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Posts: 7054
Location: so cal
Joined: September 24, 2003
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I take a lot of joy when rip offs get exposed, good catch.
this rebranding reminds me of the company that was rebranding a high end cart, adding a couple of thousand dollars to the price, and getting hailed by reviewers as a new high end contender.
Having never heard of a product that was referenced as though I should be aware of it, I was curious about the stein music mat.
Although they add a "special " lacquer and treatment to the paper, I would suspect the product gains credibility from the stylish good looks and, primarily, outrageous price , not that it is anything special, save for the treatment probably avoids the shedding mentioned when the original product is new. the old saying about lying big to befuddle reason certainly applies here. I just hope they are not a site sponsor.
In looking around the site, it doesn't seem like they are a serious company, unless you give them credit for a straight face when explaining the room harmonizing system they sell. The basic system is almost $3000, and is a pair of battery powered small black boxes with a switched led, and an intensity knob that, I swear this is the description, elongates the air molecules so that the music passes through the air more easily. Dang it, now the blasted air in my room is a weak link, I just can't win.
Of course, to really get down , you can buy more product , a usual addition to the main system, black diamonds, that will improve the sound stage @$75 a pop, and you will probably need a few , luckily they can be hidden in the furniture and still be just as effective. they also sell these other deals, also passive, at $750 apiece, to place around the corners of your room, or you can use two more to stick in the middle of the wall.
These deals aren't acoustic traps, they are smallish passive stick ons. But have a "subtile yet dramatic effect". according to a posted review. In thumbing through the description, I found Stein Black rocks as another part of the "room treatment system", but I guess they didn't scrub the English part of the site to get rid of the reference when the illusionary magic rocks fad passed, because when I clicked to see the black rock merchandise, it just went to an error page, 404, product not found.
I didn't look around past the "black diamonds " that initially caught my eye, and the system that they accessorized. But I would think that rather than the paper mat being the poor man's stein mat, I would think the stein mat is for the "poor suckers mat" for those who bought the thing at such an inflated price to get the paper colored.
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