ProAudio Review - May 2008 - (Page 45) but hey, what do I know? They come in many sizes, selected for most of the major monitors in use today with the ability to order custom sizes and angles. Average price for smallish monitors is about $100 each, which makes them an excellent upgrade value. You really have to hear them to believe all that they do so well. Tom Jung, a pioneer in digital music production, owned and operated the DMP label for more than 20 years. SECOND OPINION: RECOILS GOOD FOR GOLDEN EARED MASTERS … AND EVERYONE ELSE, TOO The ears have spoken: a notable cross-section of golden-eared and industry-known recording engineers, mixers, and producers have given their official nod to the Primacoustic Recoil Stabilizer. The fact is, even if you aren’t exactly sure what you’re supposed to be listening for, you will hear an improvement with a couple of Recoils under your nearfields. For the tech-heads, Primacoustic’s in-depth description of the Recoil (at www.primacoustic.com/recoil-detail.htm) will give you the skinny on how it works. Apparently it’s pure physics. I bought a pair of KRK VXT8 powered monitors (pair, $1598 list) late last year; I had just reviewed them for PAR. They’re built better than solid, measured quite accurately in a PAR bench test, and are relatively weighty; I thought they were really great monitors for my needs. Now, they’re even better monitors for my needs. The budget conscious will ask, “Is the Recoil worth its cost?” To find my own answer, I did the math; the pair of Recoils I reviewed is 12.5 percent of the total cost of a pair of VXT8s. I can say that there was, at the very least, a 12.5 percent increase in performance, which is significant enough for me. (Just a thought: political elections are won and lost with smaller percentages. If people are critiquing my tracks on a regular basis, I would prefer a 12.5 percent increase in ‘yes’ votes on any day.) They worked well with a pair of Alesis M1 Active monitors, too (pair, $599 list). They may have even worked a little more magic with the less expensive speakers! (My guess is that the M1 Active’s build isn’t anywhere nearly as solid as the VXT8. Even if not, these acoustic improvements are due to that physics thing, as mentioned above.) Left to the best of descriptions, a Recoil Stabilizer’s performance sounds something like … well, stuff like what Tom just said. It will help your speaker become sharper in its delivery of acoustic detail because it actually improves the environment where your speaker physically resides and works. Best of all, it works with a very wide range (some may say an entire range) of nearfield monitors available today. Thus, you won’t have to have all the gold in Mr. Jung’s ears to experience the difference between the Recoil and no Recoil. This product really is a good buy and a solid investment in a better monitoring setup —Strother Bullins Anyone who has heard it knows . . . Vacuum Tube VT-4 L C Equalizer D.W. FEARN www.dwfear n.com 610-793-2526 West Chester • PA • U.S.A. www.proaudioreview.com May 2008 | ProAudio Review | 45 http://www.primacoustic.com/recoil-detail.htm http://www.linearsystems.com http://www.dwfearn.com http://www.proaudioreview.com
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