The Shun Mook Affair Jonathan Scull Again!

Shun Mook Spatial Control Quartet
Stereophile Vol.17 No.12, December 1994
Jonathan Scull

Set of four stands and 36 Mpingo Discs. Price: $2200. Approximate number of dealers: 12. Manufacturer: Shun Mook Audio, 618 Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610. Tel: (510) 581-6372. Fax (510) 839-0080.

You remember Dustin Hoffman and "Larry" Olivier in The Marathon Man: "Is it safe?" Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water. Just when the Shun Mook bashing on Internet had slowed down to but a mere bubbling caldron of skepticism. Just when a particular towheaded colleague finally stopped telling me that I hear a difference because I believe I hear a difference. Just at that moment of Idyllic Audio Calm, our doorbell rings and...

Mad Monks from Shun Mook Planet visit, speaking in tongues---this time during the evening hours. No bagels! They brought a surprise along with their smiles and peripatetic demeanors: the Shun Mook Spatial Control Quartet. You'll hear this enhancement of the existing Spatial Control Kit demonstrated at Winter CES, so be prepared. The Monks are sure to engender even greater controversy than last year; this time they'll be using mainstream electronics and speakers to demonstrate their devices. Amaze your friends!

Shun Mook Planet Quartet, Op.1
The Shun Mook Spatial Control Quartet includes four sturdy vertical wooden stands which support smaller 1/2"-radius rods, for a combined height of about 5'. Near the top of the rod sits a shelf upon which is placed a standard Spatial Control Kit three-Mpingo Disc bracket, with another brace of three placed on the base of the stand. You site a stand on either side of the speakers about a foot out and even with the front baffle, with the Mpingos facing each other across the room; place a second pair a quarter of the distance from the rear wall in the same orientation. For those of you with speakers close to the back wall, the rear stands may be placed in the corners.

The stands are elegant and easy on the eye, and will surely raise the eyebrows (if not the blood pressure) of any visitor to your audio Sanctum sanctorum. The rest of the Spatial Control Quartet consists of an additional six Mpingos for the "control area" on top of the speakers. Three per speaker, logo down, those on the left speaker pointing to 7 o'clock, right speaker to 5 o'clock. A final two Mpingos are affixed with double-sided tape to the center of the rear wall---one up against the baseboard and one mounted farther up, at the same height as the Mpingos on the stands. Placement of this last Disc is critical---small movements up and down are required to lock in the sound.

COMMENTS
jvjessen's picture

Edit: Stuff like this really should require a blind test with multiple staff to give a more credible review.

ishis's picture

It's fun reading these old letters written by foaming-at-the-mouth Nay-Sayers, 26 years later. Other manufacturers of accessories (vibration control, room-tuning discs, etc) that have been proven to work in the years that followed, have gained the respect of Audio Lovers everywhere. People have to be open-minded about new ideas and discoveries of things we were not aware-of before. If you 'dump' on things you do not understand, you just sound stupid later!

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