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Reviews/Comments |
UltraSonic Rx, Herbie's premier damping instrument, was introduced to our product lineup on May 8, 2009.
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Steve Hoffman, Music Restoration Specialist, West Hills, California
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"Those little tube dampers with the wheels on them really work GREAT!! They work like a charm and really make the Marantz 8B even more legendary sounding. Tighter, more even, less cluttered tone wise. If you don't want to go whole hog, just try them on the input tubes first. Or just try them on the 6CA7's. You'll hear it. An inexpensive tweak for those of you who use your beautiful 8B as a full-time playback amp."
Michael Girardi, The Stereo Times
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"The eight Ultrasonic Rx-50 tube dampers on my KT-88 tubes (Ayon Audio Triton) add another level of improvements and match better with the smaller preamp Rx-9 tube dampers. All of your products in my system really made a big improvement. Highly recommended. Some of the best $ ever spent."
Winston Follador, Sao Carlos, Brazil
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"I received today the dampers, and already installed it. I noticed a small but real improvement over the last generation of your dampers (Ultrasonic Standard). Seems that the mids and highs sound more natural, with almost none of the harshness of the previous dampers. The voices are more liquid. A little more 'air' around the instruments. Let's listen a little more! Thank you Steve!"
Clint Wilson, Alberta, Canada
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"I've received the Rx dampers and had a chance to listen to them last night. I think they are definitely going in the right direction. My initial impressions are that they are smoother (compared to standard UltraSonics) and do seem to remove some of that high end glare and grain -- it seems to give the music more 'bounce'. It is quite surprising that the two different versions could sound different when they look so similar! Anyways, I'll listen to them more intensively over the next few days and get back to you with more detailed impressions as they settle in. Thanks so much for this opportunity to try them out!!"
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Added: "We'll I've given the new r/x version of your tube damper a good workout. I've tried them with quite a few different tubes in my cd player and they definitely have a different effect on the sound from the ultrasonic version. I transferred back and forth from each version over the last few weeks (letting them settle in for a day before close listening) and have found that the r/x version has a positive effect on most of the tubes I have. (I guess this can be expected as tubes do vary in degree to their inherent microphonic nature.)
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"The r/x version definitely reduces a condition of 'electronic' glare that has been persistent in my system. It does this while also creating both a more rythmic (bouncy?) feeling to the music AND seems to open up the sense of ambience or air around each instrument (I guess this also speaks to a reduction in congestion or compression). A good test for me as to a tube's resolving power is the prominence of sibilance in female vocals -- r/x dampers place this sibilance in perfect relationship to the voice behind it (i.e. taming it without masking it or reducing its part in creating the liveliness of the music). I have had a few early version of the Philips E88CC with the odd 'pinched waist' construction for a few years now, but have never found them to sound quite right. They are raved about in audio circles but my experience never match the glowing opinion others had of this tube. I am happy to say though, that the r/x dampers bring this tube closer to what others are saying abut it. Of all of the brands of tubes I tried, this tube was improved the most....
"With regards to positioning, the rings still seem most effective towards the bottom mica of the tube, with the effects lessening as it was moved up towards the top. The bottom line is that the r/x pads do help out the system (at least with most of the tubes I have) and don't seem to create any negative artifacts."
Rob Simon, Chicago, Illinois
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"As per your suggestion, I purchased UltraSonic Rx for the phono and line stages and input tubes. Regular UltraSonics for the 6550's. Wowzezz! This isn't even what I dreamed of; it's a learning experience -- revealing just how beautiful some of my records and CD recordings are. I was hoping for an improvement, but I couldn't have imagined beforehand that it would be like a total transformation. Nothing in particular is different except that everything just sounds right!"
Dennis Vandeputte, Aurora, Illinois
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"I just received Rx-50's for the 6550's in my ARC VS55 and I am astonished by the improvement. Now I want to add them to the 6N1P's. My compliments on your achievement with these damping rings."
Michael Blackwell, Knoxville, Tennessee
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"The Rx 50's on the 2A3's have made a noticeable improvement (with UltraSonics 30's on the input tubes -- Deja Vu PVK 2A3 stereo amp)! More fluid and just as detailed (if not more)."
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Added: "You will not be getting your dampers back! I can no longer enjoy my system without them. There is no tube in this system without your instruments diligently at work to improve it. What is most amazing, besides the clear improvements, is the fact that I can change damper type/location and hear a difference; sometimes better, sometimes not as good. However, there is no doubt that your dampers MUST be in use for me to get the best out of my system. Thanks."
Stanko Soldatovic, Croatia
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"Thanks for the great product! I expected improvement, but I still remained pleasantly surprised with the sound. From now on, each lamp (31 piece) will have its Rx Ultrasonic Damping Instument."
Jose Luis Catalan, Valencia, Spain
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"I have listened a couple of CD with the Ultrasonics Rx and I am amazed. They replace a pair of standard Ultrasonics in the tubes used for driver and phase inversion stage (JAN 5814A Philips) of my Ars-Sonum Filarmonia. Soundscape has improved greatly. Strangely, I hear more dynamics in the music but I am puzzled because a little ring can't change something that has been recorded. Bass notes are more prominent and they extend nicely into the room. Definitively they are far better than the standard ultrasonics and a very good 'therapy' for the JAN 5814A Philips."
Ron Wells, U.K.
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"I can definitely tell that the system is more focused and other improvements."
Christopher Russo, Home Theater Systems & Consulting
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"After using your products for a few months now, I wanted to give you some feedback. Back in May, I upgraded my SF Line-3 SE preamp from your original Teflon Halo's to your Ultrasonic-9 tube dampers. At the same time I installed another set of Ultrasonic-9 dampers in my EAR 834P phono preamp. I left the standard tube dampers that come with the Audio Research CD7 in place. The improvements included major improvements in transparency, soundstaging, and imaging. I did notice an edginess in the upper mids that had existed prior to the installation of your Ultrasonics, but still existed after the dampers were installed.
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"A couple of weeks ago, I purchased the new Ultrasonic Rx's, which I installed in my SF Line-3, and then installed the Ultrasonic-9's in my ARC CD7, and added an Ultrasonic-35 for the 5881 tube in the CD7. The improvements in the highs were amazing, as well as a further improvement in soundstaging, and the ability to separate instruments within that stage, but something wasn't quite right with the mids, and the bottom end. The mids seemed to be a little unfocused, and I seemed to lose a little bottom end extension.
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"So at that point I decided to change the location of the dampers on the tubes. I originally placed them on the top third of the tube, and now I moved them to the middle of each tube in all my components. Wow!! What a difference!! Everything just snapped into focus. The highs, mids and bottom end all were tonally organic sounding. There was a total separation of instruments on the stage, and the overall focus was amazing. This is the best my system has ever sounded, and is the equivalent of a major component upgrade.
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"Being in the business allows me to listen to a lot of music everyday, and I can unequivocally say that there isn't any upgrade that comes close to yours from a price/performance standpoint."
Terrence Rodgers, Anthem, Arizona
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"By far the best tweak (And not just for the money) ever, in any system I've owned to date. The real fun is in being able to 'tweak the tweak', by moving the dampers up and down the different tubes, getting that quantum-leaps-in-improvement payoff when I land on the 'sweet spot' of a particular tube.
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"The benefit your product brings to the table is beyond anything I could have anticipated. I went to the RMAF last weekend, and heard a lot of components that I was willing to spend stupid amounts of money on, and your product has my current components singing better than the best rooms I heard. Instead of digital players and phono pre's, I'm now looking into fuses and RCA caps! And software. Lots of software..."
Travis B., Faribault, Minnesota
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"Steve thanks for such a great product! Really make my LS1 sound amazing!"
David Goodson, Garland, Texas
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"I received the damper's and have been impressed by the a huge difference they have made. I listened to them for about a week and this morning took them off to see what I would hear. It was just flat and no real depth to the soundstage. So I put them back on and the improvement was noticed right away."
Dr. Chien Chen-Lung, Taiwan
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"I am very surprised to receive the 4 damping rings so early. I could not wait for putting them all on my 102D amplifier as I got them. (I had already 2 Duende Criatura tubes on 102D amplifier, 4 on 300B power amplifier, 4 on MM transformer.) The sweet sound becomes obviously better. I want to say it is a miracle! I appreciate you very much."
Kevin Keiswetter, Ontario, Canada
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"They seem to have produced more clarity, tighter bass, and a wider soundstage."
Glenn Cosentino, Elizabeth, New Jersey
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"Received the tube dampers and placed them only on the amplifier tubes (UltraSonic 9's and 30's). Noticed an improvement immediately. Then placed the remaining two dampers on my line stage preamp (UltraSonic Rx-9's). The sound quality hit another stratosphere.
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"Did not realize how much vibration was in my system until it was removed. This, along with other upgrades to my system has yielded an almost holographic effect on good recordings. Even bad recordings sound halfway decent, material I haven't listened to because of this problem.
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"Thanks in part to your products, my very modest system sounds like something costing ten times as much. Very happy with your product. Thought you might like to know."
Kisuh Sung, South Korea
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"I received the dampers this evening. Everything was OK. When I installed them in my amps, the sound quality improved greatly. Clear Sound!!! Thanks a lot for your kind service and information."
Douglas Hunter, Dollar, U.K.
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"The tube dampeners arrived (after a slight delay for paying tax) safely with this morning's post :)
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"This is with the Rx's fitted to the two pinched waist Amperex 7062 within my modded denon 2900. First impressions are they were easy to fit on the tubes; height on the tube definitely alters the effect. At first they seemed to slow the sound removing a veil from the low frequencies but also decreasing the energy of the middle to high frequencies. The treble energy is however coming back (5 hours in) and the sound is cleaning up, becoming more balanced, with both slap and kick returning :)"
Robert Browne, Santa Monica, California...
"Thanks for getting my recent order of tube dampers to me quickly. They arrived on December 24th, just in time to install them in my Audio Note L3 pre-amp for music listening over the Christmas holiday.
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"A pair of Preamp UltraSonic 9 dampers went on the Tung-Sol 5687 tubes, an UltraSonic Rx-9 damper went on a Mullard 6BM8 regulator tube and an UltraSonic Rx-30 damper went on a Bendix 5852 rectifier tube. Similar to my previous experience with your tube dampers there was increased focus and midrange clarity along with more bass detail and a subtle smoothing out of some lower treble grain. Everything became more coherent and this was especially noticeable on piano music. Without the dampers on, some recordings the lower notes were a bit muffled and occasionally there was some glare on certain higher notes. The most surprising change that I wasn't expecting was a quite noticeable increase in dynamics that contributed to the realistic and life-like presentation.
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"With these results on my pre-amp I'm going to have to order more tube dampers to use with my power amp. Thanks again for making products that have such a positive effect on the music listening experience."Chris Centlivre, San Diego, California
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"I wanted to let you know I got the tube dampeners and have had a chance to check them out. I'm using them on an Audio Research LS25 MkII which had no dampeners when I bought it. It's possible the original owner had your dampeners and he hung on to them. I just wanted to let you know that the improvement was not subtle. Every facet of the sound of my system has improved. Perhaps most noticeably is the front to back imaging. I've listened to half a dozen or so things since I installed the dampeners and I'll describe some of them to point out the differences they made.
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"The first thing I listened to was the Dark Star from the Grateful Dead's 9/27/72 show on Dick's Picks 11. I noticed that Bill Kreutzman's cymbals had more ring to them. Each instrument was a little more 'dis-embodied' from the speakers, and there was more of a sense of space between them. I think this caused the interplay between musicians to be more involving. I had more of a sense of Keith Godchaux playing off of Garcia's soloing, then Garcia following Phil into the next transition. Weir playing glissanding chords off of Jerry's soloing. Really beautiful. This is the way to listen to the Grateful Dead for sure! Next up, Sketches Of Spain was amazing. This was were the front to back imaging improvement was dramatic. Concierto de Aranjuez opens with a castinet hanging in space, crystal clear. And every part of the orchestra was clearly defined deep in the sound stage. Next, on Horowitz Plays Mozart, what jumped out at me was there was a noticeable improvement in the harmonic content, which much more clearly differentiated the period piano from the big Steinway D on K333. Then I put on Joni Mitchell's Don Juan's Reckless Daughter. This has been one of my main CD's for testing the things I've done to my system. With your tube dampers one thing that jumped out at me was there was more of a sense of the reverb plates on each of the Joni background overdubs on Cotton Avenue. Another difference was the 'leading edge' of the notes of Jaco Pastorius's bass had more attack. And again, the placement of all of the voices and instruments was more focused in space. Lastly, tonight I also listened to Bill Evans and Scott Lafaro at the Village Vanguard in 1961. There was much more of the ambient audience conversation over the music. It gave me a sense that the wall behind the speakers was a big sonic window right into the Village Vanguard. Much more detailed than before.
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"So after 24 hours, that's my take on how your tube dampeners affected my system. I thought you'd appreciate hearing my impressions, and I also just wanted to say thanks again. If the difference the dampeners made had been subtle, I probably wouldn't have had much to say. I spent the better part of a day a couple of weeks ago trying to hear a difference between two digital cables between my transport and DAC. I finally came to the conclusion that I couldn't hear one. But there was definitely no need to A/B anything with the tube dampeners. They really made my line stage come alive and sound the way it was meant to. Granted I'm describing the difference between no dampeners and your dampeners. But I doubt that there are any others available that are as good or better. For a couple of extra bucks my system is much more enjoyable. Much appreciated!"
Hendy Liemanto, San Diego, California
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" I have the RX-65 tube damper on my EML 5U4G, it does improve the sound considerably. :)"
Jack Lawson, Sacramento, California
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"I wanted to send a quick note to say thanks for developing and marketing tube dampers that are quite effective and surprisingly inexpensive for the job they do.
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"After having used them on my preamp's four phono stage 5691 and line stage's two 6sn7w tubes for about two weeks, I can say that the sound is more focused with less upper mid-range glare.
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"I will recommend your dampers to other audiophiles wholeheartedly."Al Martin, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania
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"I just received the Ultrs Rx 9's. They are terrific on a system that is already very revealing."
Daryl Lim Chuan, Singapore
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"I recently got the RX Tube dampers.What a difference it made! The music sounded more natural and smooth. I am very pleased and am back to order more of your product. They worked!"
Adam Ortego, Lake Charles, Louisiana
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"The tube dampers sound great - more detail, yet more analog sounding. Great product, Steve."
Greg Friesen, Loma Linda, California
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"Sonic Synergy Synchronized Perfectly, your UltraSonic Rx Damping Instruments need to be experienced by every audiophile. If you have tubes and want to raise the bar in harmonics this is it! Steve has developed a world class product that indeed takes the veil off and lets the power of emotion and passion flow. Wonderful dynamics, focus and detail that invites the listener deeper into the musical experience. This is a true Class A product!"
Glenn Thomas, MD, Loma Linda, California
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"I am very pleased with my Herbie Ultra Sonic Rx tube dampers. Thanks for the great product!"
Joe Jacques, West Bend, Wisconsin
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"Your tube dampeners rock!"
