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Steinmusic's H2 Harmonizer, Magic Stones and
E-Pads
 Holger
Stein, designer, inventor, and owner of
Steinmusic, has quite a few products to his
credit. These include amplifiers,
turntables, CD players, loudspeakers,
cables, and some unusual tweaks, like cable
and LP demagnetizers. Stein's a one man
show. He's the German equivalent of Japan's
Ken Ishiguro (Mr. Acoustic Revive). I recall
seeing Stein's Masterclass electronics at
the Munich High End Show. And I actually met
him at this year's CES where he was just
there walking the show. He never mentioned
any of his products to me then or anytime
thereafter. To my mind, that alone spells
class and confidence, particularly in an
industry where self-promotion is the norm.
Here in the
states, Steinmusic has remained in obscurity
for the five years since its launching
(Stein himself has been around the industry
a lot longer). And while brand appeal is a
steep (and necessary) uphill battle for any
startup company, his latest tweak – the
Steinmusic H2 Harmonizer – may be the ticket
Holger Stein is counting on to make him High
End audio's newest darling. This is its
first public review.
My interest
in the H2 Harmonizer was piqued when Norbert
Mundorf of MCap Capacitors fame (photo above
on my left shoulder), was seen
walking around providing demos at the recent
Audio Expo of North America (APOXNA) held
last month in Jacksonville, Florida. I
didn't need to hear it at this show for me
to know there was something special about
it. If Norbert Mundorf is walking around
with a product he's personally endorsing, then I'll
easily give it a try. After spending
five-days in Istanbul with Mundorf, mostly
in intense discussions and demanding
listening sessions I discovered he's the
real deal when it comes to both music
appreciation and listening experience. The
listening sessions went into the wee hours
of the morning and were unforgettable. If
you see Mundorf or Frederik Caroe (of
Duelund Denmark) walking the halls offering
demonstrations of products...trust me, it's
got to be worth a listen.
The H2
Harmonizer (H2 hereafter) consists of two
cubes about 6" square. Each is assigned a
designation, H2A and H2B, located on the
underside. If you're the
obsessive-compulsive type, you can purchase
two H2As if necessary, but only a single H2B
is required. The rear of the unit accepts
power from a 12-volt wall-wart or a battery
and has a light switch and an intensity
adjustment knob. The light switch is useful
to anyone who chooses to use the 9-volt
battery option and wants to prolong its
lifespan by disabling the LED on the front
of the unit. There is no on/off switch.
How the H2
actually works is proprietary, and Stein
insists on keeping its inner workings
secret. Stein says, "The H2 stimulates
the oxygen's molecules in a way that
improves its viscosity thus allowing it act
much more effectively." The info that
arrived with the H2 reads, in part, "The
basic principle is similar to a catalyser.
Technically it works with capacitively
activated crystals. The air molecules inside
of the listening room are jogged through the
loudspeaker and thus transmit the sound
information. In order to elongate the air
molecules from their rest position it is
necessary to spend energy first. It is much
easier to move them if once moving. This
phenomenon is similar to static and dynamic
friction. To force a heavy piece of rock to
move is not an easy task. But if it is once
moving it can be much easier shifted
further. The Steinmusic Harmonizer is
working very similar, but rather at a level
of ethereal states...."
The H2A is placed at two adjacent walls of
the listening room, preferably near the
loudspeakers. The H2B is placed somewhere
near the listening seat, and opposite the
H2A. Like the Acoustic Revive RR77, the H2
is sensitive to placement. But it is not a
fancy pulse generator. I own and use several
RR77s and although they've increased my
musical enjoyment by their influence on
sound stage and dimensionality, in a side by
side comparison with the H2, their impact is
hardly noticeable.
There's
more...
 Steinmusic
Magic Stones are 1 1/2" triangular shaped
polycarbonate “stones” designed to be used
in conjunction with the H2 Harmonizer and
purporting to intensify its effectiveness.
They are ideally located at about 5-feet off
the floor on the wall between your
loudspeakers; behind your listening seat; on
the ceiling (if possible, between your
listening seat and the loudspeakers); on the
edges of the loudspeakers - above the
tweeters - and lastly, in the corners of
your room.
 Steinmusic
E-Pads are small (1" long by 1/2" wide)
self-adhesive devices which Holger Stein
says offers a" radical sonic impact on the
reproduction of music." The E-Pads work at
molecular level on whatever material it is
applied to. I tried the E-Pads on almost
everything in my listening room, and
although they may work as the manufacturer
claims, I couldn't hear a difference.
But what about the H2 Harmonizer combined
with the Magic Stones?
In a word,
ASTONISHING! I've a single H2B and two H2As
(set at an Intensity level of 11 o'clock as
recommended) and ten Magic Stones. And it
took me all of 30 seconds to detect
something unusually sweet about the top end.
And there's a much more obvious sense of
bloom around instruments as well. I haven't
changed any of my electronic components
upstairs in years and am so satisfied with
their sonic performance I don't plan to, yet
this stable environment began to sound very
unfamiliar - and incredibly for the better.
High frequency decay and shimmer to
instruments like cymbals and strings sounded
freer, faster and clearer - unlike anything
I've heard before in this room.
Experimenting with the Intensity knob to 12
o'clock exaggerated the effect and thus
destroyed the illusion of real instruments
playing in front of me. Returning back to
the recommended 11 o'clock position snapped
everything back into focus and once again
the top-end turned ultra-liquid. In no time,
I found myself once again scratching my head
in amazement.
 Listening
to the H2, I get the sensation that I'm
listening at a different altitude but
instead of feeling that annoying pressure I
usually get in my ears at 35,000 feet, it's
the complete opposite - I feel an intense
freedom of pressure. Strange but true. Bass
is faster in its ebb and flow, with greater
clarity and articulation.
As a result, voices possess a more authentic
timbre and are realistically enhanced on a
three-dimensional plane in way that was
exhilarating. On Individuality (Can I be
me?) CD, Rachelle Farrell sounded a tad
forward, yet rounder with greater
bloom around her magnificent voice.
Simultaneously, she
seemed further distanced from her band-mates
with no embellishment or exaggeration in
size whatsoever. In short, dynamic-wise, my
room sounds like someone or something
removed the corners ceiling and floor.
Voices simply soar higher via the H2s, with less
restraint and more realism. I am still
trying to make sense of the whole thing as I
write this.
It's
amazing to think a system as tweaked out
with products such as room correction
(Behold), Acoustic Revive RWL-3 room panels,
one dozen of Franck Tchang's Gold
Resonators, Shakti Stones and two-pair of
Hallographs not to mention the age-old
Argent Room lens, would benefit from a
device that makes claims about stimulating
oxygen molecules!
Taking the
show on the road.
David
Caplan is the co-creator of the Shakti
Hallographs and is a tweakaholic if there
ever was one. I'm talking about a guy who's
using eight sets of Hallographs in his
listening room. Now, Caplan lives in
Brooklyn, NY which is about twenty-minutes
from my home. I called him to ask if he'd be
interested in hearing something remarkable,
and he was. I arrived with not a mention of
the H2s (fearing he'd Google the damn
things), we listened for a good
thirty-minutes as we always do when I pay
Caplan a visit. Then I asked if he'd install
the Magic Stones in the same positions as I
did in my home. After completing that task,
we installed the H2A behind his audio rack
and the H2B near the listening couch. I
asked he put on some familiar music and just
listen. I could see Caplan's eyes widen in
disbelief...in about thirty seconds! He
adores his Apogee Stage loudspeakers which I
think have seen their best days because, for
me, they simply lack dynamics and bass
authority. (This is not a secret. It's well
documented that the Achilles heel of
open-baffle, dipole based designs is bass
and dynamics.) Well, the first improvements
we noticed were bass and dynamics. I would
have never believed this degree of
improvement possible. Not in a thousand
years. They were so noticeable and obvious
that we both felt giddy over the results.
Whenever Caplan and I talk, he always
stresses over and over "it's all about the
room and addressing distortions." Well, he
hit the nail on the head this time.
Theory versus Reality.
I have a
hunch as to what the H2's doing. To my ears,
if there's some truth to Stein's claim of
the manipulation to air molecules, then the
H2's impacting right at the reflective
surfaces; the ceiling above, behind my head,
and in the corners. This makes it much
closer to a type of room correction device
than anything else I can imagine. I've tried
basically everything else under the sun when
it comes to taming a room, and the H2, to my
ears, sounds closer to room correction than
anything else I've encountered. Sounds
crazy? Yeah, I think so too. A friend
hypothesized if the H2 was working on the
listener rather than the room. My answer
was, then why do you sound the same to me
when we talk but the music is so different?
(and no we did not go to the corner of the
room and try listening to our voices.)
I don't
want to delve too deeply into comparisons,
but I will say here for the record that I've
not heard anything passively affect a room
like the H2. If there's such a thing as a
de-pressure device, then that is what it
sounds like to me. The H2, in my opinion, is
nothing short of breathtaking. There will be
more discussion of this innovative product
in the not too distant future. My
impressions are solid, they're still early
as I've had the unit for less than a month.
As time and settle-time continues, I hope to
report more on what differences were
observed, if any.
The
Steinmusic H2 Harmonizers and Magic Stones
have changed my idea of what is sonically
possible in the here and now. Their impact
is powerful enough to rival the Bybee Super
Effect Speaker Bullets, Frank Tchang's
Acoustic Resonators, and Shakti Hallographs.
Note:
Connecticut importer Laufer Teknik was
chosen as the tentative US distributor.
Price: $2,500.00 (includes 10 Magical Stones
and 10 E-Pads)
Website:
www.steinmusic.de
Contact:
Laufer Teknik
18 Titus Road
2nd Floor
Washington Depot, CT 06794
Tel: 860-868-2277
Mail to: Laufer Teknik, Inc.
P.O. Box 474
Washington Depot, CT 06794-474
http://www.lauferteknik.net
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