What is the Silliest Accessory You Have Ever Seen.

"Most people are honest in my world experience...."

I want to move to wherever you are. One-way ticket to Utopia, please.

"Some of the mistakes are strange. I run music in the background and I think it must confuse it."

"Control your computer by voice with speed and accuracy..."

Dragon Speech Recognition - Get More Done by Voice | Nuance

You are just too fast and Dragon is just not as accurate as advertised.

"That must have been the kiddie tour :-)"

Come to think of it, it probably was. Still, it should qualify as a VIP tour just by the virtue of who was on it.

"There are no light trails residing in your brain when the lights are turned out on a tour of Mammoth Cave Kentucky.."

I must have paid for a VIP tour. Mine had lights all the way.

"Simple we were better at staying alive..."

I knew it. I knew that Staying Alive was better with lights on.

"Listening to music in a dark room (all lights off) is the same as listening with your eyes closed, no visual distraction."

Seeing the darkness (with eyes open) may be quite distracting at times. Eyes closed may be easier. I am guessing that we are wired to expect darkness with eyes closed, but not with them open.

@glupson, I'm surprised at you, Staying Alive is not music, just ask Frank Zappa:-)

Come to think of it, you are right. It is a religious force, rather than mundane music.

"Music always sounds better with the lights out."

Try Staying Alive without a disco ball.

mahgister,

For your pretention to criticize my alleged method of "teaching", this is only your way to attribute something to my opinion that is not there..

You really misunderstand as much as I do. I was simply trying to tell you that the way you teach (quote from your teaching post: "End of lesson....") is barely comprehensible and you may want to work on it.

Your preferred method of delivering lessons needs improvement. If the student paying attention to a lesson cannot understand, the teacher needs improvement.

mahgister,

Hmmmm, maybe it would be easier to decipher if you changed your teaching technique.

In general, context means nothing if the content is wrong.

mijostyn,

I am not even trying.

« Word of wisdom can rarely be under a piece of s...»-Anonymus Smith

"Rarely" equals "sometimes is" - glupson (Wisdom of Words, Volume 3, chapter 27)

"Those that put $100,000 (supposedly) in front of $5,000 speakers..."

Does anyone ever do that? Aside for the novelty of bizarre? Why would anyone do that?

"Where do accessories end and tweaks begin?"

Where do tweaks end and major components begin?

mijostyn,

"@glupson, are you ever wrong?"

I was. Third grade elementary school math test. I got one question wrong. I am still considering psychotherapy for that trauma.

As far as "how come that tweaks are always for better" question, I asked that many times. At some point one person here, I think it was oregonpapa and, as usual, I may not be wrong, mentioned some tweak that made things worse. That was after I had asked many times the same question. I concluded that negative tweaks do exist, but do not get advertised as such that often.

"What is the Silliest Accessory You Have Ever Seen."

Proponents are right, mijostyn formed the question wrong and it is not only because he did not put question mark at the end.

Reading about Hallographs, I get an impression they are not an accessory after all. They seem to work as a crucial, centerpiece in fact, part of an audio system. They simply do not qualify for this thread about accessories.

"Skeptic in North America, sceptic in the rest of the world and off planet."

I stand, actually sit, corrected to a significant extent.

mijostyn,

Be careful. cleeds and mahgister may be right after all.

For whatever reason, Sherman tank is part of the Flying Heritage. Website, at least.

FHCAM - M4A1 Sherman Medium Tank (flyingheritage.org)

This is a phenomenal thread. Let it stay for posterity and education of future generations.

"I know very well that glupson is not stupid..."

I lived to see the day this is written on Audiogon forum.

Speaking of education, I have a minor observation for this and one more thread.

Skeptic is spelled with K, not with C. It is not an important detail, but may as well be the only useful knowledge gained here. Apart from mahgister’s comment quoted above.

"Real scientists conduct experiments to help evaluate empirical evidence"

That may be a bit of a stretch in some areas of science. In many of them, experiments are done to evaluate hypothesis which may, or may not, be based on empirical evidence.

As it is these days, in the end something does get measured in most, if not all, experiments conducted.

"I have never eaten an audio component even when it was new and made my system sound more alive."

You are not alone. However, my dog did. She ate new earphone cord.

"Set up to kill the spirits of bad sound with out damping the good spirits of the heart and soul."

Now $1500 for Hallographs starts looking like a good deal.

We may need to put a few of them in Audiogon threads to encourage those good spirits of heart and soul.

Going back to Hallographs, did anyone else think that room in the second (large) picture looks like a funeral home?

6moons audio reviews: Shakti innovations Hallograph

mahgister,

I somehow missed who has what kind of equalizer and who "he" actually is.

Once upon a time, Soundcraftsmen was "the equalizer" to have. I was simply hinting at that.

"Soundcraftsmen equalizers and their compact "brick" style power amplifiers gained a sizable following among audiophiles during the 1970s and 1980s."

Soundcraftsmen - Wikipedia

"...a warrent from a branded named engineered device written on a costly device like an equalizer..."

Not that costly...

soundcraftsmen equalizer | eBay

"I believe the development of XTAC to be the single most revolutionary advance in loudspeaker fidelity, not only in my lifetime, but quite possibly in the entire history of the loudspeaker.” 

-Dr. Karl Schuemann, Designer"

If nothing else, it is an understatement of sorts.

Where is kenjit when we need his opinion?

AudioMachina » XTAC

So, you already have a nice table/cart/phonostage and this thing will make it even "better"?
http://audiomachina.com/v8/

I am a little worried about anything whose "How it works" includes...

"...Cantilever Bending Beams..."

I wonder if they would make one for Ortofon Concorde.

Helium beats even the Hallographs.

"I went to school once. Tom"

I am twice as educated. It was boring both times.

"...your equalizer will solve all..."

Finally words of wisdom.

I recommend Soundraftsmen. They are even cheaper than Hallograph.

soundcraftsmen products for sale | eBay

"The equipment winds up protecting the fuse!"

Taking into consideration quick depreciation of used audio equipment and availability of more and more expensive fuses, this may be good thing.

"Btw, whatever happened to Geof Kait?"

Little clock continues ticking.

"He has never ridiculed or insulted anyone, but has always shown kindness and understanding."

Never say never.

cal91,

"glupson...Yes he did. At least the quotes are attributed to him."

That is why I asked and I doubt anyone knows for sure anymore. It is sure that everything seems more dignified with Einstein;s name attached to it. Well, maybe not everything. Even his picture cannot redeem millercarbon's posts.

Did Albert Einstein really say all of that?

theaudiotweak and everyone who chimed in on "patent pending",

I take the issue of advertising as "patent pending" seriously. Not to go into why anyone would have kept it in that state for 17 years, people have strange habits, but it does seem suspicious to say the least. Lawyer costs, or not.

The issue at hand is that we are talking about an item which is very unusual in its execution and proposed action so it may or may not work as advertised (according to two camps here). Decision to invest quite some amount of money in it is largely on credibility of the manufacturer and her/his claims. If said manufacturer has been marketing by claiming something untrue regarding patent ("pending") for years, how likely is it that the rest of the claims are believable? Not to mention that, if those links above are correct, it is even a punishable offense.

Way before writing this post, in fact before ever mentioning this patent issue in my posts, I tried to locate the patent for Hallograph with no success.

In short, scrutiny may be in order.

Having said that, it seems that claiming impossible-to-verify patents is not unheard of in audiophilia. There was at least one product by PPT that was falsely advertised as being patented. Even one of the Tekton Design patents has expired (fee related), but it may be deliberate and it may take some time to connect claims with actual patents that are active.

To be clear, I am not claiming that any of the products do not work as advertised. I simply state that claims about patents are dubious. We all have our pet peeves and this happens to be mine.

theaudiotweak,

Thanks for the explanation of "activated" and the rest. I will have to try to grasp it with a few more readings as, at first quick read, it does not completely explain what goes where. I will do my best as time goes by.

As far as patents go, they are not as complicated to obtain and, taking into consideration the rest of the marketing description of Hallographs, I have a feeling it is more of a marketing trick than actual "patent pending" with any intention to obtain it. Of course, I may be wrong, but claiming that patent is pending for 17 years is bordering on laughable.

2021 How Much Does A Patent Cost? | Cost To File & Patent An Idea (thervo.com)

You wonder how this goes...

This information is found in 35 U.S. Code 292(a) about false marking. The document states:

"Whoever marks upon, or affixes to, or uses in advertising in connection with any article, the words 'patent applied for,' 'patent pending,' or any word importing that an application for patent has been made, when no application for patent has been made, or if made, is not pending, for the purpose of deceiving the public — Shall be fined not more than $500 for every such offense. Only the United States may sue for the penalty authorized by this subsection."

When Can You Say Patent Pending? Everything You Need to Know (upcounsel.com)

theaudiotweak,

Those patents, at least in their implementation, do not seem to have anything to do with Hallograph.

It is very clear which way whatever wave would be transmitted in those patents, but Hallograph is, for the lack of better word, remote and waves from the wall material would have to find the coresponding area of the Hallograph they would match for proposed effect. If, maybe even better to say when, they hit the non-ideal (for their material) area of the Hallograph, the outcome could, in theory, be detrimental rather than desired.

If different wall materials interact with different Hallograph materials in some ideal situation proposed (that is why there are different types of wood, apparently), it would be necessary to aim waves accurately. How it is done is still mystery. Once we figure out how waves get to Hallograph in the first place, we can expand to what Hallograph does then.

And that is not even touching "activated" and my other questions about how long it stays that way and if it needs reactivation.

Speaking of patents, what is your guess why patent is pending for 17 years?

"Like any boundary intersection the Holographs will react differently to drywall, plaster, glass,wood,book cases,record jackets. They all have a varied shear velocity and shape or contour that will react differently to the varied shape and shear velocites of the Holographs."

Wouldn’t it be better to make them from one wood/material depending on the wall surface one is placing them next to?

Even if four different woods are used, how does it go if a person has a plaster wall with a painting hanging on it? Or two paintings, one covered with glass? It may end up in any number of combinations. How to assure that whatever shear wave from a certain material will hit the right area of the Hallograph? How does that work?

Do, let’s say, GIK room treatments increase or decrease the perceived benefits of Hallographs?

What scientific methods could be used to verify this performance? Where does one even start with that?

By the way, Shakti website mentions "patent pending" which is about what reviews from 2003 mentioned, too. What happened with that?

From that 6moons article...

What do you mean when you talk about the time coefficient?
"This is also known as the time signature; how long a given material goes on ringing once it is activated by sound waves striking it. In the chambers behind each reflector, we 'treat' the time signature so it has a much shorter ring than the material a room's walls are made of. This treatment also affects the frequency response, which has a direct correlation with the time signature character. Amplitude is manipulated by the choice of wood, diffusion geometry of the design and additional treatment that will be explained in the patent."

Priceless.

Still no word about how these Hallographs know what material the walls are made of. And the meaning of word "coefficient" is at least somewhat confusing.

"The Hallograph contours the frequency, amplitude and time coefficients of the first reflections you hear..."

What does "contours the frequency" actually mean? Or contouring amplitude and time coefficients, for that matter. How do coefficients get contoured? Aren’t they just numbers?

Whatever it means, how does it contour the frequency when there are many many frequencies involved, as well as many many different room shapes and wall materials? How does it know what to do and to what extent?

"* Activated panels generate a musically complimentary reflective energy..."

What are "activated panels"? How are they activated and how long do they stay active? Is there a re-activation needed after a certain period? Where on the picture are those panels anyway?

These answers should be easy to obtain and verify as that would go with company’s goals...

"Our long-term goal is to continue to provide low cost, easy to use and scientifically verifiable performance enhancement products for the discriminating hobbyist."

Of course, if $1700 is low-cost is on each one of us to decide for her/himself.

About Us - Shakti Innovations (shakti-innovations.com)

EDIT: To make it fair, the cost on Shakti website is only $1500 so we may need to take that into account when discussing "why so expensive".

Hallograph Soundfield Optimizer - Shakti Innovations (shakti-innovations.com)

"But then what justifies the $1,700 cost? For, in essence, a few pieces of curly wood on a stand?"

Someone's willingness to buy it?

"Got to admit the worst is the GeoffK phone call. At least it was only $60."

For $60 you get to chat with geoffkait? Not as expensive as some 1-900 numbers.

mijostyn,

I try to stay on topic so I wanted to make sure that audioguy85, mahgister, and you have confidence in your work.

This is not the interview I was referring to, but should be an acceptable source. Check the question...

"What is the difference between the shiny and dull sides?"

...lower on the page.

Heavy Duty Foil | Reynolds Kitchens

I recently read an interview, basically a statement/explanation, by a director of a tin foil manufacturing company. He said that sides are different because of the process that involves rolling. Apparently, neither side is the "right" one. Both are equal and difference in appearance is due to that rolling. I cannot elaborate as I do not remember the details.