Supposedly the clock (it was a digital readout clock) was treated with Tice's TPT treatment, and plugging it in on your audio system's circuit would improve the sound of your system. Both Stereophile and TAS tried it out, and some people heard a difference, some didn't. One thing I do remember was that one writer plugged in the plain old Radio Shack clock without the TPT treatment and heard a difference, leading one to believe that maybe the clock itself was the cause of the change, not the TPT treatment. Whether the difference was an improvement seemed to be debateable. I couldn't see spending $350 for a clock, so I had no interest in trying it out. It probably showed that putting any electrical item onto the same electrical circuit as your audio equipment (or possibly even another circuit; I can't remember the way it was supposed to work) could affect the sound of your system.
Anyone remember the "Tice Clock" controversy?
From what I remember it was a highly debated smallish analog clock that you plugged into your wall outlet that changed the timing/sound of your system. It was in Stereophile magazine years ago, and some people loved them, and others thought it was all hype. Anyone know what became of it, or a liitle more history?
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You are all probably aware that Tice makes power conditioners and power cords. All products are treated with their proprietary TPT process. I own a couple of their power conditioners and power cords, and they're well made, fine looking products. I can't hear any effect from the TPT treatment, but maybe I'm just not listening the right way or the benefits are too subtle (but maybe cumulatively worthwhile). You can check'em out at www.ticeaudio.com. |
My understanding of the "TC" effect was that the clock provided a small but stable/continuous line circuit-loading characteristic, in addition to the dynamic (constantly varying) load of music-playing equipment. The result was a partial static-load swamping element, which somehow resulted in better sonics vs. having only dynamic line loading. I read somewhere under "tweaks" that the same effect is said to be achievable by loading the circuit with a small wattage lamp or equivelant static load. I use a small indandescent lamp atop my rack for visibility purposes only, but I have not been able to discern any sonic differences between lamp on or lamp off. However YMMV. |
Bob, i would doubt that a small digital clock would pull more than a few watts at best. The stuff that i've seen regarding "steady state loading" a line states that one should use something along the lines of at least a 100 watt bulb or similar non-reactive / stable load to accomplish the kind of results that you are talking about. I have never tried playing around with anything like this, so i'll leave it at that. Sean > |
George Massenburg's comments about his experience with the Tice clock: http://www.musicgearnetwork.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=003842;p=2#000043 He says it made a difference. |