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Hi Everybody,I finally took the plunge and ordered a beautiful set of almond finished Mye stands for my 1.6s. To put it mildly I am very happy with what the stands are doing for me. I had expected most of the difference to be in the bass, but am amazed at the additional clarity I am experiencing in the mids and especially the highs. Wow! My wife noticed the differences as well. Instruments appear more separated in space, are easier to identify (that is, they are better resolved), and definitely clearer sounding. Now I am not nearly as sensitive to soundstage depth as some, but it seems to me that soundstage depth has increased as well. Drums seem to be farther behind the lead singer, for example. The other thing that really got me, though, is that for almost every record I own, although most instruments and voices seemed previously to be physically separated from the speaker locations, they never all did. In every case, something always appeared to be coming directly from the speakers. So far I have only noticed this on two records, but the Maggies have finally performed the disappearing act. To be honest, I never thought I could achieve this in my weirdly shaped room (and, without any room treatments, even the much touted fake ficus trees). BTW, this was achieved using standard issue, mass produced rock LPs, not some specially created audiophile releases. Specifically, the two records were Cat Steven's Greatest Hits (clearly not even a first pressing since it’s a composite of previously released songs) and Steely Dan's The Royal Scam. Amazing.
As for the bass response, I did have to get used to the differences. Initially there seemed to me to be a decrease in the bass (and this was unexpected). After a little critical listening I concluded that what I was hearing was simply a reduction in sound emanating from the panel's frame. I could be mistaken about this of course, but it seems possible. I did notice after a close inspection that the frames were no longer vibrating, but the struts were. After a couple of days I loaded the struts with sand (I used Reptisand from a pet store because it's supplied both clean and dry), and noticed a little more clarity in the bass. Prior to using the Mye stands, I thought my my bass response was both tuneful and well defined. It was, of course but now it is even more so and really, really sounds nice. On kinda slow paced, mostly acoustic stuff, the clarity and definition in the bass is amazing. An example here is the Richard Thompson LP The Old Kit Bag. This one is a heavy vinyl "audiophile" release and believe me, it sounds it. To me, Richard's singing style is a little unusual, but it has really grown on me. I now consider this album to be a showpiece for my system. It just blows me away.
Well, those are my initial thoughts. Another happy customer!
Follow Ups:
You can achieve further improvements by using the spikes and by filling the struts with beach sand.
and I also filled the struts with sand. The spikes were a nice addition because I had to open up the holes in the stock Maggie stands in order for my left panel to sit up vertical. I guess my floor isn't flat in that location. Anyway, that exercise was a real PITA but a breeze with the Mye stands.Despite the responses of the folks below, Reptisand is a good choice simply because it is supplied both clean and dry. What the F am I going to do with 43lbs of leftover sand, anyway?
I have heard that sandbox sand sounds better.
That is true of most beach sand. However, I have also heard that French Riviera beach sand makes the sandbox sand sound like a tin pot. Go figure.
I remember reading an article by Horrny Persson in "The Absolute Sand" that the black sand from Hawaii's Kona Coast has the best detail by far, but at the cost of a slightly forward presentation... especially if it is seasoned with coconut tanning oil.
I've herd that Kona Sand is kickin but didn't know about the coconut oil. Does it have to be the tanning type or will any coconut oil work?
My recollection from Horrny's article was it was tanning oil... and it had to be applied properly in order to really benefit. Essentially you had to oil up a bronzed, bikini clad young woman, roll her on a black sand beach, and then brush the oiled sand from her body into an airtight container for transit back to your stands.Or you could just plant your maggies in the sand (being careful to keep the surfers away), fire up the generator and the blender, put on some tunes and enjoy a beveridge with the bikini clad young woman. Now that's tweakdom!
Thx guys.
ONE of my MyeStands came today; they got separated in shipping. Soon as I uncrate and build 'em, I'll be sharing my impressions.
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