CES: Where have all the Argent Room Lenses gone???


In comparing photo coverage of CES 2006 with shows a couple years back, it struck me that the once omnipresent Agent Room Lenses seem to have fallen out of favor. This is surprising when I consider all the good reviews the product received. Any ideas why they have vanished?
t7279mw
The reality is that most tweaks are fads and quickly go in and out of fashion.
The answer is simple. It is no longer in production.
Why wouldn't they keep using a product that was SUPPOSED to improve the sound so much?
That answer is simple too. It didn't make a bit of difference in 95% (100%?) of the cases.
Uhhhh, did you stumble upon one of the darker aspects of the audio industry???
"Hey Mr Exotic amp/speaker guy I'll let you have my widget sound improver for free and walk around and mention how great your stuff is if you put them in your display, ok?"
Save your money!
If you are convinced they work, you can make them yourself by mounting a set of plastic plumbing tubes from the hardware store to two blocks of wood. Go ahead and copy Argent's dimensions. Stuff them with insulation and spray paint/finish them in whatever color you want and, VIOLA, for about $20, you have recreated the Argent Room Lenses that match your decor!
Well they were kind of expensive considering Jon Risch posted how to build them for under $100 for a set of 4. They probably had a large initial campaign but lost steam due to a lack of sales. The reason they were in so many rooms was because they supplied them for use, which costs money to be there, money to provide all of the lens' themselves - in other words while they were making a good profit on what they sold, it probably wasn't enough to justify such a large presence at the major trade shows.
I built myself a set of 4 of these and I can assure you to do this right, it will cost a lot more than $20. The hole saw necessary to do the plunge cuts will cost you almost that alone. Then add the cost of paint, I used walnut on the tops and 2" pine on the bottoms, then added casters/wheels and several coats of clearcoat and sanding in between. They came out looking better than the originals IMO. As for what they do, there is no question that they make a very noticeable difference in smaller rooms.
I have a set, and they have make a tremendous contribution. The benefit to the soundstage has been identified by anyone that ever heard my seytem. I have a full wood and metal shop and still opted to buy them used for 500 or 600. They are not as simple as they look.
Thanks guys (and gals?)... interesting all this... I am or was tempted by the Room Lenses because I've moved house, and once again find myself with an acustically not so great room... I was spoiled by my last LR, which was fully treated with anechoic faom panels wherever necessary (including the cieling and some windows, even parts of the floor)... after much hard work I ended up with really excellent results, and probably the most significant improvement I ever experienced in the system. I'm trying to avoid going to such an extent this time as the place is not mine, but will probably have to get creative and do some free-standing panels (I was nuts enough to bring all the foam to France). I will also need to block out the noise of passing cars and revved to death 2-stroke scooters (ahh Europe!... fortunately this is compensated by the live music scene, which is the real deal). Anyway, thanks again... more opinions/info always welcome.

Mark