October 28, 1998

Thanks for your review of the Speaker Art Super Clef. After your first  review of the Speaker Art Clef, I found myself wondering what you would  think of the Joseph Audio RM7si speakers, which I currently have. These    speakers seem similar to the Speaker Art Clefs in price and approach, including that the 'infinite slope' crossover incorporated in the Joseph  Audio speakers has a similar aim as the crossover in the Speaker Art Clefs:  to very much limit the overlap of signal delivered to both woofer and  tweeter.

I have never heard the Speaker Art Clefs. I would be very interested to hear what you think after a comparison. Thanks for your work for SoundStage!, which I consider to be an  extraordinary magazine.

...Sherri Rosenthal

Hello Sherri and thanks for your input.   Although I have heard the RM7si, I have not had the opportunity to do it in a 'review setting.'  We have talked with Joseph Audio already and hope to bring in some speakers for review in the future...DAS

October 28, 1998

[DVD reviewer] Roger Kanno rocks, man. He reminds me of my university prof. for film analysis. He's convincing and doesn't condescend. Cool writer.

...H. Kim

October 28, 1998

To Todd Warnke:

I have generally found the reviews in SoundStage! to be valuable and well-written. Largely as a result of SoundStage! reviews, I have purchased Merlin VSM-SE speakers and an AHT phono stage. Both are excellent.

I read with interest your review of the Triangle Antal speakers. I respectfully request that you explain the seemingly outrageous statement you made that "...everyone in the room was relaxed, laid-back and under 40, the final point a good sign for audio if ever there was one." I am 43 and have been an audio enthusiast since I was 14. Through many equipment purchases and the subsequent knowledge I gained of the marketplace, component characteristics, brand traits, etc., I consider myself reasonably well informed and therefore much more capable of evaluating and choosing components with lasting value. I also have the "history" to understand a reviewer's biases and their applicability to my situation. All these things would tend to make my experience in this arena, if not my age, an asset.

Could it be that your feeling that under-40 audiences are better ensures that your sense of superior knowledge will go unchallenged by someone with a superior level of experience?

Regards,

...Jerry Seigel

I believe that you may have misinterpreted the passage that you quote from Todd's review -- or perhaps we should have made it clearer. The issue is not age and its correlation to experience, but rather that an under-40 crowd speaks good things about the future of high-end audio -- that not all industry personnel and enthusiasts are in their 40s, 50s and beyond. ...Marc Mickelson

October 27, 1998

To Doug Schneider:

My kudos to you for reviewing Tunnel of Love. I am a very big Springsteen fan, as well as a serious audiophile.

I agree with you completely about Tunnel. I would love to see somebody take his best recordings and remaster them. The recording quality on almost all of his stuff could certainly use improving. Now if there were just some way we could influence Toby Scott, Chuck Plotkin, and Bob Ludwig. I used to fantasize about a direct-to-disc Sheffield recording of Bruce live in the studio.

Thanks.

...John Zellers

October 27, 1998

Dear Editor,

I'm a great fan of your webzine. Think it's better than 99% of the printed magazines around. One suggestion: How about a Stereophile-like list of recommended components? Also, would you have any old reviews of the Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 Signature?

...Edward Ong

P.S.--Please also tell Doug that I think very highly of SoundStage!.

SoundStage! will be debuting a codification system (best way to put it) that will help readers identify the merits of products in a simple, easy-to-compare format. The first installment, on amplifiers, will appear on December 1, with  an explanatory editorial from me. Other product categories will appear in subsequent months.

Sorry, but SoundStage! has not reviewed the Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 Signature. And Doug now knows you like SS!. Thanks for the kind words.

...Marc Mickelson

October 26, 1998

Editor:

I would just like to thank you for your website, as I find the writing very good and informative. I am an electronics technician, and I found the article by Pete Goudreau on the JPS Labs cables to be excellent. I have listed you on my own website because I think yours is one of the best out there.

Thanks again.

...Gary O'Shields

FYI: Pete Goudreau's next article is scheduled for December....Marc Mickelson

October 21, 1998

Any chance of covering Roy Johnson (Green Mountain Audio) a bit more, his designs, his philosophy, etc.? I know little about him, but read in Bound for Sound he is one of the most respected designers in the industry. He's also coming out with a line extension of the Continuum pedestal, which SoundStage! has reviewed.

No, I'm not his publicist, but I am intrigued by Roy, have spoken with him, and am considering buying his upcoming speaker.  Give a great designer  his due.

Thanks,

...Marc Goldstein

October 19, 1998

Dear Editor,

I just got around to reading your review of the remastered Dad Loves His Work and thought you might appreciate this story.

About a year ago, maybe a little longer, I was working out at the gym with some friends when this guy walked by that looked like James Taylor. I told my friend that and he said "Naw, you're crazy." Having an eye for faces, I knew I was right. James was performing the next day in my town and likes to stay in shape these days.

I walked over and said hello, introduced myself as a fellow guitar player (local clubs), and said I was sorry to hear about the passing of his keyboard player and veteran jazzman Don Grolnick. James was very nice. I explained that while I liked virtually all of his work, Flag was my favorite. He started laughing and said it must be because I'm a musician, because it was his favorite of all of his works. Sometimes the public will typecast you by genre, such as with Sweet Baby James. He remarked how much he enjoys R&B and how much fun Flag was to make and play. (I love the way he opens "Day Tripper"). Anyway, this was a long-winded story that I thought you might appreciate since you are as big a fan of Flag as I am -- and JT is.

Thanks for a great website.

Sincerely,

...John Tobin

October 12, 1998

To Greg Weaver,

I have read your article on standard and vertical biamping configurations. I would like to propose yet another configuration. I would like to biamp a pair of Paradigm Monitor 9 loudspeakers using the Speaker A and Speaker B outputs of a Yamaha 2090 receiver. Does it make sense to connect the Speaker A outputs to the "HI" terminals on each speaker, and the Speaker B outputs to the "LO" terminals, thus mimicking the standard configuration you described? Or do I REALLY need two distinct amplifiers to truly achieve the advantages of the vertical biamping configuration? Please explain.

...Keith Cameron Smith

Good question; you've obviously given the idea some consideration. I am sorry to say that, for all your ingenuity, you do need discreet amps to biamp. You see, the amplifier taps of your receiver are connected internally, so all you would be doing with your configuration is biwiring. Thanks for writing! ...Greg Weaver

October 12, 1998

First, let me soundly APPLAUD everyone at SoundStage! for all your hard work and sterling efforts. It is truly a cornerstone of today's hi-fi/music press.

The primary reason I'm writing is that due to all I've read on your pages about power conditioning and power cords, I just installed a VansEvers Super Companion. I really enjoyed my system before: Rotel RCD-865, Audio Research SP-6c (just reconditioned), NEW 20.1 w/ Tiffany power cord and Meadowlark Kestrels. Great imaging, soundstage, detail and boogie factor.

NOW, the Super Companion has made everything better. More specifically, I can EXPERIENCE even more of the music -- especially when it's there in the recording. AudioQuest blues discs, JVC XRCD Victor Feldman, Dori Caymmi (catch him live if you can), Karrin Allyson on Concord (try Daydream); also try Paquito D'Rivera and Arturo Sandoval's Reunion on Messidor. I could go on and on, but the point is that even "modest" conditioning if designed properly makes a very tangible difference. Everyone who needs to use a multi-outlet strip should do themselves a favor and give it back to their computer.

Mike VansEvers knows what he's doing and and people should avail themselves of these inexpensive add-ons. I'm a not just a believer; I'm now an experiencer. Spend some money up front--really up front--and increase the performance of every piece in your system. I look forward to adding a #11 or #12 next.

Again, many thanks to you all for a job, superbly done. I enjoy visiting every month.

Sincerely,

...Marvin Steindler

October 12, 1998

Dear Editor,

I think SoundStage! is great. It improves with each issue in both quality and quantity. Jeff Fritz's recent review is one of the best reads I've seen. My mental picture of the Adrenaline speakers' sound was crystal clear from Jeff's description. Keep it up and I'll keep coming back.

...Michael McMahan  

October 8, 1998

I enjoy your website very much, and I've spent a great deal of time reading your current articles as well as those in your archives. This has been a great deal of fun.

I do, however have to vent about a speaker review done by Jeff Fritz, of the Wilson Audio Adrenaline 75 system. He wrote very glowingly about the $25k speaker system, which did surprise me. Maybe this was his first time hearing a speaker system in this price range. Everybody knows that a $25k speaker system sounds as good as it costs; anything less than $20k would provide but a dark veil over the entire musical spectrum. But don't stop there. Next month, why not review a $50k system. It should sound twice as good. Then, you might search for a $100k system. If there isn't a $100k system out there, what a pity. Think of what the world will be missing, never really hearing the music the artist intended us to hear. We'll just have to settle for some wretched $25k bargain-basement system from Kmart or something.

He did mention that the speaker cabinets were available in "selected veneers". I hope for their sakes that those veneers are of the exotic, imported, and perhaps, endangered varieties.

...Todd Lee

Your point, put as it is, is well taken. Believe it or not, however, there is an audience for reviews of expensive products, just as with less expensive ones. We're confident in Jeff's assessment of the Adrenaline 75 system as a good number of us have heard it at the CES or HI-FI show.

Jeff had a tough assignment for his first review -- report on a product that he both personally likes and is generating a fair amount of buzz in the high-end world for bettering systems that cost more than its own considerable price. Given this, we think his review is rather tempered in its enthusiasm...Marc Mickelson

October 7, 1998

Dear Editor,

Your website is well designed, with useful, informative, and entertaining writing; I really look forward to each new issue. However, while I realize you are reliant on advertising for your continued existence, I consider popup windows (or anything that interferes with my "desktop", for that matter) to be among the lowest, scummiest tricks available to site designers. True, I could disable Javascript, but then important functions on other websites wouldn't work. If you must have popup windows, you could at least offer some illegal MP3s, or perhaps free porn...

Regards,

...Will Harris

October 5, 1998

What are your thoughts on Silver Audio (DH Lin) and its Silver Bullet 4.0 and Silver Bullet 6.0 interconnects? Also, do you have an opinion on its Symphony 32 or 48's?

Thank you

Best regards,
...Jonathan Franklin

Hello and thanks for the e-mail. Unfortunately we have not those cables in our review process yet. We have heard some good things about the product and definitely seem interesting to pursue. Keep reading, maybe some time in the future!...DAS

October 1, 1998

Editor:

HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! I *LOVED* the column with Jim Saxon and his MR1 review. _BRILLIANT_ bit of back-and-forth between you two; not only was it among one of the most humorous pieces of writing I've ever read, but it also brings out the friendly and human personality which your writers have over those of, say, Stereophile.

I'm glad to have read your own editorial about the expansion of SoundStage!. I definitely have to commend all of you guys (as well as thank Greg Smith personally for recommending those DH Labs T-14s, which I just bought and am listening to right now) for the very fine articles, month after month. Until your editorial brought up the idea, I have never thought of which audio publication I like best... and when it comes dow to it, I'd be the first to admit that I really enjoy coming back daily to SoundStage!, eagerly waiting for new articles.

A sincere congratulations, as well as a sincere THANK YOU, to EACH of you guys.

...Keith Chan

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