acoustic system resonators

Has anybody measured the output of a whole system with and without these things and reported the difference? It seems if its audible it should be measurable.

This is not that hard to test. Blindfold yourself. Drag a willing or unwilling participant into the experiment. While listening, have them walk the resonators in and out of the room - and this is important - on a random basis. See if you can choose, with your blindfold on, when the resonators are present and when they are not. Don't cheat. Leave the volume constant. Please report back. Jeff

Paul, I agree with everything you said.

Perhaps I was unclear. My suggestion was not so much intended to ask whether you hear a difference or not, but was intended to discern whether you actually prefer the resonators or not, making some less than perfect effort to control for bias. If the buyer likes the "blind" effect, it seems to me that is what counts.

Also, if the resonators do make a piano sound more natural, it should be measurable at the speakers. I'm not talking about the perpetual argument over measuring THD or the argument about measuring a single component without regard for its interaction with the system in which it resides. If the resonators make a piano sound more natural at the speakers, the effect should be measurable. Has anybody done this and published the before and after measurements? Perhaps I am alone in this, but I'd really like to see the measurements.

In fact, I'd love to see somebody: a) record various piano strikes on an actual piano and record them and measurement them with something that measures transients, decay and specturm, and b) play it back through their system with and without the resonators in place. It would be interesting, at least to my compulsive audio mind, to compare the measurements of the three. Testing the system without the resonators would tell you how the system differs from the actual piano (of course, you would have to measure the decibels of the actual piano and set your volume control to same when testing the system). Testing with the resonators and comparing it to the measurements of the actual piano and to the measurements of the system without the resonators would tell you what, if any, sonic attributes of the actual piano were restored by the resonators.

Lastly, this would be a lot of work, so I imagine its easier to argue about the whole thing. Not that we wouldn't argue about the test results. Hmmmm. Jeff

"I have had several instances where initially I love a tweak or component in my system, only to some time later give a sigh of relief on removing it." - TBG

I have trouble with the same experience. A friend of mine calls it psychoacoustics. My theory is that no reproduction system is without fault and that after we get to know a system we want to plug its specific fault or faults. So, we look for a component to plug that fault. Initially, we love it because it plugs the fault while we carry the bias of what the preceeding component did well. A month later, we hear the faults of the new component as it stands on its own.

One time I read an article that said you will statistically maximize your selection of a good mate after dating seven different women. If that applies to each component, I've got three cd players, two amps, four preamps and one set of cables to go.

Jeff

"I now have to sumbit to a long psychiatric evaluation.

If the true cost of the resonator package were revealed, the evaluation would be skipped in favor of of an involuntary stay at a local facility, of course only after they stopped laughing." - Emailists

That is hilarious! Yes, I like to tell my friends that I'd probably be better off putting my money into therapy for my audio addiction. But, that would not be nearly as much fun and then I would have to comparison test therapists, determine whether I like them with feedback on or off, and gradually ramp up the input to determine how much they can take before the noise they make begins distorting. I've heard that our brains are a lot more foregiving of therapists with proper room treastments, like leather or persian carpets, which absorb some of their odd harmonics. Jeff