Thanks, Bill. I used to wonder - before I became part of the "underground press - why people come to such different conclusions about equipment. Then I realized it was the materials of the walls. The Brits have mostly plaster-type rooms, I hear. Americans have drywall (which vibrates more than plaster), so when ASC introduced their Wall Damp, I decided to try it out. I first got Tube Traps back in 1988, long before anyone was using them, after I saw J. Gordon Holt’s review in Stereophile. After I got them, I realized they made a big difference in the sonics. I could even keep up with HP’s observations in TAS, even though his equipment was light years ahead of mine, because my room was well-controlled. It sure helps! And so much of what people hear is merely their own room problems, their electricity (although I think most people have realized AC can really make or break a system), or their isolation. A friend of mine had his turntable on a heavy table, and he was certain that that was good enough to stop vibration. I told him (not so politely, but then, he’s a friend and part of that system he has, I gave to him, so I know what it should sound like) that he wasn’t even close to controlling vibrations. He didn’t take offense. Quite the contrary. Two weeks later, he announced he’d gotten an equipment rack (without asking my opinion [which was just fine with me!] and when I asked how he liked it, he said the sound was spectacular. So, he realized on his own, just from my having brought over the Townshend Seismic Isolation platform and putting it under his turntable, that indeed, the difference was really, REALLY noticeable when we listened to some of his albums. And now he realizes I’m not just saying things from "on high" just because I was in the business for a while. (Sometimes people react rather hostilely to reviewers). He can hear it for himself (and I like that he goes to symphonies at the Bushnell in Hartford, CT). So, it’s fun to demonstrate to people that room acoustics and vibration really matter. It just allows the music to be more truthfully portrayed and that’s what most of us want, isn’t it??
