Lloyd Walker has a new tweak: the black diamond crystal for cartridges. It's a crystal you put on either the tonearm or the cartridge that [I KID YOU NOT] transforms the sound! I know, I know, [don't ask me to explain it,I can't] it can't be all that, but i'm tellin you try this thing [if you don't like it you can return it] for less than half the price of a really good cartridge you get A REALLY GOOD CARTRIDGE!!! Please post your experience
I think Walker should partner with the guy from Synergistic Research. I was at a show recently and he had every tweak underneath the sun. The system he was demonstrating cost 400k. I was thinking to myself If I had a system like that would I have to tweak it. Do guys that buy new Ferrari's tweak their vehicles. Sure some do but most keep the car stock like the manufacturer Intended. I wonder how many people that own 400,000 audio systems feel the need to tweak their system. And do you really get better sound or a different sound?
Judy ...., another pejorative post. Who is this bald huckster and fat dumpster? Is this an attempt at droll humor. Because if it is, it is impolite, personal and defamatory.
Mr P- There are many on this site that need no experience with anything, to know that something does not/can not function as claimed, or- as others have observed. A prime example of 'The Dunning-Kruger Effect' at work.
How can you know anything about weather or not something works without trying it first? If you find that it DOES work you can then decide if the explanation offered is valid. In this case it works so well I really don't care WHY it works. Try it yourself and tell us what YOU think, if you don't find it works send it back (within 30 days) and get your money back! (and tell us that too)
Mr P- Your first sentence makes too much sense for those, "many" to accept. Again: 'The Effect' at work in them. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect) (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolved-primate/201006/when-ignorance-begets-confidence-the-classic-dunning-kruger-effect)
Perditty, Rodman, and Benjie: Can you get it through your heads that my question is not whether your system sounds better with the Walker crystals. It is also not about whether my system would sound better if I were to employ them. My ONLY question is: do crystals absorb or dissipate RFI, as claimed by the vendor? So far, I can find no evidence in the scientific literature to support that claim. This is not to say that you cannot go on enjoying the perceived effect of your crystals. I cannot understand why you respond with anger and/or sarcasm to the simple question I posed.
1)Cornell University is hardly a jailhouse. 2)I never offered an opinon on the Crystal, only a reply to the first poster's comment(The Effect probably blocked you from recognizing that fact). I do have plenty of experience, regarding those with oral incontinence(such as yours), however(seems I REALLY hit a nerve). Help yourself(et al) to, "The Last Word." Bet you can't contain it, and I can use the laughs.
As I've said before, this whole thing is so unbelievable that I just wanted to see if anyone else heard what I heard. We can debate theory of operation I was just seeking out others experience
Perditty, The only thing I would take issue with is your use of the term "debate". Inert crystals either can or cannot affect RFI. The debate could be about whether they make an improvement in one's audio system; that would be a reasonable subject for debate.
I have not tried the Black Crystal tweak, yet. So, I have no right to form an opinion about it. Judging from this thread, however, it appears to be 100% effective--based on the accounts from people who, actually, have tried it. None of the naysayers seem to have tried it. So, their opinions are uninformed, and, in my view, worthless. A theory is worthless unless experimentation can validate, or, invalidate it. That is how science works: theory, then, experiment. I would be interested in reading an account from someone who has tried the Black Crystal tweak and found it not to be effective. Slogging through the mire of endless speculation this thread contains is tiresome.
I suppose it should be mentioned that Acoustic Revive's little QR-8 smokey quartz crystal is also recommended for the cartridge body, along with other resonance targets of opportunity. Of course, be wary of over dumping.
From Acoustic Revive's web site:
"Quartz Resonator QR-8 is not magic or occult. Reason why the sound improves by using QR-8 is that because, by placing QR-8 onto an agenda which causes resonance, the resonance frequency of agenda changes and it stops any resonation. Agenda such as plug, connector, parts, equipment switch, equipment housing, and door in the room, windows, wall, floor and ceiling resonates by its particular resonance frequency and by placing QR-8 will change the frequency and stops the resonance. But placing QR-8 to an agenda which does not resonate, adversely QR-8 may cause it to resonate or to over dump. So you have to be careful where you place the QR-8. You can check if QR-8 is causing the agenda to resonate or over dumping by listening to the sound."
Dear Neetzshe, You wrote: "That is how science works: theory, then, experiment." It can also work the other way: Experiment, then formulate a theory based on actual data. Then do more experiments to determine whether your theory holds water.
Please don't lecture to me on how science works; I have been a scientist for 40 years and have published lots of papers in first rank journals. Now just show me the data that corroborates the hypothesis that crystals attenuate RFI, and I will be happy. Also, please actually think while you read my previous posts on this subject. I never claimed that the tweak has no audible effect or that its proponents were nuts or laboring under a deception. I am only asking whether or not this effect that they do hear could possibly be due to attenuating RFI.
IMO the only way the crystal as it is used on the cartridge could operate by absorbing or dissipating RFI/EMI is if it acted like a magnet for RFI/EMI, pulling in the offending electromagnetic fields like a black hole pulling in matter beyond the event horizon. If the crystal did not pull in RFI/EMI then wouldn't it be safe to assume the electromagnetic fields would still be there? It makes much more sense that the crystal absorbs or dissipates mechanical vibration, inasmuch as even low levels of vibration on the cartridge body could be audible considering the sensitivity of modern phono cartridges. Of course, we don't actually know what the Walker black diamond is made of. I trust it's not really a black diamond.
Mr L: Thinking back to my(at about the age of 10) first electronic project, a crystal radio; virtually the only components it contained were the crystal itself, which was described as, "the detector" & a tuning coil. I'm certain you are familiar with radio waves and their electro-magnetic energy, so- I'll skip that treatise. In a crystal radio; the detector changes the received RF energy(via antenna/tuner) and changes it into an audio signal. The detector is actually a rectifier & when radio was first invented; many found that various rocks, that were crystalline(ie: pyrite, galena, etc), could be used as detectors. Isn't is possible, that these mystery crystals are composed of a rectifying substance that is then sized and shaped to tune in to certain RF freqs, deleterious to our listening pleasure? In the radio app; the audio signal's energy is directed to, and expended by, earphones. I have no hypothesis as to what the crystal might do with what RFI/EMI energy it might capture. Not to start another debate and I have no idea whether they work or not, but- Shakti Stones are purported to function the same way.
For electro-magnetic waves to be changed to audio signals(within a detector/crystal), they must be, "absorbed." The only thing a crystal needs to do so, is an antenna. Perhaps, in the case of the wavelengths that the Walker deals with, the size or shape of the crystal obviates that need( as I mentioned earlier). Just trying to present a plausible possibility, for Mr L.
Rodman, I agree with your point wrt the passive nature of Shakti however there is a significant difference between the Shakti Stone and a single crystal or even group of crystals we see in some audio applications. That difference is that for Shakti Stone there is a circuit that the quartz crystal is part of, whereas in the case of the black diamond crystal, assuming for the moment it actually IS a crystal (symmetrical atomic structure), there is no circuit.
Here's the brief description from Shakti web site:
"Through a unique application of quartz oscillators, a broad spectrum of RFI is attenuated. Being a piezeo-electric material, quartz is capable of converting an electric field into mechanical energy. In situations where quartz is employed in active components, the desired goal is to accentuate one resonant frequency to the exclusion of all others. However, within this stage of SHAKTI, quartz is used in a manner to produce the broadest sampling of frequencies to better absorb the somewhat unpredictable EMI. One of the reasons quartz has never been used in this type of circuit is because, as effective as it is as a converter of electrical energy, its very high Q means that most of the conversion to mechanical energy swiftly changes back to electrical. To overcome this problem, careful experimentation produced the necessary resistive element that is incorporated to substantially lower the Q. The result is effective dissipation within the first 1/2 cycle. This stage provides absorption/dissipation benefits for both external and self -generated sources of RFI."
Dear Rodman, The crystal in those old radios is an RF generator, not an RF absorber. In the old days, I think those radios were "tuned" to a particular frequency by changing the crystal, each one of which resonated at a different frequency. In fact, every time I tried to do a search on crystals as an absorber of RF, I got a list of papers documenting the fact that an electrically energized crystal (not an inert crystal glued to a tonearm) will radiate RFI.
Lew & Al (Rodman), regarding the function of crystals in early radio equipment, you're both right, but you are referring to two different applications. And to some extent to two different eras.
Crystals were (and still are, in some applications) used to control the resonant frequency of tuned circuits, such as RF oscillators. While in the earliest days of radio, and later in radio hobby kits, they were used as detectors/demodulators, where (as Rodman indicated) their rectification properties were used to extract the audio information carried on AM (amplitude-modulated) radio signals.
Mr L- Type: "crystal radio" in your searchbar. The only energy necessary for their function, is that provided by an AM signal, within range. Also, along with that, type Schottky and germanium(small signal or low barrier diodes). they can take the place of a crystal, in that app. You will find that this has been common knowledge, for generations. Happy listening!
Mr G- Of course; the Shakti is designed to eliminate RFI/EMI on a much grander scale, than the immediate proximity to a cartridge would entail(HOPEFULLY). Again- I limited my likening of their(possible)similarities to the 3 areas mentioned(and I'm only hypothesizing, regarding the Walker).
You're welcome, Rodman. In connection with the mention of crystal-controlled oscillators in my post, I should of course also have mentioned the billions of quartz controlled watches that are out there.
The really interesting thing about crystals is that they can absorb vibrations of many frequencies - including Very Low frequencies! As when crystals are used in room corners. I suspect focusing on non-audio applications like crystals in radios and watches is a little bit irrelevant to the whole audio applications thing.
Dear Rodman, I assume that I am "Mr. L". If so, please tell me how your last post in any way addresses the question of whether an inert crystal (not one that is energized in any way) can prevent RFI from affecting one's vinyl playback. Yes, Al pointed out another way in which crystals are/were used in radio, but that does not resolve the issue. I read the relevant literature in my search. When a crystal is excited by RF, it does not remove the RF from the environment; it samples the RF selectively for its particular resonant frequency and then resonates, or not, as I see it.
Traditionally, only a few stones don't need clearing(citrine, kyanite, etc.). Unless this crystal is one of those, I would suspect that the stone would need time between listening sessions, in order to clear itself. EMI and RFI, would saturate the crystal, so that it's no longer effective. Is there any drop off in sound quality towards the end of a long listening session?
Hey yall. Allow me to chime in. Im just another philosophizer about crystals (at least for now) no empirical evidence here! But have been trying many things in the past years to rid my phono set up of CB radio and faint long wave interference.
A video link to what this malicious interruption was like is on my blog: http://brooklynaudiophile.blogspot.com/
I gave up months ago. Then I explored Walker Audios website, talked to Mr. Walker, and bought his Eliminator-T. Thought I would start on the cheap. Problem was just about solved! I can only hear very faint remnants of that highly annoying RFI disturbance and only when the volume is turned up very high (past 2oclock).
So that has inspired me to believe this Black Crystal may be what it claims I hope to attain one for my next up grade.
Furthermore, for folks still interested in the connection between crystals and RFI/EMI, for your consideration:
To all the guy's posting silly comments about Lloyd's Crystals,The jokes on you,I've had them for two days and the music has somehow been energised,lit from within.
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