There's Nothing Else Like It
Quiescent's extraordinary combination of electronic and structural design, materials, electronic noise reduction and acoustic noise reduction puts it in a league of one.
About The Apex Couplers
Through the long history of Quiescent/Vertex AQ, going right back to the days of the original Kinabalu platform, the theory of coupling rather than isolation has always been a cornerstone of the brand's thinking. The principle is simple, don't isolate a component, leaving all its structure-borne vibration locked-in, rather couple it efficiently to something that can break down that vibration.
So when you look at one of these couplers, you will see a small very hard steel spike on the top, that extends down into the body of the coupler. That's the impedance-matched coupling point. The body of the coupler then looks very different to other support products, lots of angles and random shapes, and the interior is filled with very effective structures to break down the acoustics too.
And add to that another element (that the old Kinabalu's never had). These couplers also take advantage of the fact that the coupling point is connected electrically to the chassis of the component stood on it. So Quiescent have also incorporated some of their brilliant EMI/RFI absorption techniques right into the coupler. The result is an additional lowering of the RFI/EMI noise floor in the component. Genius.
Tech Insight
One of the easiest ways to start getting your head around what these couplers do is simply to consider materials and shapes. Most hifi component chassis are made of homogenous sheets or slabs of metal and are a rectangular cuboid.
Metals conduct acoustics very efficiently – being several orders of magnitude more efficient than air. Anything cuboid, that is also made out of an efficient acoustic conductor, will carry and sustain a significant amount of acoustic energy reflected around inside the structure. And some of this energy will be set up as significant standing waves too, dependent on the frequency and dimensions of the cuboid. You get the idea.
So, the couplers connect to that material of the component chassis – the spike is a hard metal so becomes a new path for structure-borne vibration. The couplers are a very non-cuboid shape, with significant surface disruption too. And internally they are very non-homogeneous in a specifically designed way that breaks down vibration. In essence a set of three coupler totally alters the whole shape of the component in acoustic terms, and adds a significant amount of non-homogenous, non reflective structure.
Specifications
APEX40
W x D x H (mm), 121x110x40.
Weight per Coupler (g), 400.
Maximum Load Bearing (kg), 45.
APEX50
W x D x H (mm), 151x138x50.
Weight per Coupler (g), 783.
Maximum Load Bearing (kg), 65.
APEX60
W x D x H (mm), 194x165x60.
Weight per Coupler (g), 1,444.
Maximum Load Bearing (kg), 85.
Matching & Setup
Implementation of the Quiescent couplers requires some planning. Depending on shelf area, height between rack shelves, height of components, feet height and so-on, you will need to check and select either the Apex 40, 50 or 60s. You should also check the weight limitations too, although you're not likely to get anywhere near those limits.
Performance does increase with the larger couplers of course, so see what scope you have so you can select the larger ones if you can (considering domestic appearance and budget too of course). Most customers go for the 40s or 50s under source components and the 50s or 60s under larger amplifiers. And for managing height (and appearance) it is often helpful to remove the stock feet from components.
There are no set rules for which components respond best to a set of couplers. But everything does respond in our experience – sources open up with more clarity, finesse and three-dimensionality, and amplifiers gain control, timing and dynamic headroom. And multiple sets throughout a system often deliver an improvement in performance that would be hard to achieve without a significantly higher investment in big component upgrades. But even then... maybe not completely.