Isn’t this as simple as "the piezoelectric effect works in both directions"? If you pump enough wattage through a dummy load (large resisters), they will play music at a very low volume. That effect is small, but multiply it by all the components in your chain. I believe this may be important in a high end system, but it’s the last thing on my list to dive deeply into because it’s complicated and requires a lot of trial and error and a good system. And microphonics are another reason I avoid tubes. I just bought my first Shatki Air Stone and liked it enough to buy another. Some of it’s effect may be mechanical since it’s heavy like a small stone and has a rubber coupling mat on the bottom. There’s enough reviewers agreeing on the importance of vibration control and tuning that it seems worth a little trial and error. The Cable Company has served me well recently and they have a wide variety of products.
I loved the AI quote, here’s another one from Claude 3.5, aren’t all conductors crystals a sort of crystal? Also think about the clock crystals in your digital gear.
- Piezoelectric effect:
- Occurs in certain materials, typically crystals or ceramics
- Mechanical stress or pressure produces an electric charge
- Works in reverse too - applying an electric field causes mechanical deformation
- Does not involve magnetic fields
- Magnetically induced EMF:
- Based on Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction
- Changing magnetic field induces a voltage in a conductor
- Commonly used in electrical generators and transformers
- Involves magnetic fields and their interaction with conductors
The key difference is that piezoelectric effect converts mechanical energy directly to electrical energy (or vice versa) without involving magnetism, while magnetically induced EMF involves changing magnetic fields to generate electricity.
