Fun Little Project for improving Dynamics

Ozzy or Tweakyman - I am going to try this tweek. Researching Alan's stuff and haven't found anyone who actually has bought his stuff that didn't like it, which is amazing in this hobby. I looking to source the amathyst. Any guidance on size, amount etc.. Also, did the air tight vacuum sealing make a difference over not vacuum sealing. I didn't want to have to buy a food sealer, family eats everything as fast as it comes in the door.

If you were to recommend other tweeks that have a good ROI and not terribly expensive what would they be. Is the Audio Prism Ground control worth looking at.

It works for me Ozzy!

Thanks Ozzy...I will try this and appreciate your suggestion..I'm hoping something will improve that (stage depth loss) That I mentioned..I don't always feel like driving my system at higher volume levels...Earlier in this journey I placed the baggies at the male 3 prong plug (wall) end,There was no noticeable effect to my ears so I removed them..

I wrap aluminum foil around my PC at the IEC end. There is definately an improvement. The aluminum shields the IEC end of the cord.

Tweakyman, You've got to try a "baggy" on the IEC of a power cord thats where you will notice the most improvement.

OK,(crystal tweaks) I tried this very carefully over a 6 month period...I was really curious as to the effect (if there is any) on a dedicated audio system..My system had reached a pretty good level of resolution...but the nagging thought "is there more"?....Well, I won't bother listing the various dozens of applications and methods I used other then to say that..I kept careful records of this mystical journey and tried to be as objective as possible...I will say the preparation of the crystals was the previously shared soak in sea salt..then the isopropal alcohol,the rinse and soak in distilled water, the sun drying..and finally the suspending in mineral oil and spooning the prepared material into smallish polyethylene bags. I used my food saver(without vacuum) to heat seal the bags..I will cut to the chase and report my findings..The final tweak was the most clear evidence of an actual effect...I had used a combination of small rough crushed,small tumbled and mid sized tumbled amethyst in each bag...I taped a series of bags tightly around the circumference of my speaker cables close the speaker end.. The effect was decisive and conclusive... I now had to, or was able to set my attenuator 2 clicks higher to produce the same volume as prior to the tweak..In fact I could set it up to 3 clicks up without any discomfort or distortion.I checked this with an SPL meter. Now I had to determine if the change was for the better or to the detriment of my system...Was the amethyst suppressing the signal forcing that the attenuation be set higher or did the amethyst lower the noise floor to the point of Allowing higher settings with the benefit of greater saturation?. My conclusion is It's better...I am able to drive my speakers much louder than before without distortion and with much more inner detail air, ambient retrieval..and to my glory great specificity of performers on the stage...I'm hearing for the first time an aliveness and nuances on LP's and CD's that I've played 100's of times..."So there is something to it"....The only perceptible downside so far is that the system doesn't sound as good to me at lower volume levels..(particularly in depth of the stage)..This may improve with time..or it could be an unbeatable trade off?

03-05-11: Mark3d
"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance — that principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spence

"There is a principle which is a bar against death, which cannot fail to keep a man alive longer — that principle is not jumping off the roof while flapping one's arms to make sure it doesn't work." Sebrof

I think the crystals are shielding the cables to a degree.

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance — that principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer

The manufacturers of the Power Bracelet finally had to admit there is no science behind their claim of "natural power". If you don't need no "stinkin' science" you can probably get a really good deal on these right now. They might even help the sound quality of poor equipment. Heck, for $10 it's worth a shot.

A 4 week delay in noticing results would seem to make it difficult to associate cause and effect with certainty though.

Agreed. I'm too impatient to wait that long for results. Any component that demands 1000 hours of break in to sound its best is just begging to purchased used.

i dont doubt for one moment that ozzy heard something.

the problem i have is that its nigh on impossible to state that 2-4weeks hence the improvement in sound is a fxn of crystals or some 'takes weeks to stabilize tweak'.

truly, the only way to know is install, leave it for a month, and then swap out. ---if things change, you'll know why, and you'll also know its not an effect limited by break in or stabilization as after 4 weeks everything is operating properly.

if you hear no diff, then there wasn't one.

(i'm doing this w/ Maher's CBFs---it takes forever to audition them. but they do something, some good, some bad)

"For reasons still unclear to me, it may take a few weeks (perhaps as much as 4 weeks) to sound good."

It's possible I suppose that the crystal structure of amethyst or other minerals in crystalline form might effectively limit or disrupt EM field emissions from power cords which can have the effects claimed.

If so, I would expect immediate results assuming everything is set up effectively from the start.

A 4 week delay in noticing results would seem to make it difficult to associate cause and effect with certainty though.

"So, crystals? Sure, why not?"

Of course, why not. I have noticed that my system has better highs on the upper floor (logical) and better bass in the basement. I keep it on main floor as best of both worlds but this effect can be used to tweak the system. I'm sure I will try stones after I'm done with the placement. I wish I could move it from the basement to upper floor dependent on the music played but it is way to heavy.

Sebrof, as I said, I'm a natural skeptic. But I'm experienced enough to know that I don't know everything about how everything works. Google "qx4 stereophile" and read about a completely nonsensical device that apparently works. Then search on "quantum qx4" in the forums here. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but the results are apparently reliably reproducible.

So, crystals? Sure, why not?

I just bought Zu Omens - 60 day money back. I'll keep them or not on how they sound. If I looked at specs only I certainly would not have look at Zu (I've not seen Omen specs, but Druids with similar driver look terrible). They sound pretty good, btw. I may keep them.

I never, ever said anything about crazy, never said anything about they do not work. I can post that 100 times and still you assume I am saying it's crazy and that I say they do not work. That's another related side note - Anyone who questions is closed minded and has no opinion unless they try it. Anyone who brings up the fact that there is more to suggest an unexplained tweak can be explained has their words twisted.
All I am saying is that I don't get that people do not acknowledge that it may be something other than the unexplained tweak that changed the sound.
I went through this a while ago with fuse direction. The guys kept telling me to try it, I don't know what I am missing. I resisted because I knew what would happen. I eventually tried it and guess what - No change. You say there was no change because I had a closed mind, I disagree. I say they heard a change because of something else entirely. btw: Crystals - I am skeptical and say it is probably not the crystals but who knows, there could be something to it. Fuse direction - I say no way, no how. But I could be wrong.
Oz, I'm sorry to be a wet sponge on your tweak. My point was only "Don't you guys think there could be another reason you like the crystals?" I do, apparently you don't.
Peace.

Sebrf, What would make you try it?
Have you tried the Audioprism Ground Controls?
When you buy a new component say a Amp or Speakers do you just buy them based on the specs? How do you know they will sound better than your present set up?
What makes you try them?
You must have had some curiosity or you would not have responded to this thread.

Explaining to me over and over how crazy some of the tweak claims are does not change the fact that I have taken the time to try it, and you didn't.

Believe it or don't believe it. Try it or don't try it. Open minded or closed minded. It's no skin off my nose. I can hear an effect, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Not an illusion at all.

I performed a test for a fellow audiophile this weekend when he stopped by. I took 2 small plastic cases that had crystals in them and placed them on the top of my turntable step up preamp. The soundstage shrunk and was immediately constricted. When they were removed it expanded tremendously. No question about it. Not subtle at all. Using something like a weight in their place yielded no result at all, so it wasn't anything to do with vibration dampening or the like. Obviously in this case they caused a bad result, but an immediately audible result nontheless.

Ozzy - You read into my posts that I am saying there is no way the crystals can work. I am not saying that.
I read into your posts that you are saying there is no way it can be anything but the crystals changed the music. I'm saying I disagree with that, that there is another (IMO more likely) explanation, and that so often on these forums it is completely disregarded as if it does not exist.
I won't try the crystals because I see absolutely nothing to lead me to believe they do anything.
Testimonials? - Google "magnetic bracelet" and read the testimonials of the people who could not walk... I don't believe in these either.

What you are experiencing could be this, or it could be that. To support "this" we have hundreds of testimonials. To support "that" we have a very large pile of information. I'm putting my money on that, until something is added to the this pile.

I posted this little project for those of us who like to experiment. For very little expense each Audiogon tweaker can try it for themselves. Just for fun. I've got to admit,it seemed like a strange idea to me also.
But I tried it, and I'm impressed. Why should I conduct all of those blind tests when for me I am satisfied.

Sebrof, don’t try it, I really don’t care. But, perhaps for a measly $10 bucks and an open mind you will be back posting what an improvement this tweak is.
Them maybe you can explain to us why it works...

If you can’t tell any improvement, I will buy them from you.

I posted this little project for those of us who like to experiment. For very little expense each Audiogon tweaker can try it for themselves. Just for fun. I've got to admit, it seemed like a strange idea to me also.
But I tried it, and I'm impressed. Why should I conduct all of those blind tests when I am satisfied?

Sebrof, don’t try it, I really don’t care. But, perhaps for a measly $10 bucks and an open mind you will be back posting how unbelievable this tweak is.
Them maybe you can explain to us why it works...

If you can’t tell any improvement, I will buy them from you.

Thanks cbw. But I'm specifically addressing the part of the post that said he had no idea how or why it worked. Those are the things im talking about. Preams and speakers are in the signal chain, there is no mystery why or how they would change the signal.
It just seems that too often we are willing to completely disregard the most obvious and also most likely explanation. I guess that makes the hobby more fun for a lot of us, the mysteries and experiments and all. I guess I'd rather get to the bottom of things.
Again- the crystals may work, but there is no evidence to support it to my knowledge. And there is information to support that he who added crystals would hear a difference. Let him do as magfan suggested, have someone remove the bags. My guess is he would not be able to tell.

Sebrof, the problem with your argument is that it applies to almost everything we audiophiles do to improve our systems. "I tried a new speaker/amp/preamp/DAC/speaker cable/interconnect/power cord/what-have-you and it made my system sound better/worse." At some point we have to trust our perceptions.

I'll grant that the crystals sound loopy, but so do about 90% of the tweaks I've seen advocated here and elsewhere. As a natural skeptic who has entered the audiophile world, I've had to learn to withhold judgment on a lot of claims that seem both unlikely and exaggerated.

That said, I'm not buying any Amethyst crystals until I see a lot more "evidence" of their positive effects.

Ozzy - Glowing reviews from folks that made a change and believe they heard a difference no doubt. Kinda made my point.
I'm not saying these things do or don't, just saying that a lot of the "I have no idea how or why" tweaks can be easily explained. Very easily.
Did you see the McGurk thing? That's the kind of thing that makes me very skeptical of a lot of what I read on these forums.

Sebrof , you need to Google and read all the glowing reviews about using Alan Maher’s CBF Signature Filters. These filters use exclusively the Amethyst crystals.

>>"No BS. For $10 on E-Bay you can try this and speak with some meaningful knowledge instead of snarking at those not afraid to experiment. I can't explain it and I won't try."<<

Ptm - I'll explain it.
You made a change and you believe it made a difference. There is no mysterious unexplained phenomenon. I don't need to try it to understand that. If i did try it i would probably believe it too. Just google around and read about how we mistakenly perceive things in our environment. Start with the McGurk effect. Fascinating.

IF the baggies are tucked out of site, try a test.
When you are gone, have someone remove....or NOT remove, the baggies in question.
Then record your answer to 'baggie, yes/no'.
Do 20 trials over a period of weeks and see if you score significantly above 50%. No cheating.

Picked up some very small tumbled Amethyst, cleaned them and put them in small baggies and draped them over my power cords. There is a definite and distinct audible difference. If you are one of the ones making fun of this then you haven;t actually tried it. it makes no sense, but it does SOMETHING(?).

Too much makes things closed in and dull sounding. There also seems to be a difference when used on the plug end or on the IEC end. It didn't sound good at all on my CD player cord no matter where or what I tried. Same with the amp cord. It does improve things when placed on my phono preamp and my regular preamp and my power junction box that feeds the source components.

No BS. For $10 on E-Bay you can try this and speak with some meaningful knowledge instead of snarking at those not afraid to experiment. I can't explain it and I won't try.

It all sounds too goofy to me , but then Ive had the smurk wiped off my face many times before with tweeks and such . Don't knock it till you try it .

haha I worked in the audio industry for years and heard all kinds of whacky stuff but this post has to be the best yet! love it!

I spent a long time....I won't admit to how long (!) adjusting a tweaking just the physical setup of my system.
Just for example:
I added a sub. Did some 'gross' testing with bass heavy music and decided I liked the sub on plane with my panels and about 1 foot from the side wall. This put the sub, sort of, in a corner. Crawled around the room and decided that for all feasible listening positions I was good. Room is 8 sided and has asymmetric vaulted ceiling, about 11' at the peak. Good for me! Started adjusting level and crossover frequency. Decided on maximum extension rather than maximum output mode. Tweaked speaker position. Tweaked some more. Shut off sub and tried yet again. Finally, put the panels 'backwards' with the mylar facing the back wall and the pole piece to the listener. OOPS! flip the sub phase switch and bass returned. Adjusted the crossover frequency down again and marked the gain position for reference.
Adjustments were minutes apart at the start and days or more at the end of the process.

Left it alone for days between above adjustments. Last week, I got out the ruler / tape measure and documented my setup. Made ONE final adjustment to panel toe to make them match. They are NOW at 30.5" to the inside edge of the trim strip and 34" to the outside edge with tweeters IN. This is about 11 degrees.

Don't touch that dial.

Point? Well, I'm not a snap judger. If something bugs me, it may take a while, especially if it is minor. I don't have that feeling now.

Same for you. If you remove / don't remove the stones, you may find your EAR adjusts to them or LACK of them. IF as you say, it takes up to FOUR (gasp) weeks for them to work in, you should notice their absence immediately, no?

Just my opinion, but I think it's the 'Shirley MacLaine Effect'. Other than metaphysics or religion, I simply can't figure how this would work with known principles.

Have somebody remove them.....or NOT.....when you are gone for the day.

Repeat as necessary till you get say....20 tests. 50% correct would be expected from simple chance.

Well, I may lose all credibility for stating this but, here goes ...

I picked upo some of the Alan Maher littel boxes as part of a local club "group buy". We got a really inexpensive price on them so I thought it would be worth a shot for experimental purposes. I really had NO expectation that they would work at all. So, after about 3-4 weeks I definitely hear an improvement. Yes, there was some improvement within 24 hours of installing them, but after that things changed (up, down, sideways) sound wise, and no, I can't explain why. But they did stabilize after about 20 days.

Yes, these crystals do have an effect and I don;t have any explaination as to why. I have one box on the incoming bundle to my fuse box, one on the fuse to my audio system, one on the outlet feeding my amp and one on the IEC end of the plug into my preamp.

Now, let the derogatory remarks commence. But at least I know that I tried it and discovered a sonic improvement. (Yes, I have removed them and heard a definite degredation immediately, so they seem to be doing something.)

Has anyone had the nerve to drag Shirley MacLaine into this?

neither do I !!!

Ozzy, Samson and Delilah has been restored, TCM has run the restored version several times over the last few years. Don't know if it is on Blu ray, though.

I am so glad that my original posting brought so much joy to all.
But, after all the dust settles; my original posting is still true and accurate.

The use of the Amethyst on power cords or power sources will increase the system dynamics and expand the soundstage with 3 dimensional depth, width and height in addition to frequency extremes extension. The improvements will not be subtle. It will also improve Video if used on that equipment.

By the way, Hedy Lamarr was great in that Samson & Delilah movie, I wish that it would be restored and on Blu ray.

Most definitely the most entertaining post in awhile!

As for Heddy Lamarr, I remember when I was a young buck about 17 I walked in the house one afternoon to find my mother watching an old film. On the screen I saw one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen...of course my mother informed me that the woman was Lamarr. Wow.

All this time I thought it was Hedley Lamar! Oops. By the way thanks to Ozzy for giving us such an entertaining thread. I'm glad you are a good sport about it. This is a tough room to work sometimes. At least it wasn't a thread about which blue jeans you like. Oops. Sorry.

Hedy Lamarr, my kind of woman!

"Too much of the crystals may actually suppress the dynamics"

Do you drink leftover alcohol?

These work well with cats too. Method of attachment is up to you.

Regardless of what one's attitude may be toward seemingly off-the-wall tweaks, I nominate Onhwy61's post as a candidate for "Best Post of the Week."

BTW, for those who may not be aware, Hedy Lamarr really did make significant contributions to the design of torpedo guidance systems in WWII. See the paragraph entitled "Frequency-hopping spread-spectrum invention" in this Wikipedia writeup. Note also that "Lamarr's and Antheil's frequency-hopping idea serves as a basis for modern spread-spectrum communication technology, such as COFDM used in Wi-Fi network connections and CDMA used in some cordless and wireless telephones."

Regards,
-- Al

"And my doctor, I think he's crazy. I told him I think my wife has VD. He gave himself a shot!"

Tough crowd.
I tell you, I get no respect...

"The other day I was held up by a guy with a knife,
and it still had butter on it!"

Will this interfere with the warp field from my Cochran WD mkII amp? It is powered by Dilithium Crystals.

What jeans should I wear while dissolving the salt?

Very funny comments, ok dont try it.

Just remember, Shunyata uses crystals in there Hydra 8 and V2 Power Conditioner. Acoustic Revive uses crushed Tourmaline in there products and Alan Maher uses the same type of Amethyst crystals in his Signature Circuit breaker filter.