Wandering the caverns of the Las Vegas Convention Center during the CES 2004 show, I came across the Soundcare booth manned by two amiable gentlemen from Norway, company president and designer, Terje Borgen and his V.P., Knut Aas. I introduced myself, and Terje and Knut happily showed me the many variations of the their primary product, the SuperSpike. They explained that all their products were both wife and equipment friendly since each Superspike had its own integral protective base which protects floors and shelves. Aas and Borgen added that one had the option of using the provided threaded screws or self adhesive felt padding, depending on application. I expressed an interest in reviewing their products, and they assured me that I would receive a shipment of different SuperSpikes to try for various applications and that I would not be disappointed. Both gentlemen made claims of increased bass performance, extended treble response, greater clarity, improvements in soundstaging, etc. Needless to say, I was intrigued.

To the left are diagrams of the SuperSpike with notes on its construction (self-adhesive version for smaller speakers and equipment): All are basically variations on a theme, an integral unit composed of spike and self-contained base.

The Soundcare website describes its SuperSpike as an assembly of : An outer, sturdy, clean looking housing of ABS plastic (standard version) or polycarbonate (High-End version) (1). Spike made of first class case-hardened steel (2). Zinc casing (3) that reduces resonances in the spike and is specially designed to hold the plastic housing when the equipment is lifted. Zinc disc (4) with a mild steel insert (5). Self-adhesive felt disc made from 1.25mm quality felt with permanent fairly high coatweight tape. Double coated tape, 3M 9573 high performance permanent tape (only the self-adhesive version). Lock nut (on the threaded version).

The first application of the SuperSpikes was to attach them to my speakers, which are floor standers. The SuperSpikes were very easy to install. I simply screwed in the threaded end of each Spike into the speaker inserts and used the lock nut for final leveling with the provided wrench. The whole process took about ten minutes.

I began by listening to a wide variety of CDs, ranging from classical, both small and large ensembles, to jazz, including vocals and instrumentals, and gained a very positive impression. My first impression was one of greater clarity and separation of voices and instruments, with more apparent space around each. The sound stage became more inviting and seemed to draw me more into the performance. A very positive attribute, indeed.

The tonal quality of the system also exhibited changes that in the most part were beneficial. The bass performance, I felt, was most affected by this new footer. The bass became more taught, with improved attack and seemingly more authority. Timpani, conga drums, and snares had more inner detail, and one could discern the 'skins' as well as the body. From impact of mallets, fingers and sticks through the decay, more information was clearly evident.

Voices were not dramatically affected in terms of tonality, (no harm done), but were affected in terms of a slight beneficial improvement in smoothness, air and focus. These were subtle, but perceptible changes.

What happened to the treble presentation with the SuperSpikes in place? The effects were more clarity, extension and air surrounding instruments. Sounds had some added vibrancy, which in most instances was beneficial. Where this became problematic was when a CD was recorded 'hot' or was harsh, the spikes would not hide these negative attributes. In fact, with the added benefits of high frequency extension that the SuperSpikes provide, these problems become exacerbated. Here, the benefits of the SuperSpikes heavily outweighed the negative.

Adding SuperSpikes under the electronics provided sonic benefits that were cumulative and further realized. The overall quality of the sound I experienced from the characteristics I've already mentioned increased in magnitude: clarity, air, sound-staging improvements, bass performance and vibrancy, to name a few. My testing included only the standard types, not the gold finished ones with the 'High-End' designation or the more expensive titanium models.

In summation I can safely say that those Norwegians have not been sleeping all those long winter nights, they've been doing some damn good product development. As such, the SuperSpike, in all its variations, is a product to be reckoned with.

Keep listening.