Analog source: Linn Axis turntable with Linn Basik Plus tonearm, Benz Micro Glider phono cartridge.
Digital source: Arcam Audio FMJ CD 23 CD player.
Preamplifier: Anthem PRE 1L line preamplifier.
Power amplifier: Simaudio Celeste 4070se.
Loudspeakers: Thiel CS.5.
Cables: Interconnects: Synergistic Research Alpha and Looking Glass, TARA Labs RSC Gen.II. Speaker: Cardas Crosslink 1.
Accessories: Audio Power Industries Power Wedges 116 and 110, Power Enhancer and Power Link power cords; Checkpoint Systems P-770 Laser Speaker alignment tool;…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: In My Room
We've moved, and as bringing the old room with us was ruled too difficult and costly, I've had no choice but to break in a new one. My old listening room was our former house's living/dining room (the audio-lab portion was confined to the living room; the dining area provided a large open space behind). This large rectangle offered a mostly symmetrical setup, except for an opening on the left wall into the entry hallway, and a fireplace on the right wall (at about the first-reflection point for the right speaker). The room was carpeted, had an 8' ceiling, and…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
The slim Monitor Audio Silver 9i tower was 5.5dB more sensitive than my reference Rogers LS3/5A, at 88dB(B)/2.83V/m—below specification but still higher than average—while its plot of impedance magnitude and electrical phase angle against frequency (fig.1) revealed it to be a pretty easy load for the partnering amplifier to drive. It drops below 6 ohms only in the high treble, where there is rarely any high-level energy. Although the phase angle is quite heavily capacitive in part of the mid-treble region, the magnitude is generally above 6 ohms, mitigating the…
The upper woofer's fairly wide diameter gives rise to a slight amount of beaming at the top of its passband (fig.5), but the wider dispersion of the tweeter between 10 and 20kHz will compensate, at least in smaller rooms, for the lack of on-axis energy in this region. Otherwise, the lateral dispersion is fairly even. In the vertical plane (fig.6), deep suckouts appear in the crossover region between the tweeter and upper woofer at more than 5 degrees below and 10 degrees above the tweeter axis—it's important not to sit too low when you listen to this tower. The top of the cabinet is 36" high…
Editor's note: When Jonathan Scull reviewed the Shun Mook devices back in 1994, he unleashed a hailstorm of controversy that continues to this day. Below is his original report along with some of the follow-up articles and fallout.
Shun Mook resonance-control devices
Jonathan Scull
Prices: Mpingo Discs, $50 each. Spatial Control Kit, $450. Super Passive Diamond Resonator, $400. Record Weight, $895. Approximate number of dealers: 5. Manufacturer: Shun Mook Audio, 618 Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610. Tel: (510) 893-8403. Fax: (510) 893-3818.
Bong...bong...bong... A Taoist…
The two product groups are concerned with entirely different aspects of the audio signal, of course: The Original Cable Jackets effect electrical transmission (raw juice or signal), while the Shun Mook devices deal with resonances. The Jackets drain RFI and mechanically damp vibrations in the conductor. They do this well not only in RF-rich New York City, Andy Chow hastened to point out, but in all developed countries which are chockablock with TVs, radios, alarm systems, and other electrical pollutants. They're so effective that I couldn't consider my system complete without a full…
Kai insisted on opening the Avalons up completely with no toe-in, and told me to stop worrying and keep my cool---I'd still get that center focus I crave (and which I'd always foregone with the rad toe-in) while achieving a much bigger soundstage. I told the Mad Monks that I was surprised at first when Kai said we'd be using the Spatial Control Kit and other strategically placed Mpingos to change the system's tonal balance and soundstage characteristics. But what an attractive idea: no more calling on Hernias 'R Us to move these monster speakers. As they listened to my tale, the Monks smiled…
Their Monknesses also added the optional Quarter Disc Kit (a bracket with only one Mpingo Disc attached) about a quarter of the way out from the back wall to the speakers. "For really gigantic systems!" Dr. Tan informed me. I blushed, because that's what I do.
How do you tune these things? As Andrew Chow is a master tool and die maker, I wasn't surprised when he asked me for a hammer and a sharp nail. He then took each Mpingo Disc in the system (save those in the SCK brackets) and marked them for directionality. According to the brochure, the orientation of the inscription is in line with…
Super Passive Diamond Resonators
A fully tricked-out Shun Mook installation would include a few sets of the $400 Super Passive Diamond Resonators. These unique, beautiful counterfeet (sold in sets of three), fashioned from African Ebony, measure roughly 2 1/2" in diameter, stand almost 2" tall, and include an embedded, diamond-tipped steel shaft which protrudes about 1/4" from the bottom. The Resonators also are directional; the hammer-and-nail trick works just as well for marking them as it does for the Mpingos. They're usually placed in a triangle under front-end electronics, with two…
A fully tricked-out Shun Mook installation would include a few sets of the $400 Super Passive Diamond Resonators. These unique, beautiful counterfeet (sold in sets of three), fashioned from African Ebony, measure roughly 2 1/2" in diameter, stand almost 2" tall, and include an embedded, diamond-tipped steel shaft which protrudes about 1/4" from the bottom. The Resonators also are directional; the hammer-and-nail trick works just as well for marking them as it does for the Mpingos. They're usually placed in a triangle under front-end electronics, with two…
Conclusion
After spending the day with these Not-So-Very-Mad Monks, I thought them very sincere and their motives pure. They're into all this for the fun of it---for the rush of beauty that great music and sound can communicate. At the end of the day I played a Columbia Two-Eyed Glenn Gould for Andy Chow and he was, like, gone, man---totally lost in the music: eyes shut with a beatific expression on his face as he followed the musical line. You can't fake true bliss.
After spending the day with these Not-So-Very-Mad Monks, I thought them very sincere and their motives pure. They're into all this for the fun of it---for the rush of beauty that great music and sound can communicate. At the end of the day I played a Columbia Two-Eyed Glenn Gould for Andy Chow and he was, like, gone, man---totally lost in the music: eyes shut with a beatific expression on his face as he followed the musical line. You can't fake true bliss.
With a number of the synergistic Cable Jackets, careful attention paid to grounding, the Mpingo Discs on the front end…