Audiophile Madness -- 2004 Music Direct catalog

[Rspaight]

I buy stuff occasionally from Music Direct. They have a wide variety of stuff in stock, ship fast, and (most importantly) send me a catalog every year that provides hours of entertainment. Most of you probably get this as well, but I'd still like to share some of my favorite items from this year's catalog.

The cover features a woman wearing a huge turtleneck sweater, jeans and sandals. She appears to be on a camping trip, as a tent is set up behind her in the pleasant wooded area pictured. Since this is a Music Direct catalog, though, she has set up some fabulously expensive audio gear and is getting ready to play a copy of Kind Of Blue (one of the many pricey Classic iterations, one assumes) which she has apparently retrieved from a big Coleman cooler full of LPs. Trippy.

Anyway, on to the fun:

Cables! The choices offered include the Nordost Valhalla speaker cable (Rave review quote: "My whole body seemed sucked into the groove.", $6400 for a 2M pair) and interconnect ($3300/1M). However, the real fun is found in the "Digital Cable" section, where we learn that the $600 (1M) Creative Cable Silver Bullet coax digital cable will "make digital sound like analog" with "blacker backgrounds, better inner detail and an increase in overall dynamic range." Wow!

There are four pages of lovingly photographed "vibration control" devices. Your basic Black Diamond cones ($60/set of three) and pucks ($55 each) are available, but I'm sure the discriminating listeners will head straight for the Aurios Pro, designed to quell instability in gear weighing up to 1500 pounds. $600. Each.

Then we have the good ol' Shakti Stone, which you plunk on top on your components. It'll suck up that nasty EMI and dissipate it "as heat," giving you "more liquidity detail, and focus." Fortunately, it's "fully compatible with resonance tuning devices." Whew. $200 a pop.

Here's a handy gadget -- the Winds ALM-01 Electronic Stylus Pressure Gauge will digitally indicate tracking force to the nearest hundredth of a gram for $800. The budget minded can opt for the "Cartridge Man" gauge, only accurate to a measly two hundredths of a gram, for only $380. (There's also a "Cartridge Man" turntable level for the same $380.)

Of course, why not toss two CD Stoplight pens in the shopping cart for "an immediate improvement in clarity and definition" for only $30 for the pair?

The highlighted "budget tweak" for CD/DVD/SACD users is the Sound Improvement Disc ($50). "Music Direct customers cannot get enough of SID!" This is a green disc you put on top of the disc you want to play. "By increasing disc stability, and reducing laser refraction, the SID greatly reduces the amount of error correction necessary to convert the digital bit stream back into its original analog form. You will hear an immediate increase in musicality and see improvements in picture quality!"

The interestingly-named "Shine-ola" ($25/bottle) "removes heat-generated waste molecules left behind by the pressing process, thus preventing laser-wandering."

My all-time favorite gadget, the Bedini Clarifier, is back in a new "Quadri-Beam" version. These mystery rays bathe your CD/DVD/SACD in a glow that "reduces the noise floor allowing far more information to be retrieved from the disc. It also works great on DVDs, giving you a picture that is brighter, sharper and clearer." Only $230. For a real bargain, you can still get the old Dual-Beam version (which "performs with about 80 percent of the effectiveness of the new Quadri-Beam unit") for $100.

If you're serious about tweaking your CDs, though, you gotta get the "Audio Desk Systeme" (sic). This appears to be a grinding and cutting system that will "true" the shape of the CD "to reduce mechanical jitter" and grind a 38 degree angle into the disc edge "to reduce laser scatter," and finally treat the edge with a black marker for that final touch. (It doesn't say if you can swap in a green pen.) The "hardened cutting blade" is good for 2000 CD trimmings. "Pronounced improvements in focus, transient attack, detail and transparency" are promised for $550.

There's still time for Christmas shopping!

Ryan

[Rob P]

You're right, that catalog is a blast and a joy to behold. I got it the other day, and the first thing I did after seeing it in the mail was to thumb through it for two hours.

I also enjoyed the picture from last year, with the cute suave woman on the airplane cueing up the Rega P25. Why aren't there more of these women in this wonderful hobby?

Hey, I used to have a trifecta of Black Diamond racing cones. I didn't enjoy the "carbon fiber" aspect to the sound, so now I have DH ceramic cones underneath my turntable. I like those more --there must be something to at least a few of these tweaks, I mutter to myself. I mean, vibration control is good, right? Hell, who knows.

My favorite in your rogues gallery is the Audio Desk Systeme. Freaking brilliant! Those lousy CD manufacturers can't be trusted to cut a CD at the proper angle.

Everyone needs to take a gander at the turntable section. Those $25,000 and up turntables are art! People gasp when I talk about my $750 Rega P3. Get a clue, infidels. Why buy a house when you can play hi-fi records?

I think the books I plopped on my amp work just fine, thank you. I won't be exploring the magic of the Shakti Stone. I sure would love to see one in action, though, maybe I'll stage a rock shootout. My brother's pet rock from the 1970's might give it a run for its money.

Don't forget to pick up some aftermarket power cords, as the difference can be audible in many systems. Why not try out the Shunyata Anaconda VX? At $1995.00, it's a bargain for what it achieves, and like the ad states, "Your ears will thank you!!!!"

I like the budget tweaks section. You can buy a set of 8 Cable Elevators for the ridiculously low price of $159.99. They elevate your cables off the floor, imparting a dramatic effect on your audio system.

Everyone, let's buy those Cardas Audio Golden Cuboids, because they are made from the rarest of all woods, the legendary Myrtle Tree. They do wonders for resonance control. Next, we'll attach the elephant ivory "on-lines" to the interconnects, and place the tiger paws on the tops of our speakers, for the ultimate in fidelity. Don't forget to add blue whale blubber to your sand and lead-filled speaker stands, for pupil-dilating clarity.

I am so geeked about the stuff they have in their catalog. I should go on their website and order one of everything. I wonder what my total price will come to at checkout.

[Mike Hunte]

May I also suggest the Mapleshade Records catalog. Lotsa lotions and tonics that one can smear all over their CD's too, if one wishes.

http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/tweaks/index.php

I hear that Mr. Lukpac is a big fan of the CD lotions...

[lukpac]

Ohh, lotion.

What, no mention of the $50 120V duplex receptacles that get a firm grip on your plugs?

I think I need to get into the audiophile gimmick business.

[britre]

I have to admit, I also love this catalog. So many cool "LP" related items to work 24-7 to afford!

On a more serious note though, the LP selection in the catalog is shall we say "intense" with the "if we don't have it, no one does" impression! I in the past, induldged in a few purchases, and actuall knew the man who invented the "phaser" which he claimed cleared phasial inomalties from your music. Alas, he is out of busines, but good show!

my turntable isolation, Raquet Balls cut in half, total cost-- $5. My Speaker isolation, heavy duty rubber furniture feet, total cost, $10 for 8 of em. My speaker wire is Generic 12 guage Monster cable for $20 a 50 foot roll. my Spiked feet, A box of heavy Hardware nails, $5 for 100 of em, How does my stereo sound? No complaints from anyone in my audiophile circle....Comments?

[Rspaight]

What, no mention of the $50 120V duplex receptacles that get a firm grip on your plugs?

You're right, I skipped over the whole power tweaks section, with all that prong-gripping action.

Though there are some impressive-looking expensive boxes to scrub your icky power clean, my favorites in there are the wall warts you're supposed to plug into all the unused outlets in your house to suck up nasty electrical gremlins. Each one includes an LED so you know it's working!

Of course, all good audiophiles know the only *real* solution to that yucky municipal power is to run your system off a bank of 87 DieHard batteries.

Ryan

[J_Partyka]

May I also suggest the Mapleshade Records catalog. Lotsa lotions and tonics that one can smear all over their CD's too, if one wishes.

I once sat in a guy's living room and watched him smear Mapleshade's "Mikro-Smooth" CD treatment all over his brand-new Beggars Banquet SACD, after which he claimed he could hear all kinds of improvements. "Sympathy for the Devil" sounded the same to me before and after, but ... hey, he seemed pleased.

[Rob P]

May I also suggest the Mapleshade Records catalog. Lotsa lotions and tonics that one can smear all over their CD's too, if one wishes.

http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/tweaks/index.php

I hear that Mr. Lukpac is a big fan of the CD lotions...

The great thing about Mapleshade products is that they "slay" other products costing 10 times as much. Cool, it's like Dungeons and Dragons. I do need to come clean.....I owned the cheapest Mapleshade speaker cables at one time. They were okay, but I bought a spool of Monster Cable, crimped them myself, and Monster sounded better. I'm sure it must be my setup...not hi-fi enough.

Britre, what was the name of the company that sold the phasing devices in Music Direct? The description in the catalog was classic MD. Ms. Cleo would have approved.

[britre]

Britre, what was the name of the company that sold the phasing devices in Music Direct? The description in the catalog was classic MD. Ms. Cleo would have approved.

Tritium Electronics, he is a local weirdo here in West Allis Wisconsin, once you meet Mike, you never forget him http://www.triphazer.com/

[Rob P]

I just bopped on over to the triphazer website. It's a fascinating read. I'm not going to deny what other people claim to hear, although this would be a prime candidate for some oh-so-naughty double blind testing (DBT, DBX, et al). There were very few testimonials on the website; I wanted to read reviews praising it to the high heavens, but I was disappointed.

[lukpac]

Just looking through the catalog and found this:

Cable Break-In

We here at Music Direct know how exciting it is to upgrade the cabling in your system, but we also know the heartbreak of break-in. You buy a new cable and have to put a couple hundred hours on it before you can even tell what it's supposed to sound like. Unfortunately, break-in is a reality with every quality cable, speaker wire and power cord. Dielectric materials and exotic conductors simply take a long time to settle in and reach peak performance. However, if you are willing to wait an extra 48 hours prior to shipping, Music Direct will cook your new cables for FREE! We use the Audio Dharma Cable Cooker which sends wideband electrical pulses through the cables, reducing break-in time and letting you get on with listening to your music. Longer break-in times available upon request, none longer than 100 hours.

All this coming from the same place that hypes up the Rhino Chicago CDs and Let It Be Naked.

[Rspaight]

All this coming from the same place that hypes up the Rhino Chicago CDs and Let It Be Naked.

Well, if you were using the right tweaks, those releases would sound great for you, too.

Sandpaper and sharpies ahoy!

Ryan

[lukpac]

This was good too:

The Beatles on Japanese Vinyl!

We have been flooded with orders for the new series of Beatles LP's coming in from Japan. Although we will have heard the entire series by the time you read this, we are still waiting for them to arrive as this goes to print. Although we have not had the opportunity to hear them, we can guess that they will exhibit the same quality we all value in a Japanese issue: super-flat pressings with ultra-quiet surfaces. The pressing quality is the exact same reason Japanese import LP's are so highly sought-after. [...]

Hasn't it been determined that these are taken from the same digital masters as the CDs?

[Rspaight]

Yes, but they're super-flat *and* ultra-quiet.

Ryan

[Xenu]

Where does that oscilloscope quote come from?

Personally, I've never trusted oscilloscopes to hear a WIDENED SOUNDSTAGE, or CRISPER, LIFE-LIKE HIGH-END...they're just machines, so they can't tell that it SOUNDS LIKE A BLANKET HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM YOUR SPEAKERS, with a PUNCHIER MIDRANGE, etc.