Projectman
Member
MidFi guys with limited funds are shut out again! Sounds like something I can only hope to try some day Mike. Thanks for your thoughts and honest feedback.
Holger Stein visits Suncoast Audio
- Thread starter Mike
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- #42
Kingrex
Active member
How do these compare to Synergistic Research. All sorts of offers there. I almost bought the bells that go around the room. In the end, I was told to focus on setting my speakers are properly. I bought Jim Smith DVD I went that route. That was an excellent investment as it taught me much more about understanding what's going on in my room and how to work with it.
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- #44
Randy Myers
Well-known member
I'm curious how the interest in the Stein's has been? Anyone add these to your system (other than Mr. Mike)? What has your experience been? I am interested in the basic model to start. Anyone tried these?
Thanks for responses.
Thanks for responses.
Gene
Member
I have them installed and am using them to great effect. I purchased the package which included two harmonizers w/stands and five black stones which you place around the room to help with the effect. I was impressed enough to get two more. Later I added some of the blue suns, which seem to intensify the effect even more. Not sure how they do it but they seem to expand the boundaries of my room. The speakers simply disappear and your presented with a very realistic, holographic impression of the recorded space. You have to use the intensity controls with care and don't turn them up to far. Too much of a good thing can be bad. With a bit of experimentation you can find the right adjustment for you room and listening preferences.
I remember the first time i put them in I could swear someone,somehow broke in to my home overnight and installed surround speakers! The music simply wraps around you. It's quite startling when you play the right recording. I'm sure somewhere there is a scientific, rational explanation as to what's going on. I just know that i could not do without them.
I remember the first time i put them in I could swear someone,somehow broke in to my home overnight and installed surround speakers! The music simply wraps around you. It's quite startling when you play the right recording. I'm sure somewhere there is a scientific, rational explanation as to what's going on. I just know that i could not do without them.
Kingrex
Active member
Do you loose image placement. Big and around you can also be interpreted as no placement of musicians. Do you get that affect???
Gene
Member
No... Image placement,sound staging and localization of instruments is enhanced and somehow made more audibly realistic.
Its pretty impressive,with the right material.
Its pretty impressive,with the right material.
- Thread Author
- #49
Gene - where are you located? This is great to read. I’m sure many thought I was losing my marbles. The affect the Stein products had on our rooms was nothing short of amazing. After he installed them and we listened for an hour or two, I wrote the check and they weren’t going anywhere.
Gene
Member
Hey Mike, I must have forgot to fill that part of my profile in. I'm way up north from you in Kentucky. Wish you were closer, I 'd have my go-to dealer!
I suspect there are other Harmonizer users that are shy to speak up because they might be accused of having lost their minds too!
I shake my head in amazement sometimes trying to grasp whats going on and like you will not part with them.
I suspect there are other Harmonizer users that are shy to speak up because they might be accused of having lost their minds too!
I shake my head in amazement sometimes trying to grasp whats going on and like you will not part with them.
- Thread Author
- #51
Yes indeed! They are amazing. I know there are lots of disbelievers out there (I would have been one of them). But when you hear the before and after, it’s game over.
mep
Well-known member
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So here are my questions to you Mike: With your stereo system turned off or on mute, can you hear any sound(s) coming from the active devices? Are there any disturbances to the air that you can hear in your room with no sound playing but the active devices are on?
mep
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Interesting. Does every recording played with those do dads in the room take on a sonic similarity? In other words, after you get over the "gee whiz" period, does the sound become predictable with the active devices in the system?
mep
Well-known member
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If you are manipulating the air pressure in the room which affects the sound waves coming from your speakers, how can it not affect tone? If you can change the height and position of a singer in your room, how can that not affect tone? The bottom line is your room boundaries are still there and they are still having the largest impact on your sound second only to the speakers themselves. What these active devices are doing can't be benign otherwise you wouldn't hear any effects from them.
Kingrex
Active member
I'm sort of with MEP but a little divergent on this. I don't know that I believe the tone will change by using this device. But I fully agree when the stereo is off the device is still working. That means any conversation, TV, or anything else going on in the room is going to be acted upon by the device and alter the way it is heard. If it's giving the illusion of the music playing in a different room, it seems to me everything else would be recreated as in a different room.
Jim Smith
Member
I've had mine for 7-8 years. Four Harmonizers, stands, plus black stones plus blue diamonds.
Over the past dozen years or so, I evaluate any component purchase solely as to how high - if at all - musical engagement is enhanced.
The Steins were an unqualified success in that area.
Over the past dozen years or so, I evaluate any component purchase solely as to how high - if at all - musical engagement is enhanced.
The Steins were an unqualified success in that area.
Randy Myers
Well-known member
I am guessing (since I have never heard these), but from what I understand from several reviews, including Mike's, these do not change or affect the tonality of the music but make the air and atmosphere in the room easier for sound waves to to travel trough. Therefore they open up the music by allowing it to travel through the room unhindered, or so it seems from what many people are saying.
I am very interested in trying them, however I do have one question from those who own the Steins. I am a tad concerned that with my listening room in a loft with both side walls open (half walls opening to approximately 30' high ceilings below) and how this might affect the Harmonizers. Any thoughts about if these open walls will neutralize the Steins, rendering them ineffective?
I am very interested in trying them, however I do have one question from those who own the Steins. I am a tad concerned that with my listening room in a loft with both side walls open (half walls opening to approximately 30' high ceilings below) and how this might affect the Harmonizers. Any thoughts about if these open walls will neutralize the Steins, rendering them ineffective?
Jim Smith
Member
For me, placement has been the key in several rooms, (maybe 10’ away in front, outside and a bit back from the mains, maybe 5’ in the rear - spread a bit wide as my seat is about 4' from the rear wall. You do have a level control. In mine, since they are relatively close, IIRC, the front level control is somewhere above 10:30 or so, and the rear is a bit below 10.
I wouldn't think you'd have a problem, but Mike may have a much better answer to your specific question.