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Letters To Us
June 2005
Dear Steven,
After reading your review and listening myself, I purchased a pair of Hyperion 938's two months ago. They are now broken in and powered by a Jeff Rowland Integrated amp. I can't tell you how leased I am listening to these speakers. When I come home, they make my day. Thanks for your review. On another note, I need a set of bookshelf speakers. Can you recommend any which could actually be placed in book shelves (maybe 6 inches from the wall). Most companies recommend several feet from the wall at a minimum, but in my case I need them on a shelf.
Many thanks,
Richard Lewis
Richard,
Thanks for your e-mail and it always brings a smile knowing my review helped to enhance someone's musical pleasures. As for bookshelf loudspeakers, you may want to read what Steven Stone has been busy doing in his Nearfield series of articles. This issue (June 2005) will focus on two speakers that just may be what you are looking for :)
Enjoy the Music,
Steven R. Rochlin
June 2005
Steven,
I really enjoyed the article you wrote on the Hyperion HPS-938 but am still worried about how they would sound in my personal listening place. My system consist of the Gamut mk3 power and a (local developed) preamplifier from Daleson with tubes. I know this sounds very smooth under good conditions, but the acoustics of my place can be described as forward (a bit nasal too). The place absorbs midbass and accentuates the higher mid region. Should I be worried with the Hyperions under these conditions?
Thanks,
Peter Hendrickx
Peter,
Thanks for your e-mail. While virtually no listening room is perfect, of course i would suggest you try using devices such as RealTraps. As for the Hyperion loudspeakers, they should be fine in your room as they are not 'bright' or 'harsh' so the room problems you have should not be a problem.
Enjoy the Music,
Steven R. Rochlin
June 2005
Steven,
Nice review of the two Audio Note loudspeakers. Wondering if you had a chance to hear the AN-E silver version you mentioned you would like to do. Headed to an All Audio Note, All The Time System, and speakers and cable are the only things not Audio Note.
Keep up the good work,
T.J. Oleary
TJ,
Thanks for your e-mail and glad you enjoyed the review. Alas, have not heard the all silver AN-E, though judging from the AN-J/SPx here, have a feeling the all silver E would further improve upon an already impressive speaker.
Enjoy the Music,
Steven R. Rochlin
June 2005
Hi Chris,
I just read your review of the Outlaw sub and it sounds pretty darn good for the money. But one part of your review had me curious and scratching my noggin. Describing calibration and setup you go on to say "I ended up with crossover settings of 60Hz for the front, 80Hz for the center and 120Hz for the surrounds. Because I use different speakers in front, center and rear" What I was curious about was what processor you use that lets you set individual crossover points for each set of speakers. My Anthem only lets me choose one global crossover I think, and I may be in the market for an upgrade some time this year and that is a feature that would be handy.
Regards,
Stuart Naylor
Hi Stuart,
Thanks for the note. My current preamp/processor is also made by Outlaw - the model 950. It supports three independent crossover points for front, center and rear speakers. Outlaw's brand new Model 990 actually has a quad crossover with independent settings for front, center, side surround and rear surround. It also includes DVI video switching, auto-calibration and some other cool stuff.
I just checked it out at the NYC Hi-Fi show in and it was pretty impressive. I think it sells for around $1099 and they're starting to get units ready for shipment this month. It's certainly worthy of consideration.
Regards,
Chris
June 2005
Colin,
Could you tell me the catalog number of this Yorkstone tile on Home Depot so I can find it and buy here in Italy? Or could you send me a photo of your platform so I can watch this sheet of foam board as well?
Thank you very much indeed,
Leandro Lioce
Leondro,
Thanks for your letter from Italy. My DIY vibration isolation platform (VIP) article prompts emails from all over the world. I don’t have a picture handy of the paving stone I used. Home Depot no longer has them. The idea behind the heavy stone is to damp vibrations, in conjunction with the tennis balls. If you read my review of the Gingko Cloud 10 VIPs last year, you will see evidence suspends disbelief. Follow the link to their technology charts and read the article (verified in other professional reviews), you will see and understand why you need both the platform and the isolation. In the case of the Cloud 10, they measure and specify the pieces providing the best audio performance. Their platform is stiff and brittle acrylic and isolation is only a few racquet-size balls. They adjust the number of balls for the equipment weight on the platform. I have their unit. f I was making another VIP, mine would be more like theirs. More elegant; less weight.
Yours in Listening,
Colin
June 2005
Hi Mr. Gaw, I wanted to take a moment to mention the wonderful way your writing has helped to make DIY product review much more enjoyable and mainstream, it's a major innovation, the way I envisioned it should be. Thanks so very much. I saw your Bio and was impressed with your collection of VSE gear and your use of horns. I'm running EV horn's and EV 15TRXB's with passive EV crossovers in boxes fashioned after K-horns. I also own an Allen Wright designed FVP5 the little (cheaper) brother of your RTP5. Joe Rasmussen in Australia built it. Before sending it to me, Joe said the following about my FVP5:
"I must admit, even though I have an RTP preamp, listening to the FVP which is really its little brother, the latest FVP is great in its own right and so enjoyable to listen to. It is in no way embarrassed in comparison to the RTP, but the price difference is huge. I had yours in my system for a while, and it never missed a beat and I never felt that I had to revert to the RTP. That is really saying something!"
I plan to build a set of Allen's new amps when I can afford them. In the mean time I'm working on my amp building and mod skills by putting together a set of Paraglows. If they ever get here, that is. I also plan to use Allen's silver foil for the signal chain. Did you have to do anything thing special to the foil, to use it, did you have to change any part of your wiring technique to make it work it? How do you feel the all silver signal chain sounds now that the units are broken in? Some people mix silver and cooper in the signal chain to keep the amp from sounding harsh would you? What gauge was of the silver bezel that you used for power and what did you use for the ground bussing? Can you give a contact for the silver bezel please? I plan to use a larger a cooper plate rather than the supplied mounting plates and also remote the power supplies. What changes would you/did you make to the layout? Now for the hard one, how do the Paraglows compare to Allen Wright's amps?
In closing I want to thank you for any insight you might provide and I look forward to many more of your wonderful reviews.
Thanks so much and best regards,
Otis Davis
Otis,
Thank you for the kind words. Glad to hear I'm not the only "Horny" guy in high end audio. Allen Wright does indeed design and produce some of the best equipment in high end audio, and is now selling his designs to some of the best recording studios in the world. He's recently moved his production facilities to Switzerland to get away from the EU, and I certainly wish him luck with his endeavors. The Paraglows are a great single ended amp kit, and I did enjoy building them. My redesign was to trash the cabinet, as the top was flimsy to begin with and the cabinet was too small. Also, with its many redesigns, the wiring is very haphazard. I rebuilt the cabinet to about 150% of its previous size, used a wooden plate for the top for ease of production and because I wanted to see if that would cut down on stray currents flowing through the unit.
Next, I set up the circuit so the the RCA input flowed to the input tube to the output tube to the speaker connectors in a straight line, and ran the power supply wiring and signal wiring on opposite sides of the board to keep them as far away as possible. Allen's silver foil was used for all signal wiring and 10 mil silver bezel can be obtained from many jewelry supply houses. Teflon tubing with an inside diameter the same as the width of the foil and bezel, will give a beautiful air dielectric for the wiring. I really can't compare the Paraglows to the Wright amps as I did sell the Paraglows several years ago, and they are really in distinct categories both in build and cost. But I'm sure you'll be happy with the Paraglows at least for the mid and high frequency horns.
Bill
June 2005
Doctor Gaw,
I read with interest your on-line review of the Golden Sound GSIC Intelligent Chip in the May 2005 edition of Enjoy the Music.com™. Considering the positive review, will you be treating all of your discs?
Sincerely,
Tom King
Tom,
I have been doing them as I listen, and have already used up two of the 30 and two of the 10 chips, and have one 30 chip left. I'll probably do tose I listen to most, and any new SACD and DVD-A's I buy. Guess I'll be ordering some more in the next few weeks.
Bill
June 2005
Hi Bill,
Just read and enjoyed your review of the GSIC. Your description of events during the review raised one point that may or may not bear on the issue of whether it works. You mentioned turning on DirectTV to watch Deadwood. I love Deadwood, and thoroughly enjoy watching it. We also have DirecTV, with a converter near my audio system and a TiVO machine to record my wife's soap operas. Neither has an electrical connection to the audio system.
I found through extensive trial and error that (1) the Philips converter is a nasty source of RF pollution, and that my system sounds better if it is turned off and the power is removed from it; and (2) the TiVO is an even worse source of RF. Since it cannot be turned off under pain of death, I've had to deal with it by extensive treatments of the power cords and coax cables to reduce the RF corruption it produces.
Did you do your GSIC tests with your DirecTV equipment on or "off" or really off? Whether or not, you might try the simple experiment of disconnecting the AC power from your satellite TV gear to see if your audio system sounds better. In my evaluation of the GSIC, I found no change in the sound of the treated discs.
Best regards,
Al Sekela
Albert,
I do have the Hughes High Definition DirecTV DVR, and with this unit have noticed no output of airborne RFI to the audio system. I have completely isolated the video from the audio system, using a Sound Application unit for the video, and Walker Velocitors for the audio. The only connection is through a Toslink cable. But you are right on the button about looking everywhere to get rid of as much electrical disturbance as possible. Over the two months of he GSIC experimentation, I went through all sorts of system changes, and in each case, I could still hear the difference that this tweak produced. I've gotten to the point now where I just use the unit with each new disc without before and after evaluation. It's interesting that many high enders, yourself and several reviewers I admire, have not heard a difference, whereas others, including Clark Johnsen and John Curl swear by it. Until we know a little more about the process, and some valid experimentation occurs, I am unsure as to who is right and whether I'm hearing things because I want to. Interestingly, my wife can hear a difference from the next room, but women have much better perception of sound than most men, myself included.
Bill
June 2005
Scott,
I own a Music Hall C-25 HDCD player with upgraded opamps and am wishing to play SACD's. The Shanling T200 seems a little out of my league, even on the 2nd hand market. I read your review on the Sony SCD 595. Is this a cheap way to have two players and could upgrade in a year. I have a Conrad Johnson CAV 50 integrated tube amp, two Quad ESL 57's and a Snell sub. Is this inexpensive Sony up to playing SACD with good sound quality or should I just skip it, sell my Music Hall and upgrade to a Shanling T200? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank You,
Gerry Mitticia
Hi Gerry,
That little Sony 595 will definitely hold it's own. It's well worth getting just for the SACD player portion. It should sound really nice in front of your CJ and Quad rig.
While more companies offering SACD players, I'd have to guess yes. Actually they will probably be 'universal players' that do Redbook, SACD, DVD-A and DVD (flip disc). That little Pioneer Steve mentioned is the article is a good example.
Hope that helps
Scott Faller
June 2005
Rick,
Just a quick note of thanks for the kind words in his review of my woodworking at the Montreal Audio Show. You mentioned in the article about speakers "this looks to be tiger maple veneer on this loudspeaker, but may well be something more exotic and unfamiliar." They are actually a curly cherry (quite rare, much more so than maple) so it is both exotic and familiar. The speakers only have a couple of weeks since they were made, so the color will darken into that rich cherry color.
Thanks,
Alan Thimot
Cabinet Maker
Harmonic Design
Alan,
Thanks for the feedback. I don't believe I've ever seen curly cherry, but I'm certainly familiar with the darkening process with exposure to UV light. We have a lot of creative woodworking here in Rochester with the School for American Craftsmen at Rochester Institute of Technology, as well as the workshop of Wendle Castle, an acquaintance, who is a renowned artisan. I've always argued for the importance of good design, as you can read again in my article among the current review on entitled Decorating for Music. Interestingly, just down the hill from the Rockport Technologies workshop in Maine, there is another very fine school for craftsmen working primarily in wood. Linda and I enjoyed an hour browsing through their school after visiting Andy Payor at Rockport last summer.
I certainly hope the Montreal show was a success for you, Alan. I wish the photo of your loudspeaker could have been larger to better show the quality and fascinating veneer. Best of luck in the coming year and I hope to see and hear your work next Spring.
Rick Becker
June 2005
Steven,
Been happy with what we have Krell amps/preamps and an old set of Polk SRS which we like the sound of but...the speakers are just too big for the area they are in. Really liked the Sonus Faber Cremonas but the $8000 (I know for true audiophiles this may be pennies) is just a bit more than we had hoped to spend. Anyone have ideas that may be complimentary to our likes but a bit less expensive 4-7K?
Thank you,
James Douglass
PS: Great site thanks!
James,
Thanks for your e-mail and here are my feelings. In that price range there are many choices including, but not limited to, Audio Note AN-E Lexus or AN-J-SPx, Coincident Speaker Technology Partial Eclipse Mk II, Duevel Bella Luna, and Hyperion Sound Design HPS-938 loudspeaker. We offer reviews of all these loudspeakers with our archives section and within Superior Audio. In the end it may be hard to find a local dealer to hear all these loudspeakers so choosing can be difficult. Hope the above list provides you with a way to narrow down your list. Of course in the end what really matters is that you...
Enjoy the Music,
Steven R. Rochlin
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