Signals hi-fi for grown-ups. suppliers and installers of music hi-fi audio stereo system, systems and a/v av products to all areas of Suffolk,North Essex, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire 01473 655171

site map

Apologies for the rather obvious visual joke. Probably just as well that we stopped short of the cheese sauce. Just to cover ourselves on this, the product photographed is not edible.

Beyond inappropriate product placement, I cannot claim any exclusivity over Black Ravioli. We've been aware of its existence, via references on the internet, for an indeterminate amount of time, certainly a year or two. I confess that we kept our heads down on it too. Yet another fashionable tweak for the smart hi-fi retailers to feed the gullible before moving on to the next must-have? We should have known better!

It seems to be holding up pretty well to the time test at any rate. Ravioli is the brainchild of Derrick Ethell and is manufactured in Scotland by Sailforth Ltd who have been trading for the past 20 years in the nuclear and marine industries. As most hi-fi buffs will have already realised, Black Ravioli is an isolation or, perhaps more accurately, energy management device. You stick them under things! The 'tech' is explained here and it seems pointless to cut, paste and edit someone else's hard work.

Our introduction to it was when Fraser Robertson, friendly and enthusiastic UK sales manager for Focal was here. Along with some new loudspeakers, he also brought a bundle of Ravioli. In fact, good as the new Focal Electra 1008be and 1028be loudspeakers were, the black sachets kind of stole the show.

Fraser placed four stacks each three high, avoiding the existing feet, between the Rega Isis CD player and the (Naim Fraim) shelf. And the improvement, it was most certainly not just a change, was ridiculously large. We had spent the previous half hour optimising the positioning of loudspeakers, so were fairly tuned in to nuances, but this really was stupidly effective.

The Black Ravioli enhanced detail, resolution of textures, decays, brought increased refinement and reduction of colourations (even some aspects that sounded more the province of speaker / room interaction). More importantly, it sounded a whole lot more enjoyable, more engaging. Just plain nicer!

After a period of acclimatisation, we took them out and got the full sense of loss. Proper withdrawal! I immediately asked if we could buy the very samples he had brought along. "No" came the answer.

To add salt, we then tried them under the Naim 552 preamplifier too. Given the relatively tight spacing within the Fraim, this was limited to a rather more modest two Raviolis per corner. With the CD player back on them, the uplift in the pre-amp performance was discernible, but not quite at the 'wow' level of the CD player. Adding yet another set under the 552's power supply did bring another 'wow' though. Utterly ridiculous! Mind you, the 552 preamplifier has some serious suspension internally and this could have reduced the extent of the effect. A very positive effect was nevertheless present.

At its most basic level, placing one per corner under the feet of a CDX2 running into a far more modest system brought very worthwhile improvements.

In addition to the basic Ravioli, there is a range of more attractively presented 'risers' and 'double risers' with Ravioli on one or both faces. For the aesthetically fastidious, these look more like high quality feet under your components and less like an ongoing experiment involving foodstuffs.

Whichever style you prefer, they need a few days to settle in. The layers of material flatten down under the weight of whatever they are supporting and, as they settle, the performance improves.

The prices:

Individual pads £20 each

Spacer for pads £5 each

Single risers £58 each

Double risers £85 each

We will stick them in our shop soon. For now, please email!