CA Electronics is a Dutch company that makes a small range of ceramic isolating products, connectors, a headphone stand and a very interesting looking pair of loudspeakers.

Having just bought a pair of headphones I thought it only right that I treat them to a nice stand and a quick search found me the CA website. I’d never heard of the company but I liked the look of their stand. I spoke to Rogier at the company and duly bought one of their, I have to say, lovely looking stands. The parcel arrived a couple of days ago, in a very snazzy wooden box and in with the package were a set of three white, ceramic feet which Rogier had sent me to try.

They are made of “especially chosen ceramic material” which is smooth on the outside but very irregularly structured on the inside and the claim is that “vibrations in the whole frequency range are transferred to heat” when they are placed under equipment.

In all honesty the feet look like plaster of Paris, but are clearly much harder and can take 100kg plus each. They have an appearance not unlike a massive pill!

First of all let me state quite categorically that I’m not a big believer in this kind of thing. I’ve never gone out and bought anything of this kind before and I tend to find my hi fi kicks strictly on the anti-foo side of town.

The feet were placed flat side down under the feet of my Roksan Xerxes turntable which sits on an Ikea stand and that in turn sits on a massive granite slab a couple of inches thick placed on the floor. It’s quite tricky to get the small feet of the Xerxes to balance atop the ceramic feet, but once placed the whole turntable feels secure and isn’t going to slip off… unless someone gives it a hefty push. The arrangement is as CA suggests –two at the front and one at the back, but you can buy the feet in sets of four should your kit demand.

I’ve had the Xerxes a year or so now and I know its sound fairly intimately, but I really wasn’t expecting any change at all from “installing” the feet. However, a quick listen to side three of Armstrong and Ellington’s “The Great reunion” has, I hate to admit, left this devout sceptic a little confused about his faith. Not exactly an epiphany I hasten to add!

Now lets be serious here; this is not a night and day difference and no veils were lifted, but there are subtle changes to the sound and I think these changes may be for the better. Instruments are slightly better defined and placed in the mix and bass is slightly tauter. Further listening to a good selection of vinyl reveals that surface noise appears to be reduced, but I have absolutely no idea why this should be or even if I’m imagining it.

Would I go out and spend my hard earned on them? You know what, I may well just do that!

They’re not cheap mind, though nor are they hugely expensive either in the grand scale of things and come in at around 54 quid if bought online.

CA also produce cones made of the same material, which are designed to be placed either underneath electronics or indeed loudspeakers.

Worth a go I’d say!

Author – Stu