Home Isolation Ward

From ebony pucks to magic foil, mystical and controversial tweaks.

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Isolation Ward ]
[ Alert Moderator ]

RE: Test of Once-Removed Theory


I was going to reply further to 'tubeguy' but I will reply to you because it would be exactly the same reply.

I suspect that 'tubeguy' never continued with any experiments way back when he first heard the "Brick" improve his sound. If he had done, he would have made some remarkable discoveries.
After realising that the "Brick" when placed on such as an amplifier had improved the sound, one is left with the questions "What on earth is going on. Is it the weight 'somehow having an effect on the audio signal' as has been suggested. Is it magnetism being affected which, in turn, is 'somehow having an effect on the audio signal' as has been suggested ? To attempt to find out you conduct the following experiments.
You have another IDENTICAL amplifier but this time a passive one - just sitting on a shelf - not connected to the AC power supply and not connected to the audio system. After listening with the "Brick" on the (working) amplifier, you remove the 'brick' and listen again. The sound will be perceived as 'worse' without the "Brick" in position. You now place the "Brick" in top of the identical but PASSIVE amplifier and listen again. The 'good' sound will be back !!!
Explain that !!!!
If you can get an identical improvement in the sound with the "Brick" on a PASSIVE amplifier, then any explanation to do with WEIGHT or with MAGNETISM affecting the audio signal no longer holds water !!! There IS no audio signal travelling through the PASSIVE amplifier. So, you are left with an observation - that the sound was improved with the "Brick" in position but with no explanation.
If you are a good researcher (and many people will recognise what follows) you don't let it go. It niggles you. But, as you have no explanation forthcoming you put the problem and experience on a (mental) shelf until such time as you think you may have found another explanation. Over a period of time - one, two three, five years this (mental) shelf becomes overcrowded with unexplained observations until one day you do something. Something which makes you jolt upright and you suddenly say "I wonder if what I have just experienced - which I HAVE some sort of explanation for - I wonder if this latest explanation can explain all those other observations piling up on the (mental) shelf ?"

You go back to the "Brick" again and try further experiments. Your latest discoveries are to do with layers of things - how sometimes odd numbers or odd layers are best (for sound) sometimes even layers or even numbers are best. It varies with no fixed and definite rule for 100% certainty. Now back to the experiment with the "Brick" The "Brick" is a piece of iron inside a wooden case (one layer of wood). Now, place the "Brick" inside a plastic bag or inside another wooden case and listen (two layers). The sound will now be 'worse' !! You won't get the 'good' sound back until you place the whole thing in a third layer or remove the second layer !!!
Explain that !!!!!

You can experiment as much as you want with the following. Tie a Reef knot in any audio cable - interconnect or AC power cable. ONE Reef knot only and it has to be a Reef knot - not any other knot such as a Granny knot !!! Listen to some music. The sound will be perceived as better. Now, tie a second Reef knot in the same cable and listen again. This time the sound will be perceived as 'worse'. To get the sound back to being 'good' again either tie a third Reef knot in the cable or remove the second Reef knot. If you think you can explain all that from within conventional electronic theories then carry on with the experiment. Remove any and all Reef knots from the cables and listen again. The sound will be perceived as 'worse'. Now, go to any other NON audio cable - such as the cable to the electric clock or the cable to the electric fire or to a PASSIVE cable - such as the cable dangling passively from the table lamp and tie a Reef knot in that cable and listen again. The 'good' sound will be back again !! Showing that any explanation you can think of from conventional electronic theories will no longer hold water. Explanations such as 'something affecting capacitance, resistance, inductance, microphony, dielectric effect, static, RF interference and so on' ???????
Have fun.
Over 20 years ago we were demonstrating all these things to UK retailers, UK manufacturers, UK audio journalists and THAT is why there was so much coverage way back then in the UK magazines. Until, that is, the ridiculers surged in with their input - and what is known as the "cold feet", "hide behind the parapet" syndromes set in !!!

Now the quote from 'thetubeguy' :-

>>> "The funny part about the VPI "Magic Brick" was that I could never detect when it was placed on an amp and I could never fail to detect when it was taken off the amp!" <<<

The part of quite easily being able to detect the sound to be worse when the "Brick" was removed is quite important - in fact so important that I started the talk I gave to a group with exactly that point. As Peter and I had gone around the different retailers, manufacturers, journalists I had seen this happen on numerous occasions and what had surprised me was how people had not understood why this happened. In other words, they did not understand themselves - the human being !!!
Regards,
May Belt.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Parts Connexion  

Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups
FAQ

Post a Message!

 Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]