I Just Don't Hear It - I wish I did

RE: Tesla & Edison

I bet those guys would be audiophiles if they were alive today. You can bet they'd be serious tweakers...hell; they'd be innovators (they were!)

Cheers to everyone who participated in this politically incorrect thread!

I just had an experience with an expensive ($775) tweak that I wouldn't even have considered except for facing a milestone birthday and (with my wife's blessing) wanting to do something to take my mind off it. Sealing the deal was the 30-day, no-questions-asked moneyback.

I've had Gallo Reference 3 speakers for almost 4 years and love them. For a while now, the Mapleshade catalog has been featuring stands made specifically for these speakers that replace the original speaker bases with new ones constructed of 4" maple platforms with well-named brass "Megafeet" under them and brass decouplers that put about 1/16" of space between the bottom of the speakers and the top of the bases. Sounds counterintuitive, right? The speakers are held onto the bases with 6" brass screw/bolts.

After putting all this together and discovering a little too late in the process that it was really a two-man job, I started listening. Okay it's nice, even very nice, but $775-nice?

Fortunately I have a friend who has the same speakers. He offered to bring one of them over and compare against one of mine with the new bases, which he did. My Aesthetix Calypso linestage enabled us to listen to them balanced, right only, left only, and any combination, via the remote control.

When the two speakers were balanced (same volume from each speaker) you could hardly tell the stock speaker was playing! We were both amazed. The Mapleshade bases provided far more full-bodied richness, dynamics, better bass, and all the other good stuff. There were no downsides, and there still aren't, unless you count the $775.

My friend ordered a pair of the bases the next day. They're due to arrive this week. The least I can do is help him install them. No kidding. Dave

It appears that the stands raise the speaker about 6"? If so, that likely accounts for the majority of the difference in sonics. Elevating a speaker so that it's orientation to the ears is altered inherently changes one's perception of the performance dramatically.

Thinking back to my review of the Von Schweikert VR-4 SR MkII, it had a time aligned, backward slanted baffle which shot the midrange and tweeter's primary wave front over my head (off axis). Standing up put me directly on axis and the sound was quite different. I was able to alter the speaker's performance by propping up the rear of the M/T module so that it was firing directly at my ears, more on a plane with the bass module. In the end I kept the speaker positioned as designed, but the discussion demonstrates my point about the height of the M/T on/off axis listening.

It's very possible you have been off axis (as the Gallo is a smaller floor stander) with the speaker's mid/treble and now are on axis. Huge difference.

So, in this case, a seeming "impossible" tweak (After all, what can a block of wood do?!) IS really doing something, just not what most people would expect it to do. When the explanation is seen, it's not so laughable. The cost of the stands might be debatable, however if the effect is enjoyed and their addition to the system aesthetically pleasing enough, then they very well may be considered a good deal. :)

Guys, after putting the Gallos on the Mapleshade stands they were LOWER than before. I had them on 6" stands from Stein Audio. They are now about 2" lower than they were then. And, frankly, their esthetics were better with the Stein stands. Any other theories?