Exactly! Far as, "harm": the incessant, unfortunate presentation of their beliefs as categorical imperative, or- TRUTH, rather than as the misinformed, uneducated and (largely) untested OPINIONS they are, is what I believe contrary to (what used to be) the spirit of this website. The thought that they could succeed in dissuading a new audio enthusiast from experimenting for themselves (regardless of the topic or component) and being robbed of potential listening pleasure, is what dismays me.
Are Shakti Stones effective?
I have never used Shakti Stones and wonder if they really work and, if so, what do they do, I have used the Shakti Holographs and found them to magically focus the sound and tighten the soundstage. From what I have heard, even from Shakti, is that the stones make a significant difference is some usage and less in other. Has anyone used these and what do they do?
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rodman99999 The cult of the Naysayer Doctrine, wants you to accept their revelations, by faith (ie: YOUR senses and mental faculties are worthless and deceitful) ...This is absolutely true and it's one of the great ironies in audio. Many of those who would proclaim themselves "objectivists" are actually those consumed by a faith-based belief system. That's why they can so readily reject observations that aren't consistent with their beliefs. It is the very nature of faith; it requires no proof. Empirical evidence is just an inconvenience to the measurementalists, who seek comfort and security in their faith. And just like some religious fundamentalists, the measurementalists can be tireless in their evangelical proselytizing. |
@mahgister- I've always held that the first three letters of, "assumptions", described those that make them. The cult of the Naysayer Doctrine, wants you to accept their revelations, by faith (ie: YOUR senses and mental faculties are worthless and deceitful). You MUST follow their precepts, or- be eternally DAMNED to partake of their (seemingly) inexhaustible fountain of ubiquitous, misinformed/uneducated, faith-based, hubris-salted, BLATHER. Well: at least until they manage to get a thread removed, through their antagonistic barking (salvation preaching, no doubt, to their fevered, tormented minds). |
The main important first knowledge fact in audio life is this one, some of us learned the hard way: Past some point in technological electronic engineering improvement in the past collective or personal history, the main improvement coming from an audio system, come less from an electronical design new progress than from an improved control of the mechanical, electrical and acoustical embeddings of the audio system... Most embeddings controls are often simple devices and also sometimes simple advices (speakers positioning) and play now the first role in the increasing of the S.Q. of an audio system... The devices i created for myself cost peanuts and worked so much that they transform my basic vintage good audio system to a new level ... Anybody can make them, anybody can create better device at low costs.... Knowing that it is not so much buying better gear, past some point of your purchasing history, that will improve your system, the so called "upgrading process", but the increasing controls of the mechanical electrical, and acoustical dimensions is the most important basic fact in audio life... Dont upgrade anything before embedding everything rightfully.... This is the basic axiom of audio.... And the ONLY important knowledge for most of us, engineers or not..... |
You assume that anybody who will buy something to try is "gullible"... You assume that all products that work for some but not for all are "snake oil"... You assume YOU must speak for all people and in their name... You accuse anybody that does not assume what your saying is "part of the problem " and is "harmful"... Anybody can deduce what is your problem.... I will let others conclude... :) By the way i devise for myself many homemade devices that work well, that is proof for myself that all products proposed to audiophiles are not necessarily fraud.... Your accusations are baseless in their overall range.... What make me smile is your allegations about "your knowledge".... Anyway i wish you the best.... |
If people demo a product and do not like it then where is the harm/snake oil? We are all grown up.The problem is the "gullible" who don't have the knowledge here pay these sharks good money for their snake oil products, (like a 10cent fuse for $150) that's "directional" in an AC circuit. And if? "you think there’s nothing wrong with that", then you are also part of the problem. THERE"S THE HARM |
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if you can tell the difference you are kidding yourself, but if you like big wooden sticks with magic paint on, then it's your money, sell the crud, and buy better gear, not too harsh i hopeNa, on the money, you let the snake oiler's down gently I think, most are shilling for snake oil companies anyway. As there's massive profit gain in a 10cent fuse being sold for $150. So those companies recruit very carefully so they are not implicated for fraud with their snake oil, that why you NEVER see them or their staff spruiking their voodoo snake oil rubbish to the gullible here on these pages. Cheers George |
WOW,, the thing is, put your stones, or anything that this company makes, on or in your room, play some well known music, blindfold yourself, then have a friend remove these items, OR NOT, and see if you can hear a difference, a plant can make a measurable difference, IE on a scope ,not to the ears, as a defuser, for £15, all in if you can tell the difference you are kidding yourself, but if you like big wooden sticks with magic paint on, then it's your money, sell the crud, and buy better gear, not too harsh i hope |
If the weight of a stone reduces vibrations in an audible way then great. As far as hearing a different soundstage or "inkier" backgrounds, sure-- you might hear them, you might not, either way it's more likely you and not the stones. You have adjusted your focus-- and when your ears try to hear something differently they just do-- even when nothing has actually changed audibly. You sip a wine, someone points out a flavor note in it you hadn't noticed, and suddenly there it is-- and there it always was. So much snake oil, so little time... |
I used many materials, trying to damp vibrations over the years,(years ago). Yes I could here differences. Realized later, that as far as controlling vibrations goes, starting from the ground up made more improvement and more sense. These devices like Shakti, Bybee, Akiko and so on aren't the same. Just because Shakti is placed on top of a component doesn't mean it's purpose is mass loading. |
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They have a patent you can check out that has a diagram of the internals and describes their construction and how they are supposed to work. The stone part is just a shell for the actual internal working components, I don't know what its' purpose is or why they settled on the stone aspect of the shell. I'm open to try any tweak if the price is right and the resale value is decent in case it does nothing of note. I bought a Shakti Stone, tried it in different spots in different setups both audio and video, it really made a big difference placed on an Extron rgbhv distribution amplifier I use with broadcast monitors. I haven't moved it since to other spots after changing things round and it's been years since I tested things out so I can only say I noticed a real change in this one spot. Find a dealer that may have a demo period if one wishes to try them out for themselves. |
Thanks denverfred.... I just want to remind the readers that what i call "Golden Plate", a device i created is a plate of shungite+copper tape on the external side .... It is more efficient this way, only shungite is less powerful, and i put these "golden plates" all along the electrical grid of the house, behind speakers connectors, on router, on the electrical panels, power supply, etc....(dont use on amplifier or dac because they will compress the sound ) For interconnect or for my Schumann generators grid i use very small "Golden Plate" namely very small shungite plate+ copper tape on the external side of the application..... It is my main device to lower the noise on the electrical grid of the house....(electrical embeddings of an audio system is very important) Golden plate cost: peanuts... I dont sell anything.....Grab it.... :) My best to you and to all.... |
A 1’ thick slab of concrete from Home Depot does the CD trick for me. Getting ready to try those springey things from China. Will report. I am an admitted happy user of Shungite, which I assume is what Shakti stones are made from. I went thru some experiments and used some of Magister’s ideas and determined that these stones are primarily effective as POWER noise reducers. A bag of small shungite stones draped over the cables leading in-n-out of my router and wall sockets seem to have lowered the noise floor for both audio and video. I have a pyramid resting on my flat (Nordost) speaker cables. More stable image. They’re cheap and the pyramids are cute and if you can’t hear the difference, use them as tiptoes or decor or give them to someone and make up a weird story. I get the impression that most of the deniers here have never read any of the literature on shungite. Pity. |
Mass is mass. How much mass do you need to qualify as mass? When you post ignorance on a general forum some old fart who went to school back when they actually got an education is liable to irrefutably correct your nonsense. Back then we learned this thing we called reading comprehension. More than merely being able to sound out and spell the words reading comprehension involves understanding not only the words themselves but the context, intent, and content of the total message. The difference between reading and reading comprehension is knowing the OP is asking about Shakti Stones. No one is talking about mass loading. That was merely an example used to illustrate the ineffectiveness of Shakti Stones. It can take years to develop your reading skills to this level. Usually grade school but not everyone learns at the same rate. Maybe by the time you yourself are an old fart you will have figured it out. Not off to a good start, but you never know. |
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for me i am not an IMMEDIATE naysayer i have tried it, gave it a chance (actually many many chances), based on my experience, it does nothing i can hear - still have one, it sits in my equipment closet after four homes in 20+ years but maybe i am blessed with no emi issues... or poor hearing LOL ymmv as always |
It would be refreshing if those immediate naysayers on these types of thread could prove they’d ever tried the mentioned tweak before they pull that ’no, it will never work because it can’t claim.’ And Miller Carbon’s responses to this are what I mean as useful answers - he tried it, he sort of did hear a difference and he points out anything of sufficient mass placed on top of a cd transport usually does effect its sound. |
With my similar products, no strain was needed to hear the positive difference. Shakti and similar products don’t use mass as their effectiveness. In the products I use, use rare earth minerals that absorb RFI/EMI, I only assume the Shakti does this as well. I'm not histrionic about it as one here is. |
Once you get them,Then what do you do? Just set them on the metal box of the component? Yes, that’s exactly what you do. Pick a spot, plop it down, plop yourself down, and listen. Strain. To hear even the slightest difference. Which, remember, even something as simple as a phone book placed on top of a CD player will affect (usually improve) the sound. So the Shakti Stone being a mass with felt on the bottom is expected to make some small improvement even if only due to the slight mass damping effect. It is when you think about it actually quite remarkable they have managed to make something so truly ineffective. I mean it does do something. Like I said it does make a very slight improvement when placed over the transport section of a CD player. But that is it. A ten dollar dive weight makes a bigger difference than one of these things. A freaking phone book! Okay, nobody has a phone book any more. Use your imagination. Any book of decent size a couple inches thick will do. Don’t take my word for it. Try it and see. You have just out-performed a Shakti Stone! Okay, just realized no one reads books any more. Dang. This getting old stuff is getting old. Okay so what do you have these days? Energy drinks! Put a big ol can of Red Bull on there. Or Fountain Foo Foo Water. Two pound bag of Organic Coffee. Whatever! Take the challenge, do your best, try and find something you can put on there that WON’T be better than a Shakti Stone! Go on! I dare you! I double-dog dare you! |
simple answer is this - if one insists on trying to see ’if it works’ just be patient and buy one someone is selling at a used price, then try it if it works and you are happy, great... if you decide that it is all b.s. and want it gone, just post an ad and as you can see, there are enough 'believers' that you will sell it to the next _________________ (fill in the blank)... |
mglik Are Shakti Stones effective? About as effective as Shun Mook Pucks, Geoff Kiat’s Pebbles (https://www.machinadynamica.com/mikro-pebbles.jpg), $150 Boutique Fuses, HFT’s and a host of other snake oil products, that convince the gullible to hand over their cash. Cheers George |
I purchased a Shakti stone last year. It’s effect was immediately apparent and 100% repeatable on each piece of equipment I placed it on including the main breaker panel in my house. As the instructions stated the effect of the stone depends on its orientation on each component. If you don’t hear a change in sound rotate the stone 90 degrees, again, the effect was 100% repeatable each time. As for the sound, it produced a darker background and made the soundstage bigger. However, the larger soundstage was ‘artificial’, instruments went from sounding life size to being too large, the singers voice was exaggerated so their mouth was like a foot wide. I liken it to increasing the size of a picture in MSpaint, when you stretch it out it becomes larger but all the pixels become blocky. I did not find it pleasing in my system due to the exaggerated, no longer life size scale of the music. Perhaps a different system could benefit from the use of a shakti stone. |
I dont know for the shakti stone or the hallograph..... But i create my own devices,with only homemade component, and they worked for improving sound on all count....Peanuts costs.... But people dont believe in their own ears experiments and dont believe in improvement if they are not ready made and officially stamped by a reviewer and costly like the wooden hallograph... Believe in your own ears and listen.... One experiment after the other.... My best to all.... |
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