Tiglon MZ-Grande Insulator Review

Good vibrations aren’t so great when it comes to your precious hi-fi components. Failing to adequately support your gear holds back the performance of your system, which is where quality racks, supports, and footers come in. Decades ago, audiophiles were experimenting with all sorts of home-made contraptions like chopping boards, bicycle inner tubes, and the like. Thankfully, there’s plenty of commercial stuff now that won’t make your setup look like a science experiment. Conventional wisdom dictates that components like turntables and Compact Disc players require careful isolation, but in my experience, any hi-fi component is fair game.

Up Close

The MZ-Grande insulator comes from Tiglon of Japan. The company was recently featured in these pages with the White Tiger power cord, and the wonder metal magnesium comes to the rescue again! This product combines the company’s MZ-1 and MZ-2 insulators with a newly developed pure magnesium base, fittingly called ‘Grande-Cup’. The company claims that it delivers an even quicker response and clearer, more expansive soundstage, due to magnesium’s fine damping and electromagnetic shielding properties. A tuning ring, made out of the company’s proprietary D-REN material, is installed inside the Grande-Cup to further improve imaging and staging.

Kentaro Okino, Tiglon Representative Director

The MZ-Grande measures 34.5mm in height and 53mm in diameter. Each insulator is a mere 108g in weight but can take up to a 25kg load, which means that a trio or quartet is good for most equipment. Separating the MZ-Grande into its individual parts, the MZ-2 sits at the top, with its flat side in contact with the component being supported. The conical spike of the MZ-2 mates with the indent in the MZ-1. The tuning ring sits between the MZ-1 and the cavity in the Grande-Cup. The MZ-2 has some wiggle room, but the insulator is stable and easy to place in practice.

The Tiglon insulator was tested with an Eversolo T8 streamer (4.5kg), as well as a Conrad Johnson GAT S2 preamplifier (15.9kg). I used a trio in both cases, which makes levelling easier, with the insulator making direct contact with the equipment’s bottom plate. Like all footers, you need to experiment with placement to get the best results. My own approach is to have the component’s weight supported evenly across each footer, which worked well here. Light components like the Eversolo T8 tend to slide with the Tiglon, so this is probably not the best for components that you need to fiddle with, like CD players.

The Listening

The Tiglon lent an organic touch to the music, increasing inner detail and decay. There was a noticeable uptick in mid-bass energy and articulation, albeit at the expense of some deep bass and incision. To use a well-worn analogy, it made everything sound more analogue.

Comparing the Tiglon’s effect with the Eversolo and Conrad Johnson, the results were similar, but more noticeable with the former. It’s not one of those subtle tweaks that you need to strain your ears, and the improvements were easily discernible. For example, listening to the sound effects on Bubbles by Yosi Horikawa, you could clearly hear each ball’s bounce and clatter. The effects fully enveloped the listener, and there was a heightened retrieval of the recording’s acoustic space and reverb. Take the Tiglon away, and the music sounded flatter as the sonic effects were harder to distinguish.

The Chain by Fleetwood Mac is a nineteen seventies rock standard, and its middle-of-song bass and guitar solo sounded more textured and layered with the Tiglon isolators in situ, although bite and impact were reduced slightly – something to take note of if you like your music energetic and edgy. This was very noticeable in the track’s opening, where the guitar notes sounded less steely.

John Lee Hooker’s gravelly voice on Boom Boom came through clearer and more textured. The recording’s soundstage was also noticeably wider and deeper. The tone with the Tiglon felt subtly warmer, aided by a fuller upper bass. I also liked how the texture was reproduced with a pleasant fluidity that made this track, and long listening sessions, less fatiguing in general. The MZ Grande should definitely appeal to listeners seeking a more analogue presentation.

The Verdict

The MZ-Grande is an impressive product that brings warmth, detail, and a more natural sound overall. It’s a great antidote for digititis, but it should work well with other gear. Definitely one to try out if you like a more relaxed presentation and are looking to bring your gear to the next level, for a relatively modest investment.

For more information visit Tiglon