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Review: Mapleshade Heavyfeat/Heavyhats Tweak

Category: Accessories

Classical and jazz are my mainstay. David Stock, George Crumb, Shostakovich and Roger Sessions are a few of my reference works I use for comparison. Everything matters to me i.e...soundstaging, tone, dynamics, air, low level detail, extension, control, smoothness and lack of glare or distortions. The worst thing to have would be midrange glare or harshness in the upper octaves, next would be lack of soundstaging and focus followed by inaccurate tonal balance. The Mapleshade brass footers and weights are simply amazing and can yield improvements on the level of component and cable changes. They let you extract every ounce of capability your system is hiding...and you can adjust your results depending on how and where you place them and how much weight you use on top! My system went from muddy, rolled off and ill-defined to sharply focused, crystaline clear and full of dynamic power from the top octaves on down to below 20hz. It becomes quite apparent that what may seem to be a component/cable problem can in fact be a vibration control problem. FYI. use wood under your components for best results (maple or butcher block). The Mapleshade website has loads of free tweaks and in depth detail of how thier products work plus a 30 day gaurantee!!

Associated gear
Krell 400xi
Krell sacd standard v3
Krell resolution 2 speakers
av123 ERT supertweeters
Transparent MM reference PC's
MIT Oracle V2.2 Cabling
MIT Z Stabilizer III HG Power Conditioner
Wattgate Outlets and IEC terminations
Mapleshade Triplepoint brass footers
Mapleshade Heavyhats brass weights

Similar products
Various plastic and rubber products
128x128dave_b
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
This is not a review, more like an advertisement. There is no mention of how you used the product nor any measurements to back up your claims. And lest someone jump on me about using my ears to do the measuring, how on Earth does the author seriously make the claim about sub-20Hz performance unless he measured this performance before and after application of the MapleShade products?

This was written:
"Everything matters to me i.e...soundstaging, tone, dynamics, air, low level detail, extension, control, smoothness and lack of glare or distortions. "

And then there is NO mention of how the products improved ANY of these criteria.

This was also written:
"...and you can adjust your results depending on how and where you place them and how much weight you use on top!"

Okay, what, exactly, did you adjust and how did it affect the sound? Give us the benefit of your observations about placement.

You don't even mention the cost of the item(s). Isn't that an important parameter?

-RW-
dave_b's avatar
dave_b OP
3,159 posts
 
RW, you are correct about having given very little detail. I am extremely excited and I have very lttle patience these days regarding exposition on topics audio. That being said, let me put it this way....my krell 400xi now produces sound that surpasses my previous ARC Ref3/Krell Evo 402 combo. Soundstage is beyond huge...it is lifelike in dimension. Violins are woody, airy, smooth, defined and tonaly sweet! Highs are extended and full of texture with more transparency than my previous benchmark(one of many I've owned). Bass is subterrranean and defined while the mids are open, rich, bloomy yet seductively behaved just enough to not blurr the line between reality and over exaggeration. Overall, presence, palpability, soundtsage heigth and width and dynamic contrasts are vastly improved. Textures are now evident to a great degree, not unlike what you hear in the first 5 rows of the BSO or the Kimmel Center. For more detail then you can handle feel free to call me at 610-721 1304. The 20hz comment was overzealousness regarding my reduced use of a pair of subs which I use sparringly to augment the lowest fundamentals...I have turned them way back which says alot!!
sherod
1,690 posts
 
Dave b,
Which of the two sizes of the Heavyhats did you use for your amp? Also, how many and what location for best sound?
garebear
1,154 posts
 
I used them on a host of equipment...dcs, Rowland and my CEC TL-1...never heard anything...sent them back.
sherod
1,690 posts
 
RW,
Give it a rest, man. It is well-known that you are a die-hard troll against any tweaks. How you've bad-mouthed Machina Dynamica is legendary. Why should Dave_b provide objective measurements to explain why he likes the Brass weights? If they make a difference in his system, then be happy for him. All things audio is a passion for most of us here on Audiogon. If we try a tweak, whether it makes sense or not, and it provides us joy, then as the Beatles said it, " Let it be." Please don't try to kill that joy which we experience. I apologize for coming on so strongly, but I'm so sick of all the negativity lately that it makes me want to puke.
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