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125.238.9.14
Let me start by saying that any time a free sample is offered in audio, I usually am tempted to try it.
Sometimes they really pay off nicely, while other times the effort would have been best spent elsewhere.
This is one of those nice times.
“Mad Scientist Audio” is a small New Zealand company started by a gentleman named Bob Prangnell. Mr Prangnell has devised a new product, the “Black Discus”, that immediately reminded me of the tweaks from Shakti and Alan Maher Designs.
Having been a big believer in Shakti Stones and On-Lines and Alan Maher’s CBFs and other related products, MSA’s new line of small black discs called “Black Discus” immediately caught my eye as something I wanted to try for myself. They simply look very, very cool. And with a free sample being offered, I was definitely interested. So I ordered the free sample and it arrived a week or so later.
(You can order such a sample at the MSA website, here: http://www.madscientist-audio.com/ )
The product I received was about 2” or so in diameter, a thin, black, heavy/dense little disc that looks deliciously like a short-of-stature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
First, my system is comprised of a modified/highly tweaked ModWright Sony XA-5400ES, a single set of DIY ICs, all DIY power cables, a pair of EVS “Ultimate Attenuators”, a Spectron Musician III Mk2 (with full Bybee/V-Cap mods) amplifier, DIY speaker wires, and a very modified/tweaked pair of Cabasse Baltic II speakers with matching Thor II subwoofers. The sound is big and authoritative, with superb detail and speed, natural tone and shadings, but can occasionally slide into glare and aggressive upper mids when the source material isn't what it should be. Anything that accentuates this is to be avoided.
The manufacturer sent me an e-mail saying I should put the BD on AC plugs and connections, over toroidal and E/I transformers, and even over the amplifier’s binding posts. I can say that the MSA instructions were right on the money.
Here’s what I found upon introducing the Black Discus into my system:
Each of the applications MSA suggested resulted in a definite and easily reproducible audio improvement. The over-all effect was, to my ears at least, a palpable increase of weight and solidity of the instruments/sounds being reproduced, a lower general perceived noise floor, an across-the-board reduction in distortion, all resulting in a concomitantly clearer window upon the performance in each and every application.
Bass became tighter, faster and with better low-level resolution of stuff like bow resin and creaking noises from the instrument as it is being plucked or fiddled with enthusiasm (e.g., Starker’s cello in the MLP CD edition of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto, 3rd movement.) This made for an immediate impact of better perceived solidity and three dimensionality and added heft and weight, just what most systems need in the area of bass and lower midrange. And this BD product delivered all that in spades. Starker’s cello was clearer and simply had more body and weight to it when the BD was in the mix. I was impressed.
This was much better than Shakti, with a whole different level of performance on offer. Same for Maher CBFs and other crystal-based filters. I was very impressed, indeed.
Midrange was also nicely affected by the installation of BD on AC plugs, large transformers (directly over the center of the top), and the amplifier’s binding posts. Again, a simply cleaner and clearer, more detailed midrange with no harshness or glare added, I am very glad to report. In fact, I would say the BD reduced glare. The midrange also had that little bit of extra weight and heft that adds to naturalness and ease of presentation that draws you into the performance, similar to the bass frequencies just mentioned.
But I would say that the clarification process is what I noticed most across the mid-band. Just clearer, cleaner and with more low-level information getting through, resulting in a more natural and relaxed sound was what I heard. Smooth and sweet, but with better details.
On the treble, I would say a little clearer and cleaner, but not nearly as jaw-dropping an effect as what I found on the lows and also the mids. Still, nice and pleasing.
In fact, the best way to describe the over-all effect of the Black Discus in my system, is to say it imbued the presentation with a much more organic, weightier, solid and clearer image, and made the sonic result more believable, yet more relaxed, and more listenable. The music seemed less ‘nervous’ or ‘anxious’ when the BD was in place. Massed strings seemed more real, delineated, and less congealed.
Of course, YMMV.
Lastly, an attribute that I particularly admired is that the BD effect is constant and predictable. With quartz crystal-based technologies (such as Shakti Stones and Alan Maher Designs CBFs and the like), the sonic effect can be a real roller-coaster for a few weeks, as all the quartz crystals ‘dial in’.
Not so with these Black Discus devices. You put the BD on the AC plug barrel (affixed by a tiny dab of Blu-Tak) and the effect takes place immediately. Same for use on transformers or amplifier’s binding posts. Remove the device and the effect goes right away.
Mr Prangnell informs me that as MSA is in its infancy and is trying to get the audio world to notice a new tweak on the block, he figured audiophiles would probably enjoy the chance to try out these devices free of charge, and offer feedback if they wanted to.
I remember when Ben Piazza of Shakti was just starting out and I was lucky enough to get a number of free samples of his prototype On-Lines to try out and report back on, which was another great product in its infancy at the time. I still have those prototypes. And they still work great. But the MSA “Black Discus” is in a whole different league of performance.
I was also informed by Mr Prangnell that MSA is currently trying to gauge how receptive the audio world will be to these Black Discus products, and so right now MSA is seeking open-minded, communicative audiophiles to give its new product a try for free. All MSA wants is your feedback on how you felt the BD performed in your system. That seemed fair to me. And of course, if you like what the BD does, tell others. Which is what I am doing.
Well, all I can say is that I was very happy with my free BD sample. I think anyone who ever tried and liked either Shakti or Alan Maher stuff, will be very pleased with the results of what a BD can do for your system.
I am in no way associated with MSA or Mr Prangnell, and have no interest in this product other than as an audiophile who loves tweaking and is open-minded to trying new tweaks, especially free ones.
To my mind, it is always good when average ordinary audio tweakers like us can get nascent products like the BD and try them out free and report our experiences.
I did. I liked it.
Happy Tweaking, Happy Listening!
WS
Follow Ups:
""Lastly, an attribute that I particularly admired is that the BD effect is constant and predictable. With quartz crystal-based technologies (such as Shakti Stones and Alan Maher Designs CBFs and the like), the sonic effect can be a real roller-coaster for a few weeks, as all the quartz crystals ‘dial in'.
Not so with these Black Discus devices. You put the BD on the AC plug barrel (affixed by a tiny dab of Blu-Tak) and the effect takes place immediately. Same for use on transformers or amplifier’s binding posts. Remove the device and the effect goes right away."
Ah, so it's addressing vibration, eh?
like a man desperately searching for validation.........
If mechanical, crystals would not need not need a "dial in" period.
LOL !..........
Apparently the black discus doesn't require a dial-in period. I hate to judge before all the facts are in but it looks like you agree with me, that it's mechanical. Is this my lucky day or what?Minerals in black composite, minerals in wood (Mpingo), minerals in a glass bottle, minerals in a clear plastic bag. What's the difference?
Edits: 10/01/13 10/01/13 10/01/13
If you read the description of the manufacture, you can see that we use identical discs of identical composition that have not been "processed" as our dummy discs in blind tests. We have of course tested these dummy discs against similar sized pieces items to confirm they have no activity.
Thus I conclude that it's not mechanical.
Another reason why it's not mechanical - they stop working when you put them in a metal tin (ie faraday cage) but will still work when outside the tin, but not attached physically to the system.
"If you read the description of the manufacture, you can see that we use identical discs of identical composition that have not been "processed" as our dummy discs in blind tests. We have of course tested these dummy discs against similar sized pieces items to confirm they have no activity.
Thus I conclude that it's not mechanical."
I wasn't sure what you meant by, "...to confirm they have no activity."
Thanks in advance.
By "No activity" I mean that it does not affect the sound at all.
So to recap, unprocessed discs, which have the same exact composition, have no effect on an audio system. Processed discs on the other hand, do. As evidenced by the 100% blind test rate.
Very intriguing product. Thanks for the answers.
I found this on line and thought it might help.
I also have a small trial sample of the Black Discus and purchased one NEO power cord with filter.
"Good Things In Life Take a Long Time"
I'll try them although tweaks rarely work for me. Crystals of whatever color and wherever paced do nothing for my system.
I took them out of my system because I was moving stuff around...so they where off for about a month. So as I was listening to music today, about an hour into my listening session, I put them on the amps + binding post as the music was playing....after about a minute focus was greater, detail was better, stage was much better, bass was tighter. Seems to put more natural weight to the entire sound spectrum. The first thing I noticed was the blacker back ground. They work!
Edits: 07/13/14
Pity that this would take too long to get here. This sounds like the kind of item I am being asked to find in a hurry. A friend's wife just asked me to find something to surprise him n his birthday.
That's on Oct 2 and I am rushing to find an item that would do the trick. Just in case, please email me if you already have a local source in the US, unlikely as it may be at this stage.
We've got a decent flood of free sample requests which I've tracked down to this thread. Thanks everyone.
As to what the black stuff actually is...well, I very much doubt that anyone can guess or figure it out. But, more importantly, it's not the composition that is important - it's the processing.
The black stuff is a composite of epoxy and various finely ground minerals.
But the secret is in the processing. (Although there are some requirements on the minerals, and I've tried various mixtures to find the best) It takes several hours for the composite to cure, and during this time it's subjected to a variety of fairly extreme things. I built a rig, computer controlled, that does most of the processing (but there is some manual intervention as well). This contains, among other things, what could be described as a mini particle accelerator. It uses tens of thousands of volts. It has quite some character, buzzing and crackling away. There's one process that affects the interior of the device, and there's another process that affects the surface (the rough surface).
If you just take a raw BlackDiscus and do not put it through the processing, you get something that looks exactly the same, but has no effect on audio systems. In fact, we have used such discs in our blind testing, as the dummy.
Also interesting is that if I make a BlackDiscus with only one or other of the processes (surface, interior) there is almost no effect - which makes me think that there is some synergy between the two effects.
After the composite has cured and the high-energy processing is done, they are heat treated (why ? because it makes them sound better! How do I know? Blind testing...so you see, I am pretty scientific about this.)
So you can see, it's a fairly complex process. And I make them all by hand. The main processing machine can take about 25-30 cupcake sized devices at a time. So there's a limit to how many I can make at a time.
May : yes, funny about the coffee table. We must be the only two people with coffee tables by our stereos!
But seriously, I requested (and received) some of Peter and May's free samples while I was developing BlackDiscus. I even bought some of their devices for further testing. I also tried some Quantum Chips and Shakti devices. I was very pleased to find that none of these things were in the same league as BlackDiscus. imho.
Thanks so much for the detailed description of your BlackDiscus manufacturing process...
If you setup a Facebook page I will spread the word on the many audiophile groups there.
Here is my Facebook page... https://www.facebook.com/rod.welst
When you cut them open does it say M U R D E R Y T /etc as the Harmonix
have in the centre?
Anyway good on Puke-great Motor Racing Track as well
Des
Well, I had fun with crystals and RFI devices in the past. Now I think I'm seeing another old friend, a compound that Al Sekela had from a secret source that also immediately smoothed the sound when placed strategically in his system. After Al passed, his wife bequethed them to me, and they also worked in my system. So I can guess what the black compound is.
How are you enjoying Kiwi land, amigo?
Nt
... the effect is more important. The theory can come later.
But without the theory the atom bomb couldn't have been built. Not the airplane, in particular the space shuttle. And not the car, in particular the Ferrari.
.
but it would be even better if the poster of the question followed and answered questions on his own "devices".
LOL!
...
.
Winston, did you see the description of how Bob Prangnell discovered the effect ?
> > > "I was playing around with something, not related to audio particularly, and I wondered whether this item might have an effect on my system.
I put the item on my coffee table and proceeded to select some music and play "without" the item in place. However, much to my surprise, I could already hear a difference." < < <
Wow, the coffee table experience. Brings back vivid memories from over 30 years !!!
Regards,
May Belt,
Manufacturer.
Hi May-
Yes, I had heard about that "spooky action at a distance" finding that got the ball rolling. These must be powerful items to have that effect.
I will be very interested to hear what the other Inmates have to share about their experiences with these "Black Discus" tweaks.
But yes, I had heard about the way he discovered the effect. Serendipity is always an amazing thing. So many great inventions happen that way.
Very cool.
Thanks, May.
Cheers,
WS
Thanks for posting. I too have tried many of the crystal tweaks along with a couple from Alan. Just ordered my free BlackDiscus.
Hope that the tweak is good for you, too. Glad I could call your attention to it.
Let us know what you hear, please.
Cheers,
WS
These are nice guys. I asked for a free sample and when I told them I would present them at our audiophile club meeting he said he would send some additional samples to pass out to club members.
Alan
.... they are very cool folks at MSA. Glad you ordered the BDs.
Let us know how the demos go with the members, please.
Cheers,
WS
I will definitely follow up. Coming from New Zealand it will be a while
Alan
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