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Positive Feedback ISSUE 65
Stein Music Speaker Match Plus
- A Quick Look!
Stein Music has done it again! Taken something good, and made it much better! A real upgrade over the original and effective Speaker Matches comes with the arrival of the more elegant and expensive Speaker Match Plus…one that is definitely better than the original! Eliminating EMF would have major benefits in improving your amplifier’s control of the speaker drivers, and would result in a dramatic improvement in definition and lower noise. The original Matches did the job well with most speakers, regardless of size or cost. The new model is a sonic jump forward into the land of live music. Holger Stein has outdone himself. If you are using the original Matches, the new Plus model will improve the focus, power, and musicality about 20% more. This German-trained engineer, physicist, and audiophile has quite a track record with audio components which are astoundingly effective at remedying all kinds of audio and system problems. The Speaker Match Plus may be his most extraordinary creation to date. The relationship between speaker and amplifier is largely unexplored territory… thankfully not by Stein Music! Let’s examine the device. The Speaker Match Plus is a modest sized capacitor shaped unit constructed of American walnut, made in Germany, with two wires protruding from one end. The wires are tipped with gold Swiss made hollow banana plugs. They are designed to fit standard banana connectors on your speakers and, if necessary, stack with banana connectors from your speaker cables. The red connector goes on the plus binding post and the black connector on the ground post. They hook up in parallel to the speaker cables. You need one for each pair of binding posts in use. If bi-wiring, you will need four. If not, only two. Hookup is intuitive, easy, and fast. The Sound with the Speaker Match Plus I tried them on every speaker with the original Speaker Matches and there was an instant significant improvement across the board. On speakers without matches, I found two that did not appear to need them. The sound did change, but seemed to move sideways instead of forward. I cannot find any consistent reason why the new version—or even the original version—did not improve things on those occasions. The overall improvement one hears with the new Matches actually reducing or eliminating EMF is a wonderful thing. You will hear an instant increase in volume, smoother highs and mids, deeper bass, and wider separation of instruments. Also, phase distortion seems lower and is no longer veiling the imaging. As a general rule, the more revealing the system, the bigger the results. The Stein Speaker Match Plus sell for $750 per pair; remember that two pair are what you will need for bi-wired speakers. Quibbles? None. When they are beneficial, you will sell your first born to buy them. Otherwise, return them. Summary The cool new Stein Music Speaker Match Plus is the important accessory that will help to send your top system to the moon! Hear more music, more naturally than ever before. Agreed: they are not so inexpensive, but I think that they’re really worth the investment. The Stein Music Speaker Match Plus is easy to use, and is "set and forget." They never wear out. In my opinion, this is THE BEST high-end audiophile accessory ever, my friends. Bravo Stein Music. Price: USD $750 per pair
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