Cost effective Schumann Resonator


After reading about the Acoustic Revive unit, I was looking on Ebay and found a Schumann Resonator for $175 (plus $20 for a very nice plexiglass case). It's model designation is Chartres Mk.2. It is made by a fellow named David in Indonesia. He was a pleasure to deal with, start to finish. The unit arrived in about 10 days. The fit and finish was reassuring. It is a circuit board with good quality components mounted between two sheets of well cut and finished plexiglass.
I have read, and failed to understand a lot that has been written about Schumann resonators, but I am willing to. Suspend disbelief and try a tweak that a lot of folks say works. My initial reaction on hooking up the resonator was disbelief. Sound stage and localization were noticeably better. I had to disconnect and reconnect the unit several times to convince myself that I wasn't fooling myself. Mechanism of action be hanged, it made a very positive difference in my system. This finding was confirmed my moving it to a second system where, again, spatial information seemed much improved.
I am very happy with this purchase. Results rule!
shyood
Had the unit about 4 to 5 feet off the floor, just to the left of the left speaker. Will try it between the speakers at 5 ft. in a few days. Will post results at that time.
The recommended height is around five feet off the floor and between the speakers. If the unit is tunable you might want to try to find the sweet spot. I have often wondered how the 25,000 mile long Schumann wave fits in the room. :-)
I think there's some degree of difference depending on the speakers and maybe other equipment in a given system as to the effects one perceives. I noticed considerably more noticeable effects with my previous speakers than my current ones.
Bought one of these out of curiosity. It doesn't do a thing for me. I'm not saying it doesn't make a difference, just that I can't detect anything. I guess it's a lot like cables. Some folks hear it, others don't.
Abucktwoeighty,

Acoustic Revive cost a lot more than that. Do you have a link for a $38 Schumannn?
After reading this, I've looked into them a bit. What difference is there between a $38 unit versus a more expensive one, say the $175 one, besides just the cost? Does the higher priced one work better than the lower priced one in a larger room because it has more power? I guess I have more reading to do to.
I use 6 Schumann devices in my listening room. 4 units are about 6 feet off the ground and the other 2 units are about 2 feet off the ground. The effect on SQ is very noticeable. A big improvement.
RW: Thank you very much for the kind words. I think there is at least one alternative that has appeared only in the last month or so from Alan Maher designs (AMd or Alan P Maher on his facebook store). I don't yet know all that much about how it works except that it shunts environmental EMI/RFI to ground. A wallwart sized plug-in for an open outlet and you start with one plugged into each of the 4 corners of your home. Called the "Quad Cell Antenna" - cost: $40 ea. Haven't tried it yet, but I probably will early next year. User comments have also included the reduction in the amount of ringing in the ears...as well as reduction of pressure in the head or sinuses immediately upon plug in, for some. Alan, apart from designing a very wide (sometimes bewilderingly so) array of noise reduction products for AV use, is also an allergy sufferer and has learned for himself how to design all his products with that angle in mind. It should be pointed out though that Alan has done a lot more examination into the health ramifications with EMI/RFI than I and says (as is on his site in posts as recently as yesterday) that EMI/RFI poisoning is linked to increased risks of cancer (which he goes a bit into). He also specifically deals with the Schumann Resonator, as do some of the users who've used both it and the QC Antenna. The QC Antenna has an AV range of about every 10 feet or so in the area near the system and a range of about every 250-300 sq ft for health benefits. But, that should at least be a start for anyone looking to boost AV performance - and reduce health risks from environmental EMI/RFI....except for Nonoise, for whom it's apparently too late... ;)
I have a Quantum device, which I believe does the same thing, that's been in my system for many years and I think I'm ohque.

All the best,
Nonoise
What a very kind and reasoned post, John, thank you! I have to think that only something like a whole house Faraday cage would be effective at eliminating environmental EMI/RFI. And not many would want to bear the expense and hassle of implementing such a device....

-RW-
The Schumann frequency of 7.83 Hz is actually a natural electromagnetic resonance in the ionosphere produced by lighting storms and solar radiation. The Schumann frequency is very close to the alpha wave frequency used for relaxation and meditation. It should be pointed out that since EMI/RFI frequencies are very high, in the GHz range, the Schumann frequency, being very low, would not interfere with them, I.e., block, absorb, etc.
Hi all, please don't take this the wrong way. I don't want to rain on anybody's parade or anything and I certainly don't doubt what anybody hears with it, but just be aware that it's my understanding that the Schumann Resonator is actually designed to, in effect, pump out a sizable enough 'sheild', or 'dome', of a form of EMI/RFI into the listening area. It's sort of like fighting 'fire' (the comparatively weaker, but random, sources of EMI/RFI from the in-wall wiring, the components and any other electrical source of EMI/RFI in the immediate area, as well as that which is passing through the air) with 'fire' (a much stronger and steady-state dose of EMI/RFI in a localized area). This will act to swamp the more weakly interacting and individualized effects and, to a degree, the area will then act as one larger, single orientation of it. This may actually be all well and good as far as your equipment goes, but for people it may not exactly be the most healthy thing to do. EMI/RFI pollution in daily life is not especially a good thing and there are known health hazards associated with it. You may have heard that it is not really recommended, for example, to live too close to high-tension towers because of that. The thing to keep in mind with it here is that the majority of people appear to live their whole lives without any real indication of being affected by it. But, often allergy sufferers and, particularly, people with auto-immune diseases can feel its effects, but in general some people are perhaps less sensitive to it than others. And it may be that you are not susceptible to it at all. All I'm saying is to just pay some long-term attention to your time spent with the Resonator. If you begin to notice any unexplained headaches, fatigue or allergy-like symptoms that, over time, you can correlate to your listening sessions with the Resonator on, then you may be one of the folks that can be affected by the device. Some people who use one say that they do not like to leave the unit on all the time, only when they listen, and say that otherwise leaving it on 24/7 tends to make them feel slightly ill after too much time spent in the same room with it. Should it prove to be a problem for you, I know there are other equally effective and inexpensive methods to fight EMI/RFI in your system that can be explored. I've even seen some that are so effective at ridding the immediate area of EMI/RFI that they can actually offer health benefits for people sensitive to its effects - just the opposite from using the Resonator. Hope this helps. Regards, John
It doesn't connect to the system directly. It works by generating a wave that damps EMF as best as I can distill from the explanations that vary from arcane to absurd. I really don't understand it well, but my ears are happy with the result after a long afternoon of connecting and disconnecting it with a good spread of sources and recordings.
The Schumann Resonators do not connect to the system at all. They just plug into the wall and produce a low frequency pulse that shields you and the equipment in the room from rfi. I have one and it does have an effect on the sound. I also have one in my bedroom and I am sleeping much better with it
Alan
I'm a sucker for effective and (relatively) affordable tweeks. How does this connect to the system? I see an interconnect plugged into it in the one pictures.