Product Description:

Installation:

Installation was very straightforward.  I attached the large 9" X 10" damping sheet and several smaller 2" X 7" sheets to the inside cover of the Denon DVD-2900 DVD player (see Fig.1 below).  An additional 2" X 7" sheet was placed on the back panel of the Denon's chassis. 

Fig.1 Denon DVD-2900 cover with damping sheets installed.

Performance:

Reviewing the performance of internally installed vibration damping material is extremely difficult.  There is absolutely no way to perform A/B tests since the installation of the StarrDamp CS sheets is somewhat permanent.  With that said, I approached this review a bit differently than I have in the past when reviewing easily swappable components.  The whole point to the StarrDamp CS sheets is to reduce mechanical vibrations within a component and to act as an RFI/EMI shield.  Without the means of testing the efficacy of the RFI or EMI shielding the only aspect of the StarrDamp CS performance I could quantifiably write about is mechanical vibration reduction.

The Denon DVD-2900 is notorious for slightly vibrating when playing disks.  Since I purchased the player (over a year ago), I've noticed that the slight vibration typically occurs as the laser is reading the outer most part of a DVD or music CD.  This occurrence does not happen all the time however when it does, it's quite noticeable by placing your hand on the cover.  Based on Verastarr's claims, the StarrDamp CS Component Vibration Damping sheets should help reduce internal vibration which in theory should improve the sonic and video performance of the player. 

Prior to the installation there was a high probability that the player would internally vibrate to some degree when spinning all types of disks, however since installation of the StarrDamp CS damping sheets the player has not exhibited any internal vibration... and I've spun more than 50 disks.  I would assume that even the subtle vibration from the Denon's power transformer would also be reduced, however I'm only speculating.  In terms of audio and visual improvements, it's a close call.  If anything the bass region of the Denon's digital output (I had no way of testing the analog outputs) seems to be a bit tighter but my opinion is solely based on subjective hearing.  In terms of video, I could not discern any changes in performance.  With higher resolution players, performance differences may be less subtle however I cannot guarantee that there will be any noticeable improvements.  What I can guarantee is that the StarrDamp CS vibration damping sheets will in fact reduce internal vibrations within a component when properly installed.  The reduction of these vibrations will do nothing but help a component's performance and I'll let you be the judge as to the degree.        

Final Thoughts:

For their reasonable price, the Verastarr CS Component Vibration Damping Sheets are certainly worth trying if you are in the pursuit of reducing your components internal mechanical vibrations.  Results will vary depending on system components, treatment methods and listening ability however the folks at Verastarr are extremely friendly and knowledgeable and I recommend contacting them for a consult before installing the product.

Recommended product.

Shane Mattson
Founder, Soundreproduction.com

Note:  I plan on installing the CS Component Vibration Damping Sheets to additional components in my system and will report my findings as an addendum to this review.