Synergistic Research PHT - Phono Transducer

I recently tried the Black Widow and Green Dream PHTs on my cartridge, which is a My Sonic Lab Signature Platinum, connected to a Manley Steelhead preamp.

I tried each version for a couple of days and concluded that they were not for me.

Yes, they did alter the sound, and differently from each other, but they did not improve the sound for me.  In fact, I thought they took away the purity of the sound it produced without them.  

Perhaps they work better on lower end carts?  Perhaps some of the other versions would work better for me?  Whatever the case, I sent them back for a refund.  

I still wonder how they could have any effect at all, of any kind, except by perhaps changing the resonant frequency of the headshell/cartridge, and even that is a stretch of my imagination. But I have not tried one so I won't go any more negative than that.

@lewm I also wonder what the technology is behind these tiny things.  They seem to be made from machined aluminum.  If they were magnetic, or made from special ferrous metals that could interact with the flow of energy within the cartridge I could imagine how they work, but aluminum would not cause anything to change that I could ever envision.

I'm also surprised that Michael Fremer gave them a positive review, but I guess his findings were more positive than mine.  His positive review is the only reason I tried them, in fact.  

I thought each PHT contained a crystal of some kind or another.

Fremer's comments:

“but adding that blue PHT produced an ear-popping, Cinerama-like, wraparound soundstage, and an overall sound even less tethered to the speaker positions. The image focus was increased without producing razor sharpness, and there was greater front-to-back separation of sources within the soundstage."

That result on a Caliburn Continuum/Atlas($200K+) So before the thingie the sound was just...okay?

Rolling my eyes.