Summer 2003 - Greetings! Welcome to the inaugural newsletter from Sonic Spirits!

I have a couple of objectives for this newsletter. The first objective is obviously to keep you informed of news related to Sonic Spirits and the manufacturers we represent. Beyond that, I'd like to use this newsletter as a means of communicating additional ideas and experiences regarding our passion for high end audio. With this in mind, I'd like to encourage you to send me email at info@sonicspirits.com with your comments, thoughts, ideas, etc. that you would like to share with other audio enthusiasts subscribed to this list.

My intention is to publish this newsletter once per season. If we get enough input from you, perhaps this will increase. In any case, I hope you enjoy it and feel compelled to contribute!

Best regards,

Phil

PS: Feel free to forward this newsletter to any audio enthusiast friends that you might think are interested and have them contact me if they'd like to be added to the subscriber list.

============================================================================

Table of Contents
1 - Sonic Spirits News
2 - Manufacturers News
3 - Tweakers

============================================================================

1 - Sonic Spirits News

As of July 1st, Sonic Spirits has become an authorized dealer for Acoustic Zen and Eighth Nerve!

- Acoustic Zen cable products are engineered by legendary cable design artist Robert Lee. Each is hand-crafted in California and built to be a state of the art addition to any refined audio-video system. Acoustic Zen interconnects, digital and speaker cables, power cords and s-video cables are crafted from the most exquisite materials available. They have been designed for precise Musicality, extraordinary Sonic Dynamics, and maximum acoustic Transparency and Soundstage Accuracy. http://www.acousticzen.com
- Eighth Nerve is one of the world's most innovative manufacturers of professional and high performance acoustical products, audio racks, and accessories. Eighth Nerve's designs offer audiophiles, musicians, engineers, educators, and others elegant and effective performance -- the best possible sound at the most reasonable price. http://www.eighthnerve.com
New CD recommendations from Resolution Audio's Mike McDermott and Jeff Kalt have been posted on the website here
New equipment specials/used/demos have been posted on the website here

============================================================================

Manufacturers News

BLUE CIRCLE:
------------
Blue Circle Audio has introduced Mark II versions of their BC3 Galatea/Despina and BC3000 preamps, as well as for the BC8 and BC26 power amplifiers.

According to Gilbert Yeung, founder of Blue Circle, the Mark II preamps feature the following upgrades:

- All new wiring
- Special B+ high speed cap. It is NOT electrolytic, therefore it is NOT Black Gate. -Power supply capacitance has increase by 50% to 150%. -The Volume control has built-in high/low gain switch. -Silicone bubble mount tube socket, same as the AG3000. -Output coupling cap increase by 100%.

Because of the above improvements, you will have 62 positions of volume setting instead of 31 positions (31 settings for each gain position). Improve low frequency extension, more focus soundstage and more live like presentation. Music is simply thrown more effortlessly. In comparison, the original version seems to push a little.

The Mark II amplifiers feature the following upgrades:

- all new internal wiring, inputs and outputs wiring.
- ground lift switch
- those really really fast cap as power supply
- 12V trigger (optional)

All previous versions of these preamps and amplifiers can be upgraded. Please contact me for prices.

RESOLUTION AUDIO

----------------
Resolution Audio has begun beta testing of its new S30 integrated amplifier. The S30 was designed specifically to work with the Opus 21 cd player in a modular, stackable configuration using a shared remote control. The combined S30/Opus 21 is targeted for high end audio enthusiasts who are looking for a small-footprint system for the bedroom or den, or for those audio enthusiasts living in small apartments who have space constraints. The S30 will be available late Summer 2003. For more information, check out this website here

============================================================================

TWEAKERS
--------
As some of you know, I've been experimenting with a lot of system tweaks recently. The following are some of the things I've found. If you would like to share any tweak-experiences, please let me know!
-Maple cutting boards: I'd been reading a lot about vibration control and component isolation recently and decided to do some experimentation. One of the common thoughts is that platform materials make a big difference, and hard maple is considered to be among the most "musical" materials. But rather than trying to scour the earth for lumberyards selling maple slabs, or shelling out "audiophile-dollars" for supposedly "fine-tuned" maple boards, I decided to try out some high quality maple cutting boards instead. After doing a few web-searches, I came across two cutting board companies that appeared to have what I was looking for: John Boos and JK Adams; both make high quality cutting boards out of solid maple, and both had stock board sizes that matched my components. The John Boos boards are 15"x20"x2.25" and run $59 each from www.125west.com, and the JK Adams boards are 12"x12"x2.25" and run $51 each from www.iqvc.com.

In addition to the cutting boards, I also hunted down some rubber/cork/rubber isolation pads. I learned of this type of pad from Mapleshade; however, Mapleshade's $24/set of 4 for their Isoblocks was outdone by industrial supply company Grainger's $6/set of 4!

I set up each component in my system with a cutting board sitting on top of 4 pads. The result? One friend commented "It's like you took a bucket of cream and swirled it in." The sound became much richer and thick. This does not mean that the sound became slow; on the contrary, I think the pacing of the music improved noticeably. But the sound had much more body and energy to it.

As I've told most of you, 5 years ago I was not one to believe in these kinds of tweaks. And to a large extent, I don't think I'd be unhappy with my system without them. But so far, just about every tweak I've tried has made some difference in the sound -- whether all of them are changes for the better, or just different, is still up for judgement. This maple cutting board tweak has, in my humble opinion, made a nice overall improvement...

============================================================================
Sonic Spirits Inc.
www.sonicspirits.com
info@sonicspirits.com
Authorized Dealer for: Acoustic Zen – Audience
Blue Circle Audio - Resolution Audio – Eighth Nerve
============================================================================