groundenhancers

[tmazz]

Maybe your electron tank has a leak.   

I hate when tha happens. 

[shep]

Which is exactly why I used the dreaded word "consensus". What I get from reading all the postings on AC about this can be resumed as following: Some people are having a lasting and positive and repeatable experience. Some are having very contradictory results. Some have thrown in the towel. BudP speaks in an alien language when explaining what's going on. Rick is staying out of the fray or too busy to bother.
I could imagine that those who have the best results have the simplist systems (having nothing to do with quality) OR it is in the nature of this tweak to be inherently changeable. Maybe because it is like some kind of electronic "waste-gate" and is continuously reacting to either the system or changes in the room environment; say like static electricty build-up or humidity. I was hoping for those who have a positive and enduring experience to discribe their system and those who don't to do likewise. Probably day-dreaming on my part, or maybe the thing needs further developement to be consistent. For the time being I will just loiter around my male box and wait for my Silkworms to appear. THAT will be a constant and easily described experience

[evan1]

Which is exactly why I used the dreaded word "consensus". What I get from reading all the postings on AC about this can be resumed as following: Some people are having a lasting and positive and repeatable experience. Some are having very contradictory results. Some have thrown in the towel. BudP speaks in an alien language when explaining what's going on. Rick is staying out of the fray or too busy to bother.
I could imagine that those who have the best results have the simplist systems (having nothing to do with quality) OR it is in the nature of this tweak to be inherently changeable. Maybe because it is like some kind of electronic "waste-gate" and is continuously reacting to either the system or changes in the room environment; say like static electricty build-up or humidity. I was hoping for those who have a positive and enduring experience to discribe their system and those who don't to do likewise. Probably day-dreaming on my part, or maybe the thing needs further developement to be consistent. For the time being I will just loiter around my male box and wait for my Silkworms to appear. THAT will be a constant and easily described experience

We have the old Shep back

[BobM]

I have about 10 hours break in on mine right now. I gave a listen again last night for about an hour. The space and air and dimension and texture are all there. Far better than without these installed. I can hear a little hardness on the top end though and this would make some recordings unlistenable. Kind of like that digital glare you get with some CD players that crawles up your spine, well, mine at least. More break-in is probably needed but it will take time for me to get there.

I do bi-wire, and have 2 pairs of these things, so if it stays hard sounding I will probably try and remove the ones ont he tweeter and see what happens. Or maybe move that one to the amp. Haven't done that yet though.

[shep]

"We have the old Shep back" Carefull with the old stuff! just cause I can say it doesn't mean anyone else can   Actually he never left but a bad head cold puts him in a disagreable state.

[_Scotty_]

I have played with adding reservoirs of electrons to various places in the system and I was working my way down stream toward the amp and speakers when the thread on AC broke.
By way of a kind of explanation,when you stash electrons in a series of insulated strands of copper instead of just a big lump of copper you now have two variables,the electrons in the copper and EM field in the insulation. Until the insulation around the copper breaks in you will hear strange things. Its presence allows for tuning how the spare electrons get into the system and how the GC sounds. Users need to put the GCs into their system and just let the dielectric break in without immediately passing judgment based on a short term exposure.
  Also because every system is electrically different, you will have wildly varying user reports. Additionally, it's my hypothesis that if you increase the resolution of some systems you may reveal the short-comings of upstream components.
Audiophiles are used to how their system sounds and if you change it they may feel that their system now sounds wrong because it is different. Some people are looking for an improvement whereby their system sounds the same only better. Does anybody see the contradiction here.
The GCs will not work in every system which is why there is a 30 day return option.
I am intrigued by the possibility of playing with electron storage in my components themselves,I think there may be untapped potential for increased resolution.
Scotty

[richidoo]

Can a chunk of solid copper be used as reservoir? Or is the conductor's surface area a factor?

[_Scotty_]

Certainly, but you don't have much of any way to control the effect except through the total mass of copper involved.  It is just not as effective as storing the electrons in small wires.
Scotty

[richidoo]

The only difference I can imagine (from the electron's pov) between a 10g sphere of copper and 10g of 30ga magnet wire in a loop is the surface area and EM interaction with insulation. What I'm wondering is whether the dielectric / conductor contact area is what makes this invention work? Then the wire length and type of insulation would be critical, as Bud suggests. Thanks for your insights Scotty!

[tmazz]

.........a bad head cold puts him in a disagreable state.

But we still love you anyway!

[shep]

y'all to smart for me...I kina prefer my waste-gate notion, like on my ole Chevy truck.
Seems John is submerged in work and my Silkworms are somewhere on his desk. GRRR
Meanwhile back on the ranch, when it's not snowing it's raining.
One of the most uncivil discussions has been going on for a while on diyAudio.com about BYbee stuff.
Someone was ranting on AC about the Dutch site that sells Caps. I held my tongue because this was where my speakers came from (actually three pairs...one for me then a friend ordered a white pair that never arrived and a black pair were quickly sent to replace those. The white ones never ever appeared) Other than his never answering my mail, I have no compalints. I don't know if anyone noticed but Tony Gee is taking over that shop. Now that is interesting because not only is he famous as Humblehifi, and the huge caps test, but he is a very talented speaker designer. As you can tell I'm babbling. Germs.

[TooManyToys]

Since a lot of my work for the last 30 years has been related to hydraulics, that's where I tend to go for my analogies.  So for me I'm thinking of these as more of an accumulator in the system.

In my mind I'm thinking the energy after it has been utilized in the drivers is trying to get back to the reservoir, but has some resistance in the negative return lines.  The accumulator gives a place for a storage dump as the negative wire returns the spent energy within its capabilities.  Therefore there is no backup of energy within the drivers and they are free to operate as intended.

The amount of wire (wire surface area) and dielectric will determine the storage capability and flow rates of the accumulator.  So to me the accumulator may have to be sized for each speaker as well as the ampere capability of the amplifier.  Those that can produce high current may require higher gauge or longer wire. 

If you use 24ga solid wire, a longer length of copper would be needed, but the dielectric will have its influence.  A 12ga solid wire may be half-length, while 12ga stranded may be 1/3.  And then the dielectric will also be a variable.  Almost naked things may be best, but just as in life, that depends on the subject.

I reserve the right that these thoughts may be due to a delusional state (I just woke up).

[BobM]

Bud did say in his DIY Audio thread that he can "tune" his loop based on user feedback to the basic design. That has to include one of several variables:
- length of wire
- guage of wire and or # of strands
- amount of dielectric used

If so, then someone should be able to tell us what might work best if we find the basic design to be too revealing of the high end, and or hard sounding. I asked Bud that question over at AC and got something back which went way over my head. A more direct answer, like "add a 1/4" piece of dielectric to the bottom part of the product" would certainly have served me better.

So, any ideas on what one might do if the product doesn;t settle down with break in, as some have reported in their systems?

[richidoo]

You suggested it in your own post, Bob. How bout loosen the covering and slide it up and down like a trombone to tune it. I think the insulation on the wire is more likely to have an effect than the outer sleeve, but worth a try.

[BobM]

You suggested it in your own post, Bob. How bout loosen the covering and slide it up and down like a trombone to tune it. I think the insulation on the wire is more likely to have an effect than the outer sleeve, but worth a try.

If I slide it up and down more than twice does that constitute playing with it?

Actually mine are still burning in. I'm going to give them a bit before I decide whether to take them apart or not. Just doing a little "what if" in the meantime, based on the reports of others. The sound I'm getting is purely phenominal so far, if a little bright/hard, but surprisingly not forward in any respect. Usually that goes hand in hand, but not with these. The depth I perceive is penetrating and precise actually, but with lots of nice bloom in the soundstage. More palpable.

When I remove them I feel like my system goes flat, which it doesn't because it wasn't flat sounding before, but in comparison ...