mapleshade = snake oil?

[johndoe]

Is anybody familiar with mapleshade products or cds? I just got a catalog last week and it looks like snake oil to me. but I don't know anything :D

[philh]

Is anybody familiar with mapleshade products or cds? I just got a catalog last week and it looks like snake oil to me. but I don't know anything :D
LOL

If it smells like snake oil...

[WmAx]

Is anybody familiar with mapleshade products or cds? I just got a catalog last week and it looks like snake oil to me. but I don't know anything :D

Yes, a snake oil vendor of the highest caliber. :)

However, it's one of the oddest examples of snake oil/audio voodoo, if you do a check into the past of the owner of Mapleshade.....

Their CDs are usually of extreme high quality, so far as realism of tonality, soundstage, etc.. However, their CDs will have a slightly audible tape hiss because they are recorded using analog 1/2" tape without noise reduction. I will highly recommend their CDs, but I will not recommend anything else that they offer.

-Chris

[greenhill]

.....However, their CDs will have a slightly audible tape hiss because they are recorded using analog 1/2" tape without noise reduction.....
-Chris

I second the hiss........ I bought the Rives Audio Test CD2, which, along with all the test tones are several snipetts of various mapleshade recordings, ALL of which I noticed have a very slight hiss... I found this to be annoying.
greenhill.

[johndoe]

I will highly recommend their CDs, but I will not recommend anything else that they offer.

-Chris

you mean that a $250 4" thick air dried, amish supplied, Maryland maple block will NOT make an accoustimass cube sound like an actual speaker??:D
They also claim that they tweak their mp3s. I wonder how you do that...

[MDS]

Can anyone provide a link to these MapleShade products? I love to read sites that make outlandish claims for their 'tweaks'.

[WmAx]

Can anyone provide a link to these MapleShade products? I love to read sites that make outlandish claims for their 'tweaks'.

www.mapleshaderecords.com

If you want a real laugh, check out their power wires and power strips....

-Chris

[WmAx]

y
They also claim that they tweak their mp3s. I wonder how you do that...

Well, you can use a command line MP3 encoder like Lame, and proceed to ignore the established presets(which are developed using extensive double-blind listening trials) and make up their own special switch settings, pretending that they are actually improving something.

-Chris

[Dan]

I have to agree with one caveat. The CDs sound great and I don't mind the minimal hiss. You've not heard cymbals till you hear cymbals at Mapleshade. The products seem to be pure snake oil. I do think that the speaker stand low to the floor and tilts a small speaker up may be a good idea and improve bass response some just like moving a speaker closer to the wall. But not at THAT price.

[mtrycrafts]

Is anybody familiar with mapleshade products or cds? I just got a catalog last week and it looks like snake oil to me. but I don't know anything :D


The CD is fine with the warning of noise.
Other products
http://www.solargeneral.com/humor/bsmeter.gif

[Sheep]

Some one NEEDS to shut that operation down, seriously.

SheepStar

[jaxvon]

I have to agree with WmAx. Their recordings are great. They use a minimalistic approach with no processing. Their other offerings...well....it's already been said.

[Buckeyefan 1]

A quote from the the Mapleshade site:

Why maple? I used to mount my studio recording and playback gear on cones on massive lead or granite platforms. Naturally, I assumed mass dominates. Was I wrong! My first ear opener was testing 15 lbs. of poplar against 125 lbs. of granite. The musicality of the wood blew away the granite: warmer, punchier, far more detail, deeper bass. Clearly, choice of materials dominates—so I tested dozens. Marble and glass were thin and bright; carbon fiber, polymer composites, damped metal laminates, acrylic and Corian were too dead. None matched wood’s natural full tone and sparkling dynamics. Next experiment: solid wood easily bested butcher block and plywood; MDF was the worst wood. Different woods sounded surprisingly different. I listened to carefully matched platforms of walnut, oak, maple, cherry, birch, spruce, fir, hickory, mahogany, etc. Maple was head and shoulders the best.

It's a little frightening he states "MDF was the worst wood." To think of how many speakers and subs use MDF. Now we need some DBT's on wood products. :rolleyes: Does anyone have any info on this? The guy has a point with wood IF it relates to musical instruments - imagine how the Stradivarius violin would have sounded, being made of medium density fiberboard. :p

Reduced solar activity in the 17th Century may be the reason for the perfect sound of Stradivarius violins.
Scientists from Columbia and Tennessee universities in the US say the Sun's declining output at that time resulted in colder winters and cooler summers.

This produced slower tree growth which in turn led to denser wood with superior acoustical properties - circumstances not repeated since.

John Montgomery, secretary of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers who is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, said of all the so-called secrets of violin production, "the most important element is wood selection." Wood inhibits or favors vibrations depending on its characteristics, said Montgomery, and the wood chosen by early, great instrument makers was excellent.

[Dan]

Some one NEEDS to shut that operation down, seriously.

SheepStar

There is quite a bit more to it than just snake oil. Pierre Sprey has an excellent room for recording in, he treats the musicians well and splits the profits down the middle. He puts them up at his home if they need it and does not charge by the hour for recording time. This is why he gets such excellent performances down on tape. He sells the CDs cheap $36.00 for four. He records people who don't have record label contracts who are generally very talented.

If he wants to make a profit selling snake oil to the unwary to cover the musical end, it won't hurt me. Besides the guy who designed the A10 Warthog and the F16 can't be all that bad.

[WmAx]

Besides the guy who designed the A10 Warthog and the F16 can't be all that bad.

Yeah, that's the part I alluded to earlier....

Did this (ex?) 1st rate engineer suffer a severe mental breakdown sometime between the point where he designed his last legendary military weapon and started Mapleshade Records?

-Chris

[edwelly]

So I went to this site and was checking on their 'Free Tips' and found this VERY (not) useful tip...
1. Nearly everybody sits too high
BUT then it says
2. Almost all small speakers are on stands that are way too high
Well, which is it????

[Buckeyefan 1]

So I went to this site and was checking on their 'Free Tips' and found this VERY (not) useful tip...
1. Nearly everybody sits too high
BUT then it says
2. Almost all small speakers are on stands that are way too high
Well, which is it????

I like this one.

• Lift all speaker, power and interconnect wires 8" off any non-wool carpet or plastic tile. Use string, wood, cardboard or 20 ounce Styrofoam cups for temporary props. You'll think you've pulled horse blankets off your speakers. For a more civilized-looking solution, see here.

I only had 12oz. styrofoam cups, so I didn't get the full benefit.

[edwelly]

So it was more off a "miniture-horse" blanket improvement, huh???

[MDS]

I've been using the plastic cups all these years...no wonder it doesn't sound as good as it should. ;)

[edwelly]

I tried using some glass cups I had but I found it made the sound too transparent...

[mtrycrafts]

I tried using some glass cups I had but I found it made the sound too transparent...


You must have used the good glass, crystal. Hope the better half didn't know;) what you were doing. LOL :D

[Sheep]

I, instead of putting cups under my wires, strung them from the roof. This way, I can wrap the wire around my neck and kill myself for being so stupid.

SheepStar

[MDS]

I, instead of putting cups under my wires, strung them from the roof. This way, I can wrap the wire around my neck and kill myself for being so stupid.

SheepStar

Funny, but morbid. :)

[hankdog]

I agree like an idiot ibought their silclear treatment and tied it on my subs interconnects well the say not to get it on the plastic at the bottom of the rca's center pin so i was very careful and brushed on a very thin layer. well i waited a minute or so and turned every thing on and lo and behold the subs weren't working, i quickly unpluged the rca's and cleaned the stuff off with caig deoxit which by the way seems to work pretty good, mapleshade says to use kerosene or GAS what are they nuts am going to send this stuff back as they say it has a 30 day money back guarentee but the catalog has some fre audio tweaks, and they say to use wood buttons under small bookshelf speakers i tried it, it works prety good also i've been emailing them for two weeks to ask a question and they don't reply back won't but from them again

[markw]

You must have used the good glass, crystal. Hope the better half didn't know;) what you were doing. LOL :DBa da boom! :D

[rdar]

The Mapleshade catalog is a hoot. Their standard pitch for hardware goes something like, "We tested our product against [long list of prestigious names] and it smoked them all." No further details about test design, who the judges were, the criteria, etc.

Although their crass marketing turns me off, I have to say in honesty that their Mikro-Smooth CD treatment works as advertised. To my ears, the sound is "cleaner" after applying the stuff and rubbing as directed. Their explanation, that a smoother CD playing-side surface reduces tracking errors, seems reasonable.

I do wish they'd knock off the more outlandish claims, however. Anyone who gets an expensive lesson in hype is likely to shy away from other companies' tweaks or expensive equipment that are worth the price.

[Rip Van Woofer]

Cones and discs of sugar maple have been shown to give a "sweeter" sound, of course.

[Credit to Don Morrison ( http://www.morrisonaudio.com/ ) for that quip. Reportedly, he made it in jest during an audio club meeting in Toronto years back and many there took it seriously.

BTW His ELAD preamp is a very clean and well designed "minimalist" analog stereo unit and his Stu Hegeman-derived speakers are said to be quite fine. I hope to hear them someday.]

[Hi Ho]

Although their crass marketing turns me off, I have to say in honesty that their Mikro-Smooth CD treatment works as advertised. To my ears, the sound is "cleaner" after applying the stuff and rubbing as directed. Their explanation, that a smoother CD playing-side surface reduces tracking errors, seems reasonable.

I do wish they'd knock off the more outlandish claims, however. Anyone who gets an expensive lesson in hype is likely to shy away from other companies' tweaks or expensive equipment that are worth the price.

That claim is just as outlandish as the others. If there were tracking errors you would have droppouts/skipping. If you are hearing a steady stream of sound, you are hearing all that the D/A converters in your CD player or receiver can produce.

[jcPanny]

The ones with the thin wire and clear plastic around them, you do need to position your cables with cups and string to get them away from any source of EMI.

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

[mtrycrafts]

Although their crass marketing turns me off, I have to say in honesty that their Mikro-Smooth CD treatment works as advertised. To my ears, the sound is "cleaner" after applying the stuff and rubbing as directed. Their explanation, that a smoother CD playing-side surface reduces tracking errors, seems reasonable..


The power of the placebos:D
It would be most interesting to compare the digital data stream before and after treatment or an error checking. I bet, safely, no difference.:D

To the laser the surface is really nothing as the beam is very wide there compared to the focused spot on the actual pits and lands.

Send it back, or don't buy any more of that snake oil product:D

[heiney]

Interesting thread - I have 1000+CDs in the collection and most of my references discs are Mapleshade. His CDs are very well done and if you listen on line you can choose wisely. I also have had a Morrison ELAD for almost 4 years and it does everything Don claims for it. A truly great piece of equipment.

[mtrycrafts]

Interesting thread - I have 1000+CDs in the collection and most of my references discs are Mapleshade. His CDs are very well done and if you listen on line you can choose wisely. I also have had a Morrison ELAD for almost 4 years and it does everything Don claims for it. A truly great piece of equipment.


The Audio Critic reviewed a preamp ELAD, not sure they have any other components:D The specs are superb and for that price it must be a steal for some.

[krabapple]

Mapleshade catalog + Musicdirect catalog = hours of audiophool fun!

I have had people insist to me that the musicdirect catalog must be a parody.