Conference hips::uk_audioo

    It was only a matter of time before this came up. HFA aren't the
    only mag to cover this, but they started it. Various people in
    different mags, who would normally be at each others' throats in
    disagreement, agree it works, likwise some industry people; conversely,
    others who might agree with these people on lots of other things
    think they're potty. As a general rule, though, those who fall about
    laughing at it haven't actually tried it.......
    
    Belt's vague explanations don't help. He uses words like charge,
    field, electret, outside of their normal usage. As I understand
    it, the basic thrust of his argument (and this doesn't mean I believe
    or understand) is this:-
    
    1. We live in an environment polluted with electromagnetic radiation,
    and it's getting worse.
    
    2. The worse kind is that which emanates from power lines.
    
    3. When this radiation encounters an interface between two materials,
    if that interface is not perfect then a "contra-charge"<his words,
    not mine> is set up across the interface. These interfaces include
    all the electrical connections in the house, where things are bolted
    together, etc., as well as anything with an even number of edges,
    books (all books have an even no. of leaves because of the way they're
    bound), curtains, rugs, which all have the ability to hold a
    "contra-charge".
              
    4. It is 1000's of these contra-charges in our environment which
    affect the activity of the brain, affecting its ability to respond
    to external stimuli (like listening to music), and creating the 
    beginnings of stress as we try to subconciously overcome the effect
    by concentrating harder.
    
    5. Since hearing is our most sensitive human facility, then manipulation
    of these fields can be detected most readily by experimenting whilst
    listening to music.
    
    Now this may sound like bunkum. But Belt has worked with a London
    hospital in experiments on the effects of electromagnetic radiation,
    on such illnesses as epilepsy, migraine, colitis and depression.
    The doctor he worked with put patients in a Faraday cage, bombarded
    them with low-level em radiation and monitored their symptoms. Patients
    treated with Belt's applications (I don't know what they were) were
    unaffected, while those not treated got worse; those who were treated
    continued to improve even after the experiment. The doctor confessed
    she no idea exactly what Belt's treatments were doing, but they
    worked. Also this work is paralleled by that of a Prof. Savitz <sp?> in
    the USA, investigating clusters of various diseases, including
    leukaemia, occurring in communities covered by heavy power cables.
    
    It's a real can of worms and provokes all sorts of arguments. New
    HiFi Sound ran an experiment a month or two back, giving away a
    small pack of PWB foils with instructions, and invited readers to
    write in. I decided to give it a go.
    
    Yes, it works. Or, to put it another way, I perceived reversible
    changes in what I heard in my living room on my system. When applying
    Belt's ideas, I either noticed a change for the better or none at
    all. It's not just a placebo effect either, I'd expect that to wear
    off after time, but it doesn't and I can still pick up deteriorations
    if I inadvertently reverse something. I noticed very general things,
    like more obvious streophony, different layers of a recording easier
    to follow whilst improving the sense of musicians playing together
    and in tune. Wierd.
    
    Someone else trying it on a different system in another room may
    hear different things, or nothing.
    
    Belt reckons his treatments can make a midi system sound like a
    mega-fi setup - not his exact claim and I'm not implying he's
    dishonest, but you get my drift?  It opens up a whole new area for 
    unscrupulous retailers to rip off punters. My view is that Belt's 
    treatments *can* make a system's strengths more obvious and its 
    weaknesses less so, provided the balance is already in favour of
    strength; otherwise the best it can achieve is mediocrity.

    Yes, well. You're probably more confused now than before, right?

    Well, join the club.
    
    Dave

	May be I missed the answer to this question in my confusion.
	But what do you actually do the get this improvement ?


	Iain

    Towards the end of the last series of Loose Ends (BBC Radio 4, Sat
    10am) they ran an "investigative" report on this phenomonen. The
    reporter (Craig Charles?) interviewed Belt and had him apply his
    techniques to Craig's own stereo in his own front room.
    
    I can't remember all the details but I do recall the techniques
    included adding a single sheet of paper to a pile of magazines (which
    just happened to be there) to make the number of pages odd and,
    I think, placing paper on top of the TV.
    
    According to Craig (and I couldn't verify this since I was listening
    on a cheap and nasty tranny) he could indeed perceive an improvement,
    particularly in the bass which was significantly tighter.
    
    Perhaps, if someone posted the rules in here we could experiment
    a little.
    
    cheers
    alf

    re .3...
    "    Perhaps, if someone posted the rules in here we could experiment
    a little."
    
    Do you mean PWB's procedures?
    
    I have several pages of A4 PWB sent me, which I can type in or mail
    to interested parties, on the following conditions:-
    
    a) You give it a serious try, and...
    b) Enter your findings in here.
    
    Any takers?
    
    Dave
    
    

	Re : - -.1 

>    Any takers?
 

	I am to fascinated to turn down such an offer, my Mail stop
	is @ UCG A1.

	However, I am moving house next week, so it may take me some time
	to write up the results.

	Iain    
    

    Here's a few things you can try. They may or may not work for you.
    
    1. First off, make sure all mains cables are connected with the correct
    wires to neutral and live; this is especially important with some
    devices which have a removable and reversible mains lead a la electric
    shaver (some CD players do, I believe), the live side of the supply
    *must* eventually arrive at the live side of the transformer.
        
    2. On bookshelves or in piles of magazines, insert a sheet of paper
    about half page size in one book per shelf and one magazine per
    pile. If you treat more than one, make it an odd number.
    
    3. Tie a reefknot in all mains cables; knots should be tied near the
    plugs, and two adjacent cables can be tied together. Only one (or
    an odd number of) knot(s) per circuit, though. Do likewise with
    interconnects and speaker cables.
    
    4. Look around for anything which stands on four feet; no, I don't
    mean pets, just furniture and such. Place a piece of paper, or stiff
    card if the object is heavy, under just one foot of each item; again,
    only odd layers if you have fold the card, etc., for strength. This
    also applies to systems components which invariably have 4 rubber
    feet; it should also apply to spiked stands but it's difficult if
    the carpet has a deep pile.
    
    Make sure your system is warmed up (even transistor amps need warm-up
    time), and that there are no basic setup or connection problems.

    You can either do all the above, then listen, or do them one at a
    time. However you do it, I suggest you do the change(s), put some
    music on, then stop it before changing anything else, rather than
    listening for a change in continuous music. Try spreading the
    experiment over a day or so, not just a quick half-hour listen before
    diving down the pub.
    
    Use a recording you're familiar with, that you can relax to. If
    you do hear changes, complete the above, then put on something you
    can't stand, have got bored with, can't relate to, or whatever,
    and try again; if you heard changes before you'll be gobsmacked.

    Either that, or you'll hear no change at all; either way, let's
    have your feedback.
    
    Dave

    Re .6
    
    On point 2 - before doing your thing with the magazine pile, I guess
    you have to ensure that none of your mags are stuffed with freebies
    such as film developing service envelopes, otherwise you could produce
    the exact opposite of your desired effect!

    If anyone gets around to experimenting and putting their results
    in here (which I hope they do), I'll extract their replies and pass
    them on to PWB.
    
    If you object, mail me.
    
    Dave

    A few months ago I too got a magazine which included some Black
    Foil pieces which you were supposed to put on the cat, window and
    everything else!!
    
    Not to be fazed I gave this a go - and actually found (to my utmost
    horror!!) NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL when I put a piece of cut foil on
    the cat.   There was also no difference when I put them on doors,
    mains plugs, etc.
    
    However, I did notice a difference when I put this stuff on my CD's!!
    The difference was barely noticeable ( but nevertheless appeared
    to be determinable) but I did notice a slight improvement in the
    low end of the music spectrum.  This seemed most noticeable on
    Fleetwood Mac's Tango In The Night - however there were also many
    other discs where I could determine no improvement.  
    
    This all leads one to wonder if it's worth bothering - and I decided
    it wasn't.  Even so, if more people have positive things to say
    about it, I'll try again!!
    
    Ian

    We are beginning to use CD Rings and Dampers, the former available
    from Monster Cable, the latter from MOD Squad; I've only tried the
    Rings.
    
    When I make a change, I try to get a non-audiophile music lover
    (my girlfriend) to listen.  With the Rings, it was "What have you
    done to the system?  It sounds more real!"  Supposedly the Rings
    prevent the disk from vibrating and putting an unnecessary load
    on the servo/error correcting system in the CD player.
    
    In the US the Rings cost one dollar apeice in 12 packs, and are
    cheaper in larger quantities.  I too have noticed "better tunefulness",
    especially in the bass, and much smoother highs.  Image localization
    is also improved.  (The CDB473 still isn't an LP12, though.)
    
    We also try mains filters and spike arrestors (for computer grade
    power) but that's another story.
    

    
    CD rings aren't quite so wierd as "Beltology". I can list oodles
    of reasons why CD rings should work, but this Belt issue is different.
    
    This business is getting ridiculous. Just when I thought the whole
    thing had died down, HFA start featuring articles by one of their
    regulars and a Hungarian audio journalist about PWB's latest "thing",
    bracelets made from solid copper wire. The idea is you either wear
    them (seriously!) or place them around one leg of any piece of
    furniture with an even number of legs; the sound in the room then
    improves. They don't say if all your guests have to partake of ritual
    also.
    
    Having revisited the whole thing I find that although there may
    be some discernible effect, it isn't worth having. The things
    I heard were more to do with my system warming up (which takes longer
    than I thought for it to give its best), and the cleaning effect
    of removing and inserting plugs.
    
    The whole business was inducing a level of paranoia that stopped me 
    enjoying my records, so that was it, finito; I don't give a monkey's 
    how good someone else says it is, it just isn't worth that, not for
    me anyway.
    
    There are people struggling to get hifi and a recorded-music-collection
    taken as seriously in the UK as it is in the US; all this sort
    of thing does is set them back 20 years, and enhance hifi's weirdo 
    reputation. Grrrr.....
    
    Dave (feeling better already.....)