SR has a piece of a big room at the Capital Audiofest, running through the end of the day today. I avoided it yesterday, but maybe I’ll check it out when I head back there in a few minutes. Although I hesitate to be as blunt as Mijostyn, my general opinion of the company, based on past history, is not dissimilar to his.
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I have read several glowing subjective "reviews" of this item, and I will predict that you will be swamped with similar. If you can arrange a "free home trial", it seems a reasonable thing to try. But I don't know any scientific evidence that supports the theory, such as it is, behind these devices. This makes me a skeptic. Some of the claims are so excessive as to be beyond my belief. Listener bias is huge, once one has paid good money for a tweak. |
All I say is that there IS observer bias, and it works in a major way to affect our sense of things. Where did I say that I can measure it or know for sure the degree to which it has affected a review? If you thought I meant to say that, or anything like that, you are mistaken. But just because we cannot fathom someone else's observer bias does not negate its effect on his or her review or opinion. Having said that, is it not logical that spending a substantial sum of money to purchase a device would tend to cause the buyer to be subconsciously biased in favor of the device? Thus I think cost has a predictable effect on subconscious bias. Likewise, the color and feel of an object will affect our perceptions of it. (For example, is the faceplate gold, silver, or black? Is it made of really thick heavy metal or flimsy looking? Are the knobs "really cool"? Any or all of such factors may affect one's opinion of the sonics, up or down.) So, here is how I use the notion of observer bias as regards audio: I take anyone else's opinion of an audio device with a large grain of salt. If ten out of ten knowledgeable listeners agree, then I might sit up and take notice of the device, or ignore it, depending upon the consensus of a quorum of persons I trust. |
Zd542, The idea of observer (in this case "listener") bias is much older than this discussion. It has long been taken as a given in the design of any study that involves opinion or human judgement of any kind and that purports to be "scientific". When you then add the fact that one has paid for the device under scrutiny, the bias factor is only compounded. We are all guilty of it; one cannot divorce one's judgement from subconscious bias. Thus you could say I disagree with your premise that listener bias is not a big factor in the formulation of opinions put forth in this and many other forums. That said, please note that it was not I who claimed that my quote was the quote of the year. Quote of the year was not my goal, but thanks for that, Phil.
I did see that SR has a 30-day return policy. In that case, it cannot hurt to try out a PHT. As I understand it, the PHT is some sort of weak magnet. One might also make a similar device for much less than $200 and give it a try. It is also said to weigh only one milligram, although it appears to be heavier than that. Thus it won't add significantly to effective mass.
Sbayne, I own 5 turntables and about 8 tonearms and 15 or so cartridges. I listen exclusively to vinyl. Digital only if I want to read a book or need background music for a party. OK? One thing I notice as regards Tweaks like this; the early adopters become very defensive and sensitive to criticism of the Tweak per se. It's nothing personal. |
Sbayne, I am not dismissing the PHT. In fact, I wrote above that since one can have a 30-day trial period, I'd support the decision to give it a shot. Glad your happy with the PHT; as I also said in my first post, I do know that others besides yourself are also pleased with it. I am a skeptic by nature, when it comes to accepting anything on faith alone.
Oh, and not to beat a dead horse, but I do not agree that there is no listener bias, if one can return the item under review. There is ALWAYS subconscious bias of one kind or another in any subjective judgement. Someone like me is probably biased against hearing a beneficial effect, in fact. I did not think power cords could possibly make any difference to the sound of an electrostatic speaker (connecting the ESL bias supply to AC), until I finally did a listening test in my own system; I was wrong. However, what I found was that sonics only poorly correlated, if at all, with cost of the AC cord. |
Dev, According to the SR website, weight of the PHT = ".001 gm" = 1 mg.
Thus there should be very little effect on tonearm effective mass and only a small adjustment of VTF is necessary after installation. I guess it "sticks" to the body of the cartridge due to magnetics. A theoretical question I have is how can this device INCREASE the intensity of the magnetic field in the gap between the coil and the cartridge magnet? (This is the mechanism by which it is said to work.) Normally, placing a magnetic object within the field of a permanent magnet would weaken its magnetic field. At least this appears to be the case empirically. |
JWPstayman, Pardon me, if I was incorrect in my assumption that the PHT is itself a tiny magnet. However, I did not make that up; I read it somewhere during my effort to research this product. If I am wrong, a thousand pardons.
Now, as to your contention that it is a "transducer", please tell me how or in what way it can be a transducer. It is not even electrically connected in the audio pathway, so I must wonder about that.
Zd542, I assume your long post is tongue in cheek. Good one. But my next post will contain the Quote of the Century. Ad astra per aspera! (Or something like that.) |
Phil, Thanks for relating your real-world experience. I was surprised to learn that your PHT weighed .015gm (=15mg), as I thought I saw a stat on the SR website of .001gm, for the PHT, albeit that seemed too low to be true. (Here I do not mean to say that SR is deceptive or duplicitous about the weight of the PHT. More than likely this is my own error in interpreting what I read.) In any case, even 15mg is nothing to worry about as regards altering tonearm effective mass or VTF. I personally have had the experience of going in to a listening test with a decided negative bias and coming out with a different opinion entirely. It may well be that when one expects to hear no difference, then the tiniest difference may register with more sensitivity than would otherwise be the case. (This was the question of whether power cords make a difference to the sound of an ESL [electro-static loudspeaker]. I thought surely they would not, but I was very surprised to discover that they do indeed, at least in my system with my pair of Sound Lab ESLs. But one of the two best sounding PCs were the hardware store grade cords supplied by the manufacturer. Cost of the PC was no correlate of "goodness" to my ears. The only nearly "bad" sounding PCs were as costly as any of the 4-5 pairs I got together for my test.) |
Zd542, Naahhh. I'm as bad as anyone else. This is why good science depends upon double-blind testing. But I did not say audio has to be good science.
Phil, When a cartridge gets a lot of use, the only thing that wears are the stylus and the suspension; the magnet of any decent modern cartridge are is quite stable, probably completely stable for decades. Now, when you introduce a magnetized material (PHT?) or any ferrous material (PHT?) in the vicinity of a permanent magnet, I would think it's a crapshoot. The total magentic field then available to promote induction of a signal in the coil of the cartridge may be enhanced but more likely would be reduced in intensity. (Anyone who knows the physics of magnets and who thinks otherwise, feel free to enlighten me.) I don't see how the PHT can be a good thing, if it's a magnet or magnetic, but I am open to teaching. |
