The centre of the top surface is drilled to accept a threaded adapter (with 6mm, 8mm and 10mm options available). The top and bottom surfaces also feature a deep slot, running edge-to-edge, upper and lower slots at right angles to each other, while each Harmonie footer shows considerable, if subtle additional shaping. The end result is not unattractive, in a funky kind of way and it’s certainly feels like a solid lump, weighing in at 190g – nearly seven ounces (or ten-times the weight of a Track Audio M8 spike and locknut). In other words, fit a set of four Harmonie footers to the average floorstander and you’ll be adding nearly two pounds weight of stainless steel mechanical interface between the cabinet and the floor. Even if only in material terms, that’s likely to be significant!
The Harmonie footers can be ordered in sets of anything between three and eight and are priced at €110 each (inc. 20% sales tax) – a little more if you want the M10 adapters. And talking of adapters, this is one area in which M. Even and I differ… The supplied pieces are cut from brass, have a (very sensible) screwdriver slot in each end and offer 10mm of M8 thread that sits in the footer, leaving 10mm for adjustment. My immediate response was, “That isn’t enough…” an assumption that quickly proved correct. So I bought myself some pre-cut 30mm and – just for the hell of it – 45mm M8 stainless steel threaded rod (they are actually produced for mounting exhaust manifolds). While I was about it, I added some M8, large-flange, stainless steel lock nuts as the Harmonie footers aren’t supplied with any. Thus equipped, I was able to compare and contrast…
As luck would have it, the Living Voice OBX-RW4 loudspeakers currently installed in the Reading Room system are sat on – you guessed it – a set of Track Audio M8 spikes and shoes. With the speakers 33mm off of the floor, I needed to use my 30mm threads, but with the Harmonie footers duly equipped, it was possible to exchange spikes for footers while retaining exactly the same height and angular settings. Settling down to listen, I was expecting a difference – after all, what doesn’t make a difference – but I wasn’t expecting the Harmonie footers to embarrass the Track spikes quite so comprehensively. The Neodio feet delivered more scale, more weight, considerably more texture, a more developed acoustic but most impressive of all was their impact on the music’s sense of rhythm and flow.
Playing the familiar Igor Oistrakh recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto (with Cluytens and ORDF) the opening drum beats had a more insistent pulse, the separation of instruments across the orchestra was more clearly defined, with a more natural perspective, greater depth and a more obvious sense of acoustic space. The orchestral playing was more incisive, with greater attack and purpose, dynamics were wider and there was more presence and density to individual instrumental groups and orchestral tuttis. Oistrakh’s violin was now separated from the orchestra in both space and height, more focused, fluid, expressive and vibrant. Instrumental textures as a whole were better defined, with a warmer balance as a result of extended harmonic development. While the increase in pace and musical intent, grace and ensemble connection is hard to miss, you might dismiss the other differences as presentational subtleties – except taken en masse they represent the difference between hi-fi and a palpable sense of performance, underpinning the new rhythmic articulation, pace and expressive range. The music steps away from the speakers and takes on a life of its own.
