Isolation vs. Absorbtion

Hello Ken,

I hope my placement of the review did not offend you. I have very little time to converse through typing as I wanted to provide you a third party’s investigation into the merit of our product and studies and provide some answers to your questions.

I really enjoyed your analogy of our product function as I now can see a clear almost parallel realization about both companies’ desires for maintaining musical performance and dynamics throughout the playback process.

It would be fun to position you and our Senior Designer, Brent Riehl, in the same room and start the tape rolling. I am sure the results would be flat out encouraging.

Are you attending the Le Festival Son & Image this month in Montreal?

If so we can hook up there. If not maybe at the show in New York?

I look forward to meeting you in person.

Very truly yours,

Robert Maicks
Star Sound Technologies, LLC

I just re-read all the posts from 2/13/01 to 3/08/01 and in all honesty am not sure what has happened here. It would seem to me that Dr.A was able to appear above board in the end after trying to dodge the questions posed and underhandedly promote a product for his own personal gain. At the same time Ken came off as way to forgiving and a man of incredible integrity and control. Some how Dr. A was able to fill a full month of advertising his products name without really telling me anything, and Ken chose not to self promote his fantastic product at all. Will the good guy win? I hope we all boycott Dr. A's product until we recieve a full and honest apology, and maybe an honest aproach to marketing. I'm still at a lose as to what I've learned regarding Isolation vs. Absorbtion, and that saddens me. I for one am asking Dr.A to take a period of time off from or site until he can learn the value of honesty and fair play. For all the good you Dr.A could have brought to this discussion, I see nothing of value added by your free month of self promotion. I will end now before I start to say things not intended to say.
J.D.

P.S. Thank-you Redkiwi for all your guidence on shelving. My Neuance shelf has settled in very nicly and all the attributes you identified have come through. Also for the sake of Ken's lack of self promotion, I will step in and take over. THE NEUANCE PRODUCT IS A FANTASTIC SHELFING PRODUCT OUT PROFORMING MY OTHER SHELF PRODUCT AT ONLY HALF THE COST. A GREAT PRODUCT, SUPER PERSONAL SERVICE AND AN HONEST TIME LINE. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK KEN, AND PLEASE EVERYONE TRY THIS PRODUCT, YOU'LL LOVE IT!

Whew. I have been trumpeting it, I must admit. It is a bit of a relief that you agree, Jadem6. I had tried almost everything I could lay my hands on without importing things myself - MDF, particle board, concrete, glass, laminated glass, marble, corian, granite, sandstone, soap stone etc. I had tried bladders, seismic sinks, sorbothane, mass-loading, elastomers, sand and shot. I had tried more cones and pods than I care to remember. But I felt, that each was just changing the sound, not eliminating the effects of vibration. I cannot say Ken's Neuance shelves are the only product to do this, but finally I found something that worked. The approach is in the light/rigid/damped school, which always results in speed and detail, but usually results in resonant peaks. Not so with the Neuance shelves. You get fast, detailed and neutral. Somehow the vibration effects, that all other things I tried just shifted around, have been substantially removed.

Hey guys/gals: I will be ordering the Neuance shelves next week as soon as I make up a shelf template and get it in the mail. I had the Studio Tech rack that I purchased from Audio Advisor mig welded into a one piece unit by my auto mechanic. It already comes with upturned brass spikes for all of the shelves as well as brass spikes for the floor. I gave up on making my own rack when I saw this one on sale and realized that this (the welds) was all that it needed. I am on a pretty tight budget for the equipment move, but saved enough on the rack to start off with two of the Neuance shelves. My brass cones will be going on either the mini system or the micro wave oven, I haven't decided yet.

I have been using different materials under components for years along with different footers. I seem to like a bit of what each material had to offer but none pleased 100%. I got hold of Caterham 1700 and ordered a Neuance Beta. I told Caterham that I was going to use brass cones. I changed my mind and ordered a Mana Mini table. Caterham said he would have to trim the Beta so it would fit the Mana mini table. He did not charge me and even paid shipping. I have been using this combination for two weeks. Redkiwi has said what I would say but much better. IMO this combo does it all. This is one of the best investments I have made in audio. I have spent $1000s on a piece of gear that could not deliver like the Neuance and Mana. I have not heard other shelves as I have always made my own. I have no desire to hear other shelving. I was always of the opinion that thick, heavy shelves and materials was the way to go. No light weight whimpy stuff. I was wrong. Dead quite, dynamic, and that I can't stop tapping my feet is what this combo delivered. Have not seperated the Beta from the Mana. All listening was with the Mana. I had this combo on a piece of granite. Another improvement came when I took this combo off the granite and spiked it to the concrete floor. I gotta get more of this stuff for my other components.