Node Audio SS-1

This is a review of two related products from Node Audio. The first is a support system for electronics, and the second is the same for loudspeaker cables. Of course, Node Audio is the designer of the stunning ‘Best of 2023’ Hylixa Signature loudspeakers.

Design

These Node Audio SS-1 are a ‘modular component support ecosystem’ designed to drain mechanical vibrations and focus stray magnetic fields. These mechanical and other resonances are focussed into a ceramic core at the centre of the three-part ‘puck’. The Support System One (SS-1) has a high tolerance machined stainless steel metal base. This base supports a steel gimballed centre support, surrounded by a glass nylon 3D printed collar. The 3D printing process was described in the Hylixa loudspeaker review. The sum of these elements, with a ceramic piece in the middle, contributes to the reduction in noise in electrical components or other HiFi equipment.

The cable riser version has a 3D-printed ‘flower’ to isolate the loudspeaker cable from the floor with minimal contact. The risers are designed to lift the cable a good three inches off the floor to obviate static in the carpets or floor surface.

The cable risers can be equipped with optional 3D-printed carpet spikes if needed. An SS-1 Spider rack Mount option is also available.

Quality

These Node Audio SS-1 pieces are immaculate in machining and are a joy to play with and hold. They are a bit like stress relievers.  The precision is something to behold. Both the top and bottom elements have machined female screws to insert the 3D-printed carpet spike arrangement in the base or the cable riser ‘flower’ in the top section.

All six SS-1s I’ve weighed are 330g each, exactly!

Price: 4 Node Audio SS-1s will set you back £1080.

They are available to purchase here.

Performance

Review Equipment

I’ve had the Node Audio SS-1s under variously under an iFi Pro iDSD DAC, my Moor Amps Angel-Pre (the power amplifier is too heavy for me to play with, but the SS-1s can ‘take weight’ apparently. The Angel 6 is driving the Kudos Titan 505 loudspeakers. I’ve also had excellent results under the Chord Electronics Hugo 2, with a 2Go and a pair of Meze Audio 109 Pros.
I’ve had the cable riser version of the SS-1 under the Tellurium Ultra Black II loudspeaker cable (the ribbon stuff), the Black Rhodium Charleston cables, and some Atlas Mavros cables with GRUN.

Physically

I have the electronics on a spiked Solidsteel rack on an acoustic floor below the thin carpet. The arrangement is fairly stable, in any case, so I have decent isolation. The Hugo 2 is just on a wooden desk next to my headphones.

Chord Hugo 2 headphone amplifier

…the presentation certainly offers a heightened experience to the listener

Placing two SS-1s under the Hugo 2 headphone amplifier achieved the most tangible results in cleaning up the soundstage I have. Without invoking the ‘night and day’ words, the presentation certainly offers a heightened experience to the listener. With Band On the Run (Qobuz 24-bit, 192kHz), further resolution is delivered to the rear of the soundstage, reflecting the quality of the Hugo 2 and the 109 Pros, which they can deliver with the SS-1s in partnership.

Moor Amps Angel-Pre

…I’ll be loathed to remove them at the end of this review.

The rubber feet on the Angel-Pre are rudimentary at best. Placing the SS-1s under the power input, the output circuits and the volume, with a fourth in there for balance, seemed to achieve a good outcome. Nils Frahm’s Butter Notes (Qobuz 24-bit, 96kHz) was fizzing with even more energy in a straight AB test without the SS-1, and I’ll be loathed to remove them at the end of this review.

iFi Pro iDSD

With the iFi Pro iDSD, I heard less of a tangible uplift; if I’m being perfectly honest, this is a surprise, as one might expect these noisy electronics to benefit from a ’clean-up’. However, I’m using

the iFi Pro iDSD as a DAC only, with a separate transport feeding into the USB at the rear. The USB lead is a top-of-the-range Atlas Arran cable with earth-grounding GRUN technology so that the clean signal path may obviate any SS-1 benefits.

Loudspeaker Cables

…have heard a tangible gain in the presentation and am satisfied…

Turning to the Node Audio SS-1 with the cable supports is an uplifting experience, pardon the pun, raising the cable a good 15cm off the ground with the carpet spikes included (I have the cable ordinarily on upholstery foam with grooves cut in them with a Stanley knife!). Again, I struggled to find a tangible gain with the Atlas Mavros loudspeaker cable and the earth-grounding GRUN system. The same was true with the Tellurium Q Ultra Black II ribbon-style loudspeaker cable on a separate Naim-based system.

However, with the Black Rhodium Charleston loudspeaker cable, I have heard a tangible gain in the presentation and am satisfied.  I can hear the gain from the SS-1 in this setup, which is satisfying in my standard Reference Tracks.

Turntable

…achieved a reduced noise floor in the Titans, offering more bass….and more clarity…

Towards the end of my review period, I placed the supports under the recently reviewed Rekkord F400 automatic turntable. At first, I put them under the turntable’s actual feet, but placing them under the plinth in place of the feet achieved a reduced noise floor in the Titans, offering more bass, particularly the double bass in Arooj Aftab’s Last Night, and more clarity. The Angel 6 and the Charleston help with this, too.

Overall

These are for you if you demand the best and can afford it.

These are for you if you demand the best and can afford it. The problem is that having heard the gain, you might want about twenty-odd for all your components: pre, power, transport, DAC, etc. I achieved the most favourable outcome with my nice, plain, simple passive power amplifier, the headphone amplifier, and the turntable.

Specification

Full details are on the company’s site.