Update 3 :
I already speaks about the Herkimer diamond enhancing power...I add one to the USB S.G. and the effect was complementary and balancing the "golden" plate... More subtle details and clarity....Adding more to the powerful effect of the USB S. G. + golden plate...
I already try this formula some weeks ago on my speakers where I put 2 "golden" shungite plates behind the back of each of the speakers, one in line with the driver, the other under the cables and glued some Herkimer diamond on each of the shungite plate for balancing and harmonizing the effect with great results indeed...
My secret audio weapon is: shungite+copper tape+ Herkimer diamond... (Carbon+copper+quartz)
The SHUNGITE IN GENERAL IS DELICATE TO USE with only audio positive effect and nothing else... The shungite can add some negative trade-off in some place and use but that it is easy to compensate keeping only the positive impact...
For this compensation the copper tape act like some polarization of the shungite action, and the Herkimer diamond added some balancing effect on all frequencies without erasing the impactful force of the shungite cleaning noise action....
A word of caution :These posts are only words to convey my experience and not science at all....
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It seems Akiko company, an audiophile brand, has reserve and not so much enthusiasm with the use of shungite...You can read that somewhere in the middle of the review... https://6moons.com/audioreviews2/akiko/1.html«At the Akiko laboratory many materials were tested and found wanting for the intended task. Shungite, a material with a positive reputation in the alternative health movement for electro smog removal, didn’t work at all. So the search continued... » Akiko This contradict my own experience, but is this company using the shungite with the copper and with the Herkimer diamond? I bet no... That explain all for me... Like I already said in my preceding post shungite is powerful but very delicate to use.... |
Is is possible what you’re hearing is only the copper foil? And the shungite is only a placebo. 😬 One also wonders if the adhesive on the back of the shungite plates is conductive.
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No :)
(Not only placebo for sure, even if the placebo effect play a role in all audio this effect does not explain all audio and Geoffkait know that for sure)
The shungite, it is one of my first experience, act powerfully, positively but at the same time particularly negatively in proximity with the gear....
But observing the powerful impact , I decide to put it far from the gear, on the breaker central panel, the router of the house computers, on the wall plugs, etc... There, even without copper or H.D. (Herkimer diamond) the impact was more positive than negative...
After that I added the copper and the H. D., I experience NO more negative impact, only positive, and the greatest positive impact I ever experience … But remember that coupled with the S.G. these "golden" plates has no negative effect for my ears now....
If it is placebo I wanted to buy more … :)
I will repeat my words :
«The SHUNGITE IN GENERAL IS DELICATE TO USE with only audio positive effect and nothing else... The shungite can add some negative trade-off in some place and use but that it is easy to compensate keeping only the positive impact...
For this compensation the copper tape act like some polarization of the shungite action, and the Herkimer diamond added some balancing effect on all frequencies without erasing the impactful force of the shungite cleaning noise action....
A word of caution :These posts are only words to convey my experience and not science at all.... »
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By the way the S.G. without these "golden" plate +H.D. dont work so powerfully...
My experience with the S.G. is positive but particularly if the S.G. are modified with stones near them...And even the cheap one work audibly in the good direction... I tested that by disconnecting some... |
I only bought 2 audiophile products: Alan Maher plug and Bybee plate...
The 2 work but the impact was not so great compared with my plates... The impact was positive but not at the same level of my homemade solutions....And the used price for these 2 products exeed the price of almost all my plates...
I wish I can buy other products to test but I dont have this possibility....I am very happy with my simple medicine...
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You said earlier today that two shungite plates on the USB SR were too many. So that is a case where golden shungite hurt the sound. So, maybe there are other cases where shungite hurts the sound. I want to believe. By the way I spoke to a customer in Italy yesterday, a recording engineer who told me he heard a lot of buzz about shungite, maybe it was right here on Audiogon, what are the chances?, and that he tried it but it didn’t ring his bell 🔔
I am determined to get to the bottom of it of course. Also I took some of the copper foiled shungite plates to my customer no. 1 two days ago who promptly observed the sound didn’t breathe with the shungite in the room. The breath of the sound returned when I removed the Golden shungite.
Nevertheless I’m keeping an open mind. But not so open my brains fall out because that’s messy and hard to clean up. I’m sitting right on the fence for now. I’m baking some Cards and a Mat in the breaker box for several days and I will hop right back on the shungite project afterward.
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The sound will not breath if shungite is in the room says your customer and I am perfectly ok with this experience...Add also the Herkimer Diamond and you will see...Dont put the plate directly on the gear, NEVER....On the power supply perhaps but not on the gear...The Herkimer diamond is very important, not only copper to clean all the negative...
But add copper+Herkimer diamond, put that on the central router and listen ...
Add the plate on the central breaker panel and listen to it....
If you put only shungite near some gear that will compress the sound...
I use it on connector, breaker, coupled with the S.G. near the computer router, on unused wall plug...In all this place this is positive listening at the condition to add copper +H.D.
Put the shungite directly to some gear and generally that will powerfully kill the atmosphere and the air between the instrument etc...
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Yes, that’s why I’m suggesting you’re hearing the foils, not the shungite. Customer no. had crystals and foils already. We did not place the shungite near electronics. Also, remember the foils are directional, so that’s adds another variable, sadly. 😢
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When I add nude shungite behind my speakers or in the breakers panel I hear the effect of the shungite...Positive effects predominate on the breaker even with nude shungite...Behind the speakers nude shungite introduce some compression...
I add copper foil precisely because that create a more powerful effect with less negative.... Adding an Herkimer diamond balance all the sound but keep the shungite effect without negative... This is my experience.... Copper foil only behind speakers or on the central breaker panel dont work at the same impactful level...Only H.D. dont work at the same level also … The 3 act wonderfully for me...
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Without these S.G. and the shungite plate i dont like my audio system at all... With that I smile to any possible upgrade.... That says a lot about the impactful results of some tweaks... But the room treatment and the other stones I use and the Helmholtz resonator and my homemade singing resonators also are important but the shungite coupled with the S.G. is my best...
If someone want to try THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT MOVE with the shungite will be to add copper foil to it and put it on the central electrical panel of the house....
After that buy a S.G. put under it a " golden" plate +H.D, the shungite face touching the belly of the S.G. or if a USB S.G. put a thin plate on it with a small Herkimer diamond...
These 2 usage of shungite will be positive to say the least...
I experiment with more than 20 different stones and crystals.... All were particular, almost all with some variable positive effect, all compensate one with another, this is the reason I coupled some of them in my stone grid... The most delicate and difficult and powerful to use is the shungite...
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All that my thread suggest cost peanuts...
But implementing correctly something ask for time and experiments...
No audio system is the same than another, the electrical grid, the acoustical field, the vibratory conditions, being very different...
But all systems, nevermind the price need to clean the central electrical grid, before buying costly products, try 3 shungite plates for 50 bucks ( around 250 grams each), put some copper foil on some side, put them the nude shungite side facing the central panel and report here...If the sound in your particular audio system appear after that to be very compressed, it is simple, add a big chunk of pink quartz (around 150 gram or 200 gram)to the shungite plates, one big chunk would be ok...Or perhaps if it is only slightly compressed, a big black tourmaline chunk, that will be less drastic but more musical...Anyway only the shungite+copper in most case will be perfect...I said to add quartz or tourmaline only for those audio system very sensible that will need it...
I dont doubt that all reports will be positive....
This is a beginning...No placebo here...
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The biggest jawdropping tweak I`ve stumbeled upon happened way back when I was searching to replace my old Denon DCD-3560. Tryed out a Wadia and a VAC discrete tube dac but I could not just leave that mighty Denon behind.
Got me a service-manual and started wondering. "What if I tryed to take out a true balanced signal directly from the four opamps instead of the quasi-balanced they`ve ended up with after the complex analog filter?"
So I tryed it, and WOW what a difference! Later I`ve came to know that there is no need for any filters after multibit converters like the BB`s in the 3560. And off course, one DC-filter is enough for a system, no need to duplicate.
Later on I`ve upgraded trafo`s, clock (at least twice) internal wiring, shielding and damping in the old Denon. It outplayed both the Wadia and the VAC dac back then and is still today in my system. Have two extra 3560`s for parts and two new lazers still. |
Thanks...Interesting experience....A good dac is the most difficult piece of gear to buy nowadays...Happy new year to you.... |
In my "virtual system" section I add a photo of the Schumann Generator +shungite+copper+Herkimer diamond...
No compress sound at all, on the contrary a subtle halo linking and separating each instruments musically in a 3-d all around music with a more natural timbre...If this is placebo my wife put some drug in my coffee... :)
In general observation, all my experiments drove me always, except the normal corrective experiments and counter corrective measures, in the same direction: holographical musicality....
But no single tweak, no single methods, no single piece of gear, or no single audiophile products, gives me the sound I listen to now.... i experience only small or bigger improvement one at a time...Some really powerful, like the "golden" plates with Herkimer diamond+ many Schumann Generators...Or the 5 golden plates I put on my central electrical panel...
If there exist miracle in Audio, we must also use the plural, there is many small miracles.... It is normal because we must treat the room, clean the electrical grid, controls the vibrations, and many other things...
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Geoffkait I listen now to the 4 seasons by a Polish orchestra on Tacet Cd, a polish company that make cd from tube gear from the beginning of the chain to the end...
In a word, tubelike sound, and a cd I like much and which i know well...
This is the first time I listen to it on my speakers with a so uncompressed sound... Violins sings...The New S.G. with golden plate+H.D. made small miracle indeed...
Conclusion: my golden plates dont compress the sound....But in my cleaned house, treated room, with all my tweaks...
If you try the S.G. with a golden plate +an Herkimer diamond, it will not compress the sound on your headphone and walkman...Look at my "virtual system" photo for mine...
By the way Geoffkait I use 16 golden plates, yes 16 at least in my audio system....If just one compress the sound, imagine 16 …. :)
If the sound is compressed in some audio system, the reason are : where the plates are located? with copper or without? with Herkimer diamond or tourmaline or quartz to balance the shungite or not? The other possibilities are the limitation of the acoustic and the particular priority needs linked to the particular embeddings of this audio system ... But most of the times the remedies are simple, it is necessary to use quartz or tourmaline or Herkimer diamond to balance the effect of the shungite on all frequencies... This is my experience...
Compare to the Alan Maher product I try, or the Bybee plate, my golden plate cost is peanuts and more effective ….If used and located properly they decompress the sound, if not, NUDE shungite near any amplifier or dac indeed compress the sound, even on the computer or even on some external hard drive for example...Location is important and some corrective measure are always necessary ( copper , quartz, tourmaline or Herkimer diamond)…
The copper polarize the shungite effect in some direction, concentrate it in some way, and the Herkimer diamond balance it or the quartz or the tourmaline...
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An accessory it seems at first, but finally, very important observation:
The location where we put the S.G. is important, I know that from day one, but we dont have always the total free choice for that ideal placement sometimes...Because I can, I put the new USB thin S.G. at 4 feet right on top of my computer screen, where I listen in a nearfield manner from my desk speakers...The S.G. is at 2 or 3 feet max from my skull, and at 2 feet from my amplifier, and at 2 feet of my dac….
The effect seems WAY MORE impactful there ( compared to only 2 feet of displacement at my left where i put it yesterday) in the exact center of action sound wise between my brain and the audio system ....I think this spot is the IDEAL spot....
This S.G. modified is one of the best improvement in my audio life...No trace of compression in the sound image or dynamic or higher frequencies...The total opposite, this 16th piece of golden plates open the imaging. the dynamic, and the spectrum of frequencies...
I will repeat myself but I smile to any possible upgrade now like to a complete foolishness action because I am so completely satisfied...But like said someone I dont remember, we are always at the base camp, the summit escape us poor mortal...
( I think I remember this someone now if I think a bit strongly about it) :)
Perhaps after all tomorrow will reveal something new and unexpected in my audiophile quest for music...
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The use of chrystals and "magic" stones are known to be closely related to shamanism. Wonder if any off your "tweaks" would have survived if I should have visited your system. |
Next up, perhaps: isolate the Black USB SR AND obtain correct minimum height of 1m50cm (53 inches) above floor by using a 2m USB cable suspended by string from a hook on the wall without letting the Black USB SR or the USB touch the wall. All SR should be at least 1m50cm (53 inches) high.
Also, as I’ve oft counseled try using your crystals for resonance control - on glass windows and sliding doors, on top of power cord plugs, on top of or INSIDE speakers, on top of CD player, on top of RCA connectors on interconnects, on top of any tube trap or output transformer.
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I shall be trying eCards on my Black Schumann USB devices as soon as I finish cooking them in the breaker box. Stand by for blast off. Nine, eight, seven... 🚀
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six, five, four...
I am curious indeed of your impressions...
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Update 4 :
I decide to add an Herkimer Diamond to the one already there on the Black USB S.G.
Godammit! They work well with the golden plate on the S.G.
Improve details without being harsh at all because of the shungite+copper….
Absolutely NO compressed effect,(because the H.D balancing frequencies effect), zero harshness, better natural timbre, natural details and organic imaging....
I dont know but my best upgrading improvement except for the 20 "golden" plates everywhere in my house (yes I count and it is not 16 like I said) is this centered S.G., located in between my brain and the gear, with 2 Herkimer diamonds and a small "golden" plate (Shungite+ copper tape)...
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I will say something to be clearly understood...
Yes Schumann generator has an impactful audible effect, if not audible by you, i suggest that your room acoustic is lacking in a way or another or your audio system is not in his optimal shape at all ,or perhaps the two ...
But, I dont have experienced the effect of one S.G. to be so amazing at first, only there, audible, but subtle tough positive yes...( I owns 4 cheap Chinese usb S.G. and 2 cheap one with power supply, and finally I bought the costlier last one around 50 dollars)… But when I added these 6 cheap one that I modified with stones and crystals links (shungite,tourmaline, agate, H.D. or jasper etc) then the effect was more audible than ever and begins to be amazing...
The S.G. for me is a transmitter of the stones acoustical enhancing and electro cleaning power...His astounding effect is linked to the stones qualities...By himself the S.G. is good audiophile product, but modified like mine they are absolutely amazing and transform the audio system and the room (if the room is already good and ready to be transformed for sure)...
The last one, better located, and more precise and efficient with the shungite+copper+2H.D. this one was more than amazing...
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One important fact ….
If I use only H.D. or quartz anywhere in a system, the system will develop the tendency to be too harsh, and there will be a degradation of the timbre of instrument...(except perhaps on the breaker panel where this will be less negative)
If I use only nude shungite anywhere in an audio system(except perhaps on the breaker panel where this will be less negative) this will induce a compression of the dynamic and a degradation of the timbre instrument in an another direction than with the quartz...
If I couple the shungite (with copper tape on one side) with this powerful doubled terminated quartz (the Herkimer diamond) I balance the effect of the powerful Shungite… The net results audio wise is without negative....
All other crystals and stones has their own properties and qualities, but the 2 more powerful are the shungite and the H.D.
Some being less potent has tough some natural equilibrate positive effects : tourmaline... We can use tourmaline in many location with great benefits...
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I just reinstalled one Mat and 4 Cards in the system after giving them two days in the breaker box to “charge” them up, as it were, as suggested in the threads on such products. The charged up Mat went under the Sony Walkman CD player, which is on a special spring based iso stand, Fr circa 2 Hz.
Two Cards went on my Sony DMR-700v headphones and the other two Cards went on my two BLACK USB Schumann devices. I also attached a Golden shungite plate to each BLACK USB device for good measure. The BLACK USB devices are isolated mechanically via suspension and are located at height of 60 inches. Better safe than sorry.
I should mention I also recently treated all contacts of the BLACK USB device including wall outlet with Total Contact, the Graphene contact enhancer, so those contacts are still breaking in. Nevertheless all these recent changes have wrought a big boost in dimensionality, dynamics, resolution and naturalness. I shan’t attempt to ascribe effect to causes however, although the charging of the Mat was an obvious big effect.
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Add some Herkimer diamond to the golden plate Geoffkait and compare that with other tweaks....You perhaps will be surprized? |
Thanks for reminding me, I also have Mikro Brilliant Pebbles packs of crystals (includes diamond) on both wall plugs for the BLACK USB devices. 🤗 |
Ok.... Perhaps if you add one tweak at a times you will give to yourself and others some assessment about each one effects....
I say that because if I read what all others has said about their mat effects , I have the same impressions with the "golden" plate effect on the breaker box, behind speakers.... etc... I use around 20 of them.... :)
Thanks anyway for your report.... My best to you...
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I just bid on some Herkimer diamonds from China. Better safe than sorry.
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They are cheap and enhance any stone, more potent than any quartz and less harsh in their forceful action especially coupled with the shungite or the tourmaline.... With the golden plate on my black S.G. they act so good that it is my best improvement to date almost , on par with the golden plates behind the speakers and the 5 golden plate on my breaker box....
I feel for the same impresssions that those that use the Omega mat if describing the effect of the golden plate....I cannot know the difference ...I have no comparison...And the price of the mat is too much for me beside the fact that my golden plate seems to act similarly on all counts... I will never know except if someone like you compare the 2 tweaks audible effects separately...
By the way I already put 40 Herkimer diamonds in my stones grid.... :)
They are particularly efficient with the "golden" plates...
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mahgister OP
OK.... Perhaps if you add one tweak at a times you will give to yourself and others some assessment about each one effects.... >>>>Thanks for the tip. But life is too short. 😢 At the same time good luck to you and best wishes for the Gnu Year! 🤗 |
Indeed and sometimes shorter than we think....I understand you, it is better to feel the music than the sound …. :)
I wish you the best year of your life and the health to be going on....Thanks for your words...
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Thank you for the comments but actually I’m referring to having to deal with so many changes and tweaks going on almost all the time. Frequently it isn’t really feasible for me anyway to do things one at a time as you suggest, as nice as that would be. As the little mice in the movie Babe say, that’s the way things are. 🐭 🐭 🐭
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Have you had time to isolate your new BLACK USB Schumann Thingamabob yet? What height do you have it? Just curious 🤔
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All my S.G. are at different heights... 4 are around 3 feet or little more...
2 others are at respectively , at 4 feet and 4 inches, and one at 5 feet and a few inches...
The Black one is at 4 feet....I realized that I owns 8 S.G. not seven … :)
They all play well, and a few days ago when I disconnect three of them I feel immediately a lost in the imaging definition...
It is not possible or practical to isolate all that the way you suggest...They are on cork and on some cheap composite material feet...
I thing the location is indeed important but with 8 S.G. that compensate for the not so ideal height (5 feet) where they must ideally be located...
The Black one at 4 feet tough is ideally located, because it is between my brain and the gear, at equal distance on top of my computer screen and when I laterally displace it of only 2 feet to my left that makes a big negative difference... Then I think that this one is ideally located or almost...
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It might not be feasible for you to elevate all the SR to a minimum height of 1m50cm but according to what everyone says, including the Grand Wazoo, Acoustic Revive, that is the correct minimum height. Sorry to be bearer of bad Gnus. |
It is ok I know that...I had 4 / 8 around this height....:)
To the height I will had that if the S.G. is between your ears and the gear in a diameter of 4 feet the effect is very great...This one beat all the 7 others together...But the 7 others work well, like I said if I substract any of them the difference is audible...
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You know, the music I listen to with the sound I get now is so good for my ears, that I am a bit less taken away by the desire to discover new tweaks or to upgrade anything...
I never listen to a better system than mine... ( I dont visit audio room either tough) For sure they are better than what I have, I am not a fool... But there is some threshold and after that it is sophistication with little returns for the money invested...Holographic 3-d natural timbre is a relative vocabulary but when you begins to have it you know that it is there...
But there is absolutely no comparison between the same gear I owns before my tweaks and after them... Then if i paraphrase you ,I am living at some higher base camp with almost the same view than those that lived on the summit... :)
I forget to say that I wait for 4 other shungite tiles....I will add them on the breaker panel ….And some thin one to complete all my connectors and plugs... :)
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I’m very happy for you, I’m confident you are light years ahead of where you started out. Of course it probably goes without saying everything is relative. A lot of early settlers in America who traveled across country in covered wagons looking for Xanadu, enduring great hardships along, the way decided, “What the hell, Enough is Enough! I’m settling here in the Midwest.” No one can blame them. We all have different futures. 😁 Happy Gnu Year! 🐃
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Beware the Last Tweak Syndrome! This ironic and paradoxical syndrome oft occurs when audiophiles believe they’ve discovered a secret pathway to the stars such as Dr. Ellie Arroway found with the alien transported that bypassed ordinary time-consuming space travel by utilizing the services of a wormhole.
The Last Tweak Syndrome seems to occur for tweakers who, after a X number of tweaks believe they have suddenly arrived at Heaven’s pearly gate or have at least arrived at a good getting off place. This feeling of self-accomplishment and the feeling that all future attempts will prove fruitless 🍎 🍉 grows stronger with each successful tweak. Beware, gentle readers, this Is a trap! The Last Tweak Syndrome is akin to mountain sickness, preventing you from climbing higher and higher. Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead! Remember the little train that could. I think I can, I think I can. Toot! Toot! 🚂
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Most of my tweaks effects are immediately audible, negative or positive, and with this feed-back of experimental process I create my audio system experience...
But sometimes the change are subtle, the negative one or the positive one, and I must really pinch myself and pause to consider its effect...But the negative effect almost always easily distinguished themselves at the end somewhere in the process of listening, subtles or not...
It is more difficult for the subtle positive one, I think this is more difficult to perceive them because of the placebo effect...The evidently very audible positive one pose no problem and are clearly not only placebos...The problem rest with the subtles one...
I say all that like a word of caution, for what I experience some thirty minutes ago...
I decide to put, at the other end (distance 1/2 inch) of my new USB BLACK UFEEL S.G. that is already modified with 2 H.D. +a "golden" plate, a little pyramidal tower of fluorite quartz...The effect was subtle but perceived by me (minus the placebo effect I think :) ) and added a more encompassing organic fluidity to the imaging, a more living perception... Perhaps the vibrating fluorite enhance the S.G. effect... This is what I think... Nevermind if it is only placebo the music listening is better than ever...
I say that because you must see that it is more fun to play with cheap product to reach some upgrading effect than to buy a thousand dollars cable for the same pleasure....
In this case, I am not sure if it is placebo... I will know with more experiments to come...Fluorite is not a particularly astounding stones to work with, the effect are always subtle with them ( I associate fluorite with a fluid effect or impression because of the wording association ?)...
But sometimes subtle effects are precious, because « all that is perveived is a wonder by itself»...This is the reason behind my post....
And yes Geoffkait you are right... :)
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Ok after much listening.... No placebo effect here, the Fluorite crystal at the end of the S.G. enhanced nicely the S.G. effect, adding his own " fluid flavor" like with each of my other stones with their own special effect ( difficult to describe the new musical fluid impression of the sound)…
By the way there is no degradation of my previous naturalness of instrumental timbre, then no trade-off...I said that for those who had opinions but no experiments experience at all because of their dogmas in general, some hard-core " Measure all" crowd and the crowd of passive consumers...
Then Geoffkait you were right, not about my placebo impression, but about the " last tweak syndrome" …. :)
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Did you maybe mean the Last Placebo Syndrome? 😬 At this rate if you keep going you’ll have all the crystals in one Mikro Brilliant Pebbles. I bet you didn’t see that coming. 🤗
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:)
I will let you with the last word like for my children....
They are my amicable monsters...It seems you are the amicable monster of this thread, but I dont want to use any harsh word for the only one participant... :)
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OK, Mommy. 😛
If only you could hear what I’ve heard with my ears. |
By the way do you really use fluorite in your bag of crystals (Mikro Brilliant Pebbles) ? |
A question for my only owned ghost here... I add a passive short antenna on top of the fluorite crystal and that enhance audibly the fluorite+S.G. effect, why?
I already added some passive antenna on some stones of my stone grid near the cheap S.G.
There is no last tweak after all... Miraculous wonder accumulate in my room like in the world for the eyes opened and the ears not already closed ...
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With all my respect and friendship, you know that fluor is not good for the brain effectiveness? :) |
