Audiophile oddities


Since I changed my beloved YBA 2 preamp to a YBA 1 preamp, my 2 was lying on my work table. Yesterday I opened it up to see what was inside (a really beautifull inside...) but unlike the other time I opened it I went further in the body of the beast by opening those little black tinted box caled "YBA line module" ( I tought I would find some kind of esoteric electronic device...) and what I found was something I never imaginated I could find in a preamp: some kind of ziplock bag with some sort of black little rock (like those in fish aquarium) and absolutely NO ELECTRONIC PART!!! Just a plastic bag full of S**T. I tried to find if they where any electronic device under the board but again their was nothing. I will open up my 1 preamp to see if that is the same thing as the 2 but let me tell you that I'm a little bit disapointed that a profesional conpagny like YBA are using some kind of voodoo things...

dismalonyx
Is it possible it is synthetic diamond pieces? I read about a year ago that Yves Bernard Andre (YBA) opens his condensators (hope the term is right) and adds some synthetic diamond dust for whatever reason (sorry, its already a year ago). If someone is interrested, I can try digging out the article...

Best Regards
Well I will take a stab at this.It could be loadstone which does have magnetic properties and works on the same principle as the Shatki stone.Difference being ,it is a rock or rocks,cost a hell of a lot less and is more pure than the Shatki as it has not been immusilfied and mixed with glue. I use it on my transformers in my gear in little bags so that the dust and fragments from the rock does not enter the gear.My 2 cents.
I would have guessed the charcoal's a chassis moisture absorber, but not if it's in a plastic bag. And why label it YBA line module? Let us know the company's explanation.
Rocks obviously just there to inflate the units weight, and add to it's percieved build quality and value. Sounds like pure smoke and mirrors. Seems to me I've read several threads discussing odd weighting schemes in amplifiers over the years. Same scam.
Is it possible that these boxes were intended to house a future plug in modular circuit that was never implemented? Could these rocks be an anti-resonant device used in the meantime? Did Enron's tanker ship going through the Bermuda Triangle REALLY cause their collapse?
I can't tell you what they are but I can tell you one other story. A long established European amp manufacturer had 4 little black boxes in his 60 and 100 watt amps. I was helping him stabalize the amps for the US market -- Europeans think that because 240 V is 240 V that 110 is 110, not 95-125V. Anyway, as I was checking biases and taking measurements at different places on the boards, I could not figure out what the little black boxes were. They were about 1" cubed. I finally asked. Somewhat serious and somewhat joking he said that they were special transistors that gave the amp its special sound. I shrugged it off but came back to it a week later. He finally told me. "Everyone expects special components because they do not understand or accept that a simple circuit is best. They are little 5 cent transitors that work very well. There is nothing better sounding. There are three of them hot glued and epoxyed up in the box." So, this person needed to hide 60 cents of transitors in his $2000 and $3000 amps. So, you have might just have the French version of the little black box that adds lots of "PERCEIVED VALUE." It would be interesting to find out what they really are. Dig into it and find out.
Did you buy the unit used? Perhaps at one time it was a gift from Lex Luthor to Clark Kent and somehow you ended up with it.
You are the final winner. Please show up at the YBA factory Monday morning at 7 O'clock sharp for a magical experience.
i've been told that yba uses chips off an old block of shakti stone. they are purportedly intended to cut back on listener flatulence, which, left uncontrolled, can have unpleasant effects upon the musical presentation.
-cfb
I am surprised they didn't pot the darn little thingies so someone would have to go to all the trouble to slice it up into little bits to see what is inside...
Hi Dismal; Don't mean to make light of your maybe distressing story about the YBA. But years ago there was a news story about a guy that bought a Cadillac that had an irritating knocking sound in the left front door. He finally took it too a GM service dept. and when the mechanics took the inner door panel off they found a nut tied to a string that was swinging back and forth and banging into the sheet metal. There was also a note attached that said "serves you right you rich SOB". Of course this was courtesy of a (maybe) disgruntled GM assembly employee.

Well, your YBA story reminded me of that. I hope there's a better explanation than YBA is selling little black rocks. Cheers. Craig
You might want to consider smoking one of those little black rocks for an unbelievable musical high!
I think there are so many ''exoteric''audio gear nowadays,with a pretty face and high price tag(good for those mercenarys audio gurus!!.Nothing more.
Those are blessed audio rocks, and should not be spoken of poorly-they are an integral part of the function of the device, besides YBA had no other place to put them :) That is sort of weird, maybe it means my accuphase pre is filled with cocaine because it is so freaking expensive ;) I'll have to look!!
Tim