Just saw at AA that Mapleshade's Pierre Sprey has died

mhardy6647

Love 'im or hate 'im, he was certainly an iconoclast when it came to hifi, and I guess he made his mark in his erstwhile day job, too. Sorry to read of his passing.
I know nothing about the dot org that's the source of this brief memorial (link below), but it is interesting & seemed worth sharing.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/08/10/in-pursuit-of-clarity-the-intellect-and-intellectual-integrity-of-pierre-sprey/

http://www.mapleshadestore.com/

Link to AA thread:
https://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/76/766989.html

BlueFox

That's terrible news. I love my Mapleshade maple rack, and brass footers. RIP.

F1nut

Wow, I had no idea he was behind the A-10 Warthog and the F16, both incredible aircraft.

RIP and God Bless

maxward

RIP. Yes, he was quite a well-rounded dude.

pitdogg2

A normal genius it sounds.
May the great man R.I.P.

aprazer402

RIP. I have several of Mapleshade's CD's. Most are very well recorded.

SeleniumFalcon

SeleniumFalcon

mhardy6647

The photo (directly) above is the one I remember from his/their catalogs.
Mapleshade was or is based in Upper Marlboro, MD, IIRC. I remember that part of the world well from my yoot'... although it's changed quite a bit in the ensuing four-five decades.

mhardy6647

aprazer402 wrote: »

RIP. I have several of Mapleshade's CD's. Most are very well recorded.

The consensus seems to be that his CDs, irrespective of how one feels about the content, are perhaps the best recorded/mastered CDs extant.
I have yet to hear one, though.

SeleniumFalcon

He used a modified Sony TC-880 for all his recordings and Crown PZM (pressure zone microphones) placed on large pieces of plexiglass that were setup in angled pairs (you can see one example in the second photo). He didn't like mixing boards and recorded directly into the deck and made adjustments to microphone placement for getting a good balance. I think his CDs sound excellent.
I tried to broker a relationship between Polk's marketing guys and Pierre with the idea of him making a demonstration ultra high quality CD especially for Polk that would be included with the LSi speakers to help owners set them up correctly. I believe Al Ballard and Paul DiComo went to his recording studio/house, I may be wrong on that.

SeleniumFalcon

For me his Clifford Jordan "Live at Ethell's" is the standout.

SeleniumFalcon

I think by raising the drum kit off of the floor he felt he got a better sound quality, especially the bass character.
I believe most subwoofers would sound better if they were raised a couple of feet, especially if the listening room has fairly high ceilings.

mrbigbluelight

Wow.
..simply....wow. 😳.

mhardy6647

SeleniumFalcon wrote: »

He used a modified Sony TC-880 for all his recordings and Crown PZM (pressure zone microphones) placed on large pieces of plexiglass that were setup in angled pairs (you can see one example in the second photo). He didn't like mixing boards and recorded directly into the deck and made adjustments to microphone placement for getting a good balance. I think his CDs sound excellent.
I tried to broker a relationship between Polk's marketing guys and Pierre with the idea of him making a demonstration ultra high quality CD especially for Polk that would be included with the LSi speakers to help owners set them up correctly. I believe Al Ballard and Paul DiComo went to his recording studio/house, I may be wrong on that.

I'll bet his minimalist techniques and the SDA (old or new) would be something to behold.

tonyb

aprazer402 wrote: »

RIP. I have several of Mapleshade's CD's. Most are very well recorded.

Same here, he really was top notch at squezing the best out of a recording. I wish more artists were that concerned about quality to take advantage of guys like him.