an excellent isolating material for broad frequency spectrum. On the gemstones lies the worktop made of four different density layers. Standard dimensions of the worktop are 44 cm (17in) width and 38 cm (15in) depth (the worktop can be made with custom dimensions), and its weight is 8 kg.

Albums used during this review

• A Day at Jazz Spot 'Basie'. Selected by Shoji "Swifty" Sugawara, Stereo Sound Reference Record SSRR6-7, SACD/CD (2011).
• Dominic Miller, Fourth Wall, Q-rious Music QRM 108-2, CD (2006);
• Daft Punk, Random Access Memories, Columbia Records/Sony Music Japan SICP-3817, CD (2013).
• Nirvana, In Utero, Geffen GED 24536, CD (1993).
• Danielsson, Dell, Landgren, Salzau Music On The Water, ACT Music ACT 9445-2, CD (2006).
• Frank Sinatra, Sinatra Sings Gershwin, Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music Entertainment 507878 2, CD (2003).
• The Modern Jazz Quartet, Pyramid, Atlantic Records/Warner Music Japan WPCR-25125, “Atlantic 60th”, CD (1960/2006).
• Johann Sebastian Bach, St. John Passion, BWV 245, Smithsonian Chamber Players and Chorus, Kenneth Slowik, Smithsonian Collection Of Recordings ND 0381, 2 x CD (1990).

Japanese editions of CDs and SACDs are available from

In the treasure trove of audiophile "truths", passed on from review to review, from exhibition to exhibition and from post to post there are some that are completely meaningless, harmless in its naivety and those that contain a lot of truth, but there is no knowledge about where they came from and what are their limitations. There are also those that drive in the wrong direction and are inherently bad. One of the most damaging "articles of faith" of audiophile industry is a conviction that the so-called accessories should change the sound, and should be used to control the tone, dynamics and what have you. This relationship is particularly emphasized in the case of anti-vibration accessories. I suspect, as I don’t know for sure, that it results from the former common use of rubber-based materials and spring absorbers. While each of these methods may be useful in some applications, of course provided the resonances are calculated, they are not universal and are (or should be) related to a specific product and should only be used in certain specific cases. We’re of course talking about the high-end, or generally about high quality audio equipment – in budget systems rubber, such as the Vibrapod isolators, can do wonders. But not because they correct something, but because they eliminate the most troublesome problems.
Experience teaches us something else: isolation products should have the least possible effect on the fundamental aspects of sound in the sense that they should not change the tonal balance and turn everything upside down. In practice, each element modifies the sound, but the best do that "WITH" the component, not "AGAINST" it, bringing out the best in it. And only now, knowing what it’s about, we can add: each of the products designed for vibration control and elimination does it in a different way, and works on some other aspects of the sound.

Take for example the Gravity platform. As the name suggests, it makes use of gravity to convert vibrations into heat, resulting in their minimization. That is why the inner frame with feet moves freely inside the outer box and "sags" under the weight. A specific platform design forces acting on the selected frequency range, both in terms of its various segments, as well as the damping rate and the curve shape illustrating pulse attenuation. This gives a completely different set of characteristics, which translates into a different effect on the sound of the component placed on the platform.
Placed on the Gravity, the Ayon Audio Spirit III tube amplifier got a sort of "kick". It turned out that the Polish platform perfectly cleans everything, improving definition and selectivity. To a large extent, it also improves resolution, though not in a similar manner in the whole spectrum. Selectivity and definition, however, are better from the bass to the treble. While previously this was not so audible – which is the feature of audio and how we "learn" the sound – the sound was much clearer with the Gravity under the amplifier. It was best heard at high frequencies, but the other edge of the frequency band was also strongly influenced. With the tracks from Daft Punk duo’s album Random Access Memories, in which energetic low sounds build the entire presentation, Mr. Piotr’s platform slightly shortens the lowest bass decay, while improving its definition. It may be that improving the definition it thus eliminates dirt, responsible for the impression of fuller bass. In this regard, the Gravity is very similar in its character to the Acoustic Revive RST-38H platform. Using the latter in a system with similar problems, there will appear to be less bass and more treble. But once we straighten it out, the platform will show such wealth of information that we won’t be able to believe we’ve listened to the music without it. But that is how "listening experience" works, this is how we learn the sound. And something very similar, despite the huge price difference, I heard with the Polish platform.

The Gravity leads us exactly in this direction. The sound of components that are placed on it becomes clearer and more accurate. There seems to be more treble and less bass – not by much, but still. In the audio such changes are not always desirable because they lead to a leaner, drier sound. And this is where the platform shows its value: the fact that there is more treble and less bass is only an impression created by the direct comparison with the amplifier placed directly on the rack shelf.
However, after a while comes reflection and what we took for color modification turns out to be something deeper - a change in the definition of sound, its purification. So if anything in our system seems to be slightly calmed down, not entirely clear, the Polish platform will allow to sort it out – that’s its principal characteristic – and define. The change of tonal balance is not the only "presumed" change that turns out to be something else once we adapt to and come to understand it. We are in for a similar adventure when it comes to dynamics. First auditions seemed to show that the sound was slightly calmed down. With the platform everything was clearer and more precise, but also less "impulsive". It turns out that it was the elimination of nervousness and artificial "excitement" from the sound. The Gravity smoothes it out and hides, so there is no feeling of being attacked by the sound. And this is often synonymous with calming. In this case, it is only an illusion. In fact, the dynamics improves significantly. Previously overlooked relations come to the top and the instruments seem to be more "present". Not by their fulfillment, it is not that case, but by clearing the space between them, by a better attack definition, and better shown character and color.

Conclusion

While being in Cracow, Ken Ishiguro, the owner of Acoustic Revive, stated repeatedly that anti-vibration platforms should not change the sound of components sitting on them, but only bring out the very best from them, eliminate mechanically induced noise, and thus better define the presentation (see HERE). The Gravity does just that – it clears, defines, clarifies, and reveals. It also adds a little from itself and we need to see if that's what we’re missing in the system. I referred to Mr. Ishiguro not without a reason - his RST-38H platform works in much the same way, its design comprising two wooden surfaces with large, amorphous silicon crystals between them. Owner of Divine Acoustics combines different materials in his platform design, but crystals also play an important role.
I don’t know if I should say this, but the Polish platform is “cheap like chips”. It works and it does so perfectly fine. Looks great too. It is fully based on company owner’s design "method", being the result of his thoughts and a comprehensive, thoughtful approach to the subject. I like that all very much - congratulations!

The platform is easy to use, even though it consists of two separate segments. With the frame housed in the enclosure, the platform can be used as a solid design. Spikes are the only element that can be adjusted; they are placed in small spacers, included in the set. They are the only thing that needs changing - the spacers should have a larger diameter and be heavier. And have a more precisely made spike holes. The Gravity, however, is really inexpensive and such changes can be made on our own. We can even try out under the spikes the CeraBalls from Finite Elemente.
During the review the platform was placed on the top plywood shelf of the Base VI [Custom Version] rack. The component auditioned during the review was the Ayon Audio Spirit III integrated tube amplifier. The testing was a multiply repeated A/B/A comparison with the A and B known. The A was the sound of the amplifier sitting directly on the rack shelf, and the B was with the platform under the amplifier. For a cross-comparison, I used the RST-38H platform from Acoustic Revive and the Pagode Edition from Finite Elemente. Music samples had the length of 1 min.