[Listening Test] Titanic Audio - Anti-vibration Platforms

Product: Anti-vibration platform for electronics and stabilizer for phono cartridges
Manufacturer: Titanic Audio (DGR Group) DGR Group, Northern Ireland, UK
List price: Catalyst €150, Anchor €650
Reviewer: Piero Canova - TNT-Audio Italy
Reviewed: May, 2026

Premise

I believe all our readers agree that vibrations have a negative impact on the performance of our systems. Whether they come from the external environment or are generated internally within the equipment (motors, transformers, and other components are sources of vibration), the effect is always negative on the quality of reproduction. I believe I've tried dozens of systems or approaches to reduce vibrations and their effects, with widely varying results and costs. My experience tells me that no material is perfect and doesn't alter the sonic balance of reproduction; the right compromise is an alchemy where you try to compensate for the sonic impact of each material by pairing two or three of them, preserving the advantages while minimizing the negative effects. When Titanic Audio contacted us and offered their latest creations, I found them very interesting, and I was happy to test them.

What are we talking about?

These two objects are easy to describe externally, but quite complex to explain how they work. I'll start with the simplest, also because it's essentially visible: the Anchor stabilizer. It's a 20mm x 15mm plate with a thickness of 1mm on the flat area and 2mm where there are seven small protruding hexagons. It weighs less than 0.1g.

The damper is inserted between the cartridge and the headshell, with the white side facing the head-shell. I was able to identify three materials: the white base appears to be a rigid plastic that supports the whole thing. Coupled with it is a thin layer of elastomeric material, while the small hexagons are made of a fairly pliable rubbery material. When installing the cartridge and tightening the screws, the small hexagons flatten, and the plate is completely flush with the cartridge.

The Anchor platform is a little more complex to describe. It's a 400mm wide, 340mm deep, and approximately 20mm thick plate.

The bottom, as you can see above, is an aluminium tray with feet to prevent it from slipping. There are small screws along the perimeter, but they can't be seen protruding from the top. From the side, you can see the two halves, each with a vaguely blue plastic lining inside. The top is an aluminum tray symmetrical to the one above, but its surface features wavy notches, as you can see in the image below the title. The manufacturer calls this design HEX-DNA, and it's designed to handle the high frequencies generated by transformers, motors, and power supplies by channelling them laterally. The same hexagonal structure concept is applied to the inner layer, which handles low frequencies. In this case, small hexagonal parallelepipeds supported by springs expand under load, channelling vertical vibrations laterally. Finally, alternating materials of different densities should help absorb residual vibrations. The manufacturer's website goes into greater detail, but there's certainly a lot of work behind the Anchor platform. At this point, as always, we move on to the listening figures.

How do they sound?

Let's start with the Anchor platform. The first thing that struck me, and I really like it, is its lightness and ease of use. Simply place the Anchor under your device and you're ready to listen; no need for calibration or adjustments based on the weight of the device. It doesn't weigh much, so you can do everything yourself. My go-to feet are the G-Flex ones, already reviewed here way back in 1999 by our editor. The first impression is of excellent listening quality; compared to the manufacturer's standard feet, in all the devices I tested, I noticed a clear and evident improvement in all audio reproduction parameters. Tighter bass, better defined highs, and width and depth of the sound-stage had significant benefits.

I left the mids and vocals for last because the improvement in these areas is even more evident. The definition of the vocals, their body, and the effects applied to them emerged in a truly surprising way and decidedly better than anything I've achieved so far. Compared to my references, they win in the midrange and are equal in the bass and treble. Like all systems with a strong absorbing component, a slightly darker tone is noticeable, which slightly highlights the bass and takes away a hint of brightness from the highs. All it took was to decrease the Shelter 901's VTF (Vertical Tracking Force) from 1.84g to 1.825g, and the balance returned to the original, but with an added improvement in the midrange. At this point, however, I asked myself what I was actually listening to.

The G-Flex feet are mounted resting on the bottom of the unit, while here I was listening to the Anchor along with the stock feet. I ran a series of tests by removing the stock feet and resting the chassis directly on the Anchor or using aluminium, wooden, or steel separators. The best result was always the stock feet + Anchor.

The Catalyst board requires a little more work because you have to disassemble the cartridge, position it, and reassemble everything. You can tell it comes from the same hands that made the Anchor, in the sense that the effects are similar. Same magic in the mids without losing the extremes. Same slight darkening, which in some cases, however, was more than welcome if the cartridge is a little on the sharp side in the top end. My Lyra became a little gentler in the top end with obvious benefits on listening fatigue, while with the ZYX, all it took was a couple of hundredths of a gram to return to the original sound. One variable to control is how much you tighten the screws that hold the cartridge in place: if you tighten them very tightly, the colour difference becomes very small, while if you leave them slightly looser, the effect becomes more noticeable. Just half a turn less is enough to notice the difference.

In both cases, the sound quality is truly first-class; among the products I've heard with a strong vibration damping component, they are certainly the most balanced and least invasive in terms of tonality, offering in exchange a clarity of sound, spatial precision, and definition of voices and instruments that are truly top-notch.

Conclusions

I think it's clear that I really liked both. I'd like to add that the Catalyst board costs 150 €, which is much less than a shell made of exotic material or a replacement arm or cartridge. The Anchor platform costs 650 €, which is a little more, but the benefits it offers, in my opinion, more than make up for the investment. I can only recommend you give them a listen if you can; you'll see, you'll love them.

I wonder if it's possible to make a turntable mat with Catalyst plate technology?

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Titanic Audio Anchor Platform and Titanic Audio Catalyst cartridge stabilizer

A very interesting approach to vibration control

Premise

What are we talking about?

How do they sound?

Conclusions