Stein products

Funnily why people would claimed a tweak they never have the opportunity to demo as snake oil products . Well , I was fortunately to have all sort of " snake oil tweaks" ie shun mook, synergistic research acoustic art, hifi tuning supreme fuses & many more. When my audio group was introduced by a dealer friend to Mr Stein , who proceeded to tweak my friend system with stein epad + ( most expensive audio per weight basis) , 1/2" sq inch sticker on the tray of a CD player , it was jaw dropping clear improvement . He proceeded to add epad to the MCB, ELCB. Some improvement pretty obvious & some not so. Then he brought out his magic weapon , the stein harmoniser with magic stone & magic diamond . We are sold after the demo. All these demo was done in 1 of the best acoustically treated room in Malaysia ( my opinion only). Few of us ended up buying the Harmoniser , epad ( 1 of my friends bought 30+ pieces ), LP conditioner ( highly recommended if U are playing LP) and super natural footers. There are so many stuff in this hobby that seems to defy logic but somehow it works . Until you try it, these tweaks seems like snake oils to your logical mind. It's a crazy hobby. Enjoy

Peter Breuninger said:

When Lloyd Walker visited two weeks ago I thought I had gone insane. He hooked up a 9 inch wire (silver, mind you) to each (-) amp output, like "My Favorite Martian" doohickies poking up from the back of the amps. I felt so stupid when I heard a difference, and it was not subtle.

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What difference did you hear? Also, are you saying he went to [only] the negative output terminal of your amp...and attached a 9 inch silver wire alongside the existing speaker cable? And it just comes from the output terminal into 'midair'...like an antenna? so with a single, stereo amp...there would only be one silver wire?

Here ya go... I heard (hear) less noise and a larger and more relaxed soundstage.

Peter Breuninger said:

Here ya go... I heard (hear) less noise and a larger and more relaxed soundstage.

View attachment 5253

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Frantz, I crack up every time I look at these doohickies. I'm glad I'm not alone.

Peter Breuninger said:

Frantz, I crack up every time I look at these doohickies. I'm glad I'm not alone.

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Peter

I apologize to be so blunt but the description of your perception is completely inline with what I expected... Most of these tweaks always involved a widening of the soundstage and noise... It never fails...
If you like the presence of this contraption in your system and find the price you pay for such satisfying ... It's all good , no harm done. I would howeve say that I have seen people claiming differences when they only thought some tweaks were applied, when in reality there were none ... ..

As I said they will sell a few, maybe lot and then , everyone wil move to the next tweak du jour ... Caveat emptor

I smile when I read some one referring to a product such as the Stein Music Maestro Lacquer. How can a drop of lacquer change the sound in my CD's?

However some people will also smile when they read I am using expensive cables in my system. OK, some will almost cry, as they will feel sorry for me and humanity - thanks to them for their care! I would be the first one to follow them if I had not experienced its effect. All my science says - they will not affect sound. But the difference was large enough to change my perception of the matching between my speakers and amplifiers. Where should we place the border line?

So I am more prudent now. I try to disguise my smile in public when I heard about these "placebo" effects, unless I can try them before. Imagine one day someone will scientifically prove that this lacquer releases some aromatic compound that sniping at the velocity of the CD really changes the way the sound waves propagate and the aromatic molecules enhance your brain capability to process these changes. All these people who listened to the effect will be appropriately considered having golden ears! And I will be out of this group, just because my reaction was only smiling ...

BTW, if you can not imagine that day, do not bother to answer.

Peter Breuninger said:

Frantz, I crack up every time I look at these doohickies. I'm glad I'm not alone.

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Peter, your inbox is full & I can't PM you - can you email me please? Sorry for bustin' into this thread but I had no other way of contacting Peter except phone!

FrantzM said:

Peter

I apologize to be so blunt but the description of your perception is completely inline with what I expected... Most of these tweaks always involved a widening of the soundstage and noise... It never fails...
If you like the presence of this contraption in your system and find the price you pay for such satisfying ... It's all good , no harm done. I would howeve say that I have seen people claiming differences when they only thought some tweaks were applied, when in reality there were none ... ..

As I said they will sell a few, maybe lot and then , everyone wil move to the next tweak du jour ... Caveat emptor

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Walker Illuminators(name of silver antenas) I'v heard was on 300K plus system. In my systems - in main system effect is noticable but mild/medium and in my bedroom system effect is big. Strangly enough both of the systems are using same amps - VAC Statements - I belive this tweek deals with EMF backwave from speakers. If you want to talk about measurble effect - on the ground plug of my phono preamp this things dropped serious hum I was picking up from TT motor wire by 9-10db )))

Not subtile, scientificli measured with Radio Shack SPL meter ))))))))))))

microstrip said:

I smile when I read some one referring to a product such as the Stein Music Maestro Lacquer. How can a drop of lacquer change the sound in my CD's?

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Lacquer will significantly change resonance property of thin and light and non perfectly balanced pice of plastic, reducing C1 read errors and by doing that decreasing bouth jitter(C1 correction prodises tim shift) and elecrical noise of transports SPDIF transmiter

I use CD enhancer strips - little circles of soft plastic on the CDs and they are decreasing C1 ratio of Taio Yeden CDs(best I found for reburns) by 3-5% and drop Beta Jitter from 0.1 to 0.05 step of measurment is 0.05 so I cant tell true number). I measure using Plextor Pro Tools and Plextor Ultimate II drive

LCat said:

Walker Illuminators(name of silver antenas) I'v heard was on 300K plus system. In my systems - in main system effect is noticable but mild/medium and in my bedroom system effect is big. Strangly enough both of the systems are using same amps - VAC Statements - I belive this tweek deals with EMF backwave from speakers. If you want to talk about measurble effect - on the ground plug of my phono preamp this things dropped serious hum I was picking up from TT motor wire by 9-10db )))

Not subtile, scientificli measured with Radio Shack SPL meter ))))))))))))

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Did you use another material, copper wire for example and did get the same results? And my take on things is that it is not a matter of price if we are goiung by that metrics it should be more audible on a $500K system .. and for that price we would have though that many things should have been taken care of the least of them the electrical system ... if you find enjoyment in it and was able to measure it repeatably that is a plus, I wonder why the manufacturer/inventor is not forthcoming with measurements.
This will not stop the debate. The OP was about Stein and I repeat.. They will sell quite a few judging by the response here and elsewhere.. Machina Dynamica and Lossless, have sold quite a bit of similar things and I have heard some audiophiles have bought into the tweak in which someone calls your system to improve it and I am sure these people could swear by the results, some friends did swear by the Tice Clock in which he "programmed" the Electrons to flow in an orderly fashion , maybe simply by looking at the time ... The Audiophile landscape is littered with such things ( I hesitate to call them products) whose validity or efficaciousness seem to evaporate upon close inspection ... They come and go..

So at the end if you enjoy their presence in your systems by all means ...