Sistrum or Neuance or...?

Good-day,

Robert here at Star Sound Technologies, LLC.

Hello Sean, I have not forgotten about your published question. This morning I was finally able to read all the threads posted from the previous week.

In order to assist you and the balance of interested parties and provide a greater understanding of our technology, today I have taken a few steps towards this new short term goal of ours.

I have asked one of our mechanical engineers to write a descriptive paper on Coulomb friction as I feel the more information we can provide you with the concerns to the actual problem itself (associated with equipment’s efficiency of performance) the easier it will be to digest the rest of the information that will follow. We will have a separate link to our website that we will post here in order for everyone to review this initial paper.

I have also requested that Brent Riehl, our Lead Designer and inventor of the Audio Point®, to provide more accurate information and in a more descriptive manner than I am capable of. We know that the information provided by Brent will clear up a few concerns and present a more detailed picture for you. We also realize that his involvement will lead to even more questions and that situation we view as a positive thing.

In addition we have also requested that Dr. Wilbur Highleyman, D.E.E. and one of our founding members to provide additional technical information on the applications of resonance control. Dr. Highleyman is currently in Africa and will be returning in two weeks so please afford us the time it takes to respond here.

After reading your replies concerning actual testing at your residence and realizing that you have knowledge of how much time involvement it takes to properly research and test resonance, we want you to understand that Star Sound would never create any animosity should your testing results differ from ours. Your environmental surroundings are completely different than that of ours as this characteristic alone would have a profound impact on your overall results. Actually anyone providing us information based on third party testing of our products would be graciously accepted here as that type of service costs upwards of thousands of dollars to procure.

If you really enjoy the process of discovery as you seem to rely on much of what you find through your own understanding and testing methods, we are working on providing you a few formulas that have helped us in the past. These are only formulas as we cannot guarantee you that the results you attain will be of a positive nature or similar to ours, but it is a fairly reliable initial approach. At the very least it should help you with your overall knowledge with concerns to vibration and the controlling methods thereof.

I am sorry that we are not timelier in providing you information and answers but we are a very busy group this time of the year. I will soon commit a bit more time to remain focused on helping you as much as we can. We simply ask that you have some patience as we begin this course.

As always – Good Listening!

Robert Maicks

Gee, I posted the cement thing without even being a Sistrum owner...no bandwagon here. However, since posting, I recieved Sistrum stands for my speakers. Needless to say, I haven't "tested" them, nor have I returned to my physics books of twenty plus years to "figure" them out. Even with a white paper (that honeslty I won't fully understand anyway), why would I buy on that alone? I trust my ears...and I am keeping them, gladly. In the business world there is a lot of BS...but ultimately someone has to make a sale in order to remain in business. If you would like to know the differences I heard and the equipment that I own, etc. please feel free to email me. I will gladly assist a fellow audiophile who is honestly looking to upgrade their system. Otherwise, I really do have better things to do....like listen to music.

I fell upon this while looking through Ken Lyons' posts. Its interesting to see what has and has not changed in three years. Just for the archives:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?htech&980018129&openfrom&1&4#1

Ohlala:

I notice that a certain pinheaded poster, in the old thread, has @ least changed his moniker since then, but unfortunately his delivery remains the same.

I purchased a commercial audio rack and Neuance shelves shortly after the old thread died out (still using it/them).

I agree, not much has really changed, and Sistrum continues to be at, or regularly contending for, the top position of the performance platform and racking category.

When platform and racking systems get compared at the top of the heap, as to which one is sonically best, Sistrum is always mentioned in the mix. It has always been this way since the intro of the products(quite to the consternation of some).

When something is new or better, there are always those from the "old camp" who feel threatened and make disparaging comments, while never trying or experiencing the product themselves. No amount of explanation will do, because they simply refuse to accept it. The common name for such activity is "naysayers".

I think that this will continue, because it is, to some degree, human nature for some people.

I would only hope that this really small percentage of the naysayers would try the products themselves, and become experienced on the subject.

Of course, we at Sistrum never say that anyone HAS to try or use our products. Just that we RECOMMEND that they try them. And we cheerfully accept any returns of our products with a full 30-day refund without nitpicking. I really fail to see how this seemingly arouses such ire from a certain group. We make products for home audio use. If you like it, you can buy it. If not, then don't. It is as simple as that. Our strongest sales technique is to actually have people audition our product because once they try it, they keep it.

What some (unbiased?)people(who admit to never hearing the products) have to gain by trying to imply snake-oil claims, when the products obviously have legions of happy users and magazine awards over 4-15 years of time, is not too clear to me. But it is clear to me that these same folks seem very irritated that Sistrum supporters(and company personnel who clearly state their affiliations) would post on these forums, and we are always met with pretty close to the same group of opponents, year after year, who STILL have never tried the products and STILL refuse to accept any amount of explanation.

However, I would invite anyone to try any/all of these very good products and learn what the fuss is all about.

DISCLAIMER: For anyone who still is not aware of my affiliation, I am employed by Starsound Technologies, the manufacturer of Sistrum Platforms, Audiopoints, Sonoran A/V Wire Designs, and Harmonic Precision electronics and speakers.