Hello Leslie,

It is a pleasure to meet you.

I offer my most humble thanks for such a glowing review of our cable!

We were really hoping our A.S.P. Gryphon would win the shoot out, but we certainly did not expect such an overwhelming victory. Honestly we were more concerned with beating the Audioquest Sky (which is more similar to our design) than the Kubala-Sosna.

I certainly appreciate your admiration, but please be assured, I am no genius (nor am I fortunate enough to have one in my staff).

The A.S.P. line was designed using common sense and employing the physics of electrical transmission to our advantage; not to mention, endless trial-and-error. As I'm sure you know, perfect measurements and ideal specifications often mean nothing when it comes to audio design. In the end we simply chose what sounded best to our ears, and we are thrilled that you concur with our findings.

Rest easy, there is little chance of Stage III going mainstream. I must admit, I am a bit of a control-freak, especially when it comes to my products. I prefer to supervise and be involved in the construction every cable we make, so mass-production is out of the question. The last thing the Audio world needs is another "how-cheap-can-we-make-it-factory-assembly-line-cable".

I must now congratulate you on your very informative and entertaining blog. I try to keep up with new postings whenever I can.

I hope you think this is appropriate, but I would like to post a response to your review as well as thank the many readers for their input and support.

Please keep in touch.

Once again, our most sincere thanks (and to hifikaki) for the extensive analysis and fantastic review.

All the best,

Luis de la Fuente
STAGE III CONCEPTS INC.

p.s. thanks for the "Audio Oscar", I'll cherish it. ;-)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Louis,

I think you have chosen the right guy in Maggielurva,he is our pride and joy here in Malaysia.

We call him our RH,yes the man certainly cah hear!!Hope to see you in this part of the world soon

Anonymous said...

Hello Mr de la Fuenta,

I hope you would continue to make wonderful products.All I can say is that It is very difficult to please our Maggielurva,and they fact that he likes yr cable so much means that it really is something special.

wish you all the best!!!!

Anonymous said...

Louis,

Hello I hope your company remains true and principled and not souled out like so many....

Anonymous said...

Hello louis,

I really hope you remain as obsessive as you could;as long as we are getting the good stuff ,that is what matters....

kind regards

Anonymous said...

Hello everyone.
Thank you all so much for your enthusiasm and support. We really appreciate it.
I would really love to visit your country! although it will be impossible for me to appear at the upcoming Malaysian HiFi Show, I can begin making plans for the next.
I will discuss it with Stage III's Malaysian distributor and hopefully I'll be able to spend a few pleasant days there next year.
I look forward to meeting you all.
Thanks again,
from a very grateful Stage III staff.
Sincerely,
Luis de la Fuente
STAGE III CONCEPTS INC.

Anonymous said...

Dear Luis,

Hope you don't mind me asking, can an interconnect be "zero distortion" as you have advertised in the Gryphon?

What about the cable LCR specs which may cause distortion?

Anonymous said...

Hello km ng,
of course there is no such thing as a "perfect" audio component, and we certainly don't pretend to have made one. The terms "zero distortion" and "absolute signal purity" are meant to be descriptive of our cables capabilities and performance, not necessarily a technical, measurable fact. I'm sure you have noticed other audio companies using terms like "perfect surface silver" or "exact impedance matching" for example; but we all know their product's specifications are neither perfect nor exact.
We have taken every possible care in keeping distortion as low as possible in our ASP line. Dielectric, conductor shape, the use of palladium (which is a highly paramagnetic metal) all contribute to keeping cable-induced distortions (LCR, skin effect, etc) under control.
External interferences (emi/rfi) are entirely blocked by using H.D.A. shielding (which is actually a highly effective lead (Pb) alloy).
Still, this does not add up to a "distortionless" cable, but we do believe to have come closer than most to the theoretical limit.

Also, regarding your other posts, I must agree...
I am often suspicious of reviews that are instantly positive and overly enthusiastic. My general belief is that component reviews are really system reviews, since individual components have to work together for the final results.
I certainly appreciate the reviews and hopefully further analysis and comments will be posted over time to reach a final verdict, which in the end will still be up to each listener's personal taste! :)

Anonymous said...

Dear Luis,

Thanks for a really honest reply. I greatly appreciate it.

Most other manufacturers I presume, would give lots of technical mumbo jumbo to support their claims (and to confuse their non technical readers), but you tell it as it is which is very commendable.

I suppose everyone can be caught in his euphoria. Even the esteemed Michael Framer put his audio reputation on the line by reporting the Harmonic Tech CyberLight cables as "the most significant single technological breakthrough I have experienced in my career as an audio reviewer", "for the first time in your life you'll hear no cables whatsoever" and many more other superlatives in the review.

The cables lasted for a while I guess and now he's using the Tara Labs cables.

I look forward in hearing your ASP Gryphon in Maggielurva's system.

Thanks and all the best.