The All New Christmas P.W.B. Newsletter
VOL ONE NUMBER TWO
Just after the last one, here's another within seconds (artistic license gone mad perhaps) or so it seems. Yet given the recent products from P.W.B. this issue is timely, necessary and very entertaining. Almost perfect for the season, in fact.
There is much to enjoy – frightening new products, staggering artwork, stunning tips, and even a fairy tale. What other Hi-Fi publication could compete? I am grateful as ever to the thought and work that goes into the contributions, especially as the late '90s seem to suck the marrow from the bone with the increasing demands on everyone. Perhaps with music, and the relevant P.W.B. items there is some respite, but I am sure we are all grateful to Kevin, Kenneth and John for their considerable efforts and time. One of them has of course won the competition, but you will have to read further to discover who the lucky person is – and competition has been stiff! Yet what treasures they will receive …
I have found myself thinking at this point of how it is ten years since I started to experience the P.W.B. phenomenon – in all its senses – and am struck by how much progress there has been. P.W.B. has the ability, ably supported by May, Graham and Susan, to confound and surprise us all, even now. There is nothing staid or repetitive about his work, as it courses through its quirky (quarky?) evolution, obeying laws and principles scarcely known. I feel, because of some developments of my own, that I have not been able to celebrate and promote this as much as I would have liked in 1997, and I would like to thank the Belt family on behalf of us all, and wish them a very prosperous 1998.
In the coming early months of 1998, I will be developing some ideas as to how we may move forward with the P.W.B. issue, as I become increasingly aware – as P.W.B. has always been – of how the problems need to be tackled at source rather than applying something later. This is not a matter of commercial enterprise for P.W.B. but vital to our creating a better world. I suspect P.W.B. products are rather like the boiling of drinking water in a place where the water supply is highly suspect; they help, but they don't solve the fundamental problem of a poor water supply. Anyone who has tried the Frosted Foil on a Book will know how great the problem is, but without wider publicity etc.., there is no progress. So, 1998 could be the year of the Gathering, and much more! Watch this typed space.
Yet the products this year are magnificent, and I don't think it should escape our attention that they do make life so much more interesting and enriching – they make a difference, and the new products make more of a difference. Do investigate them if you haven't already.
But now is the time for holidaying, and so I will now wish one and all a Merry Xmas, and a fulfilling New Year, whilst also remembering those who have left us, notably the much missed Peter Turner.
Any comments, views or articles to the usual addresses:
Until 1998
Richard Graham
Address for correspondence
P.W.B. Newsletter
P.W.B Electronics
18. Pasture Crescent
Leeds LS7 3QB
Or for you sophisticates
E-mail – to Newsletter@belt.demon.co.uk
The ushering in of a new series of P.W.B. products is always a vital, thrilling moment, as one wonders "where now?" Many readers of this Newsletter will already have an idea of what to expect by virtue of the samples that came with the last Newsletter. I hope many of you found them as exciting and curious as I did, and were able to sit back and enjoy music in a previously unimagined way. Well, the following items (some of which you will have tried) are more of the same in type, only more so in effect. This will probably make more sense as you read on, and I elaborate upon the above.
THE DOME
This fascinating, wondrous device may have been a long time coming, but it has definitely been worth the wait. I have had the opportunity to try, this year, a number of prototypes, and can only confirm that with each development, the Dome has just got more and more effective. It takes the form of a clear plastic Dome (are they inverted Castors at heart?) with many complex and glittering P.W.B. labels attached. The overall aesthetic effect is appealing, and they are certainly the sort of object that one can safely leave atop of equipment, without fear of ruining the charming effect one has laboured to achieve in the listening room design. The Dome also comes with two vital distinct bags, full of strange items that readers will have some sense of from the bag that came with the last Newsletter. One of the bags is dominated by Silver Labels, the other by Gold ones. They are attached to equipment by strips of Velcro – an ingenious idea that means one could move the bags without damaging them, should, say, the item of equipment fail.
I found the text that came with the Samples not only one of the most lucid accounts of P.W.B.'s ideas to date but also compelling in its integration of his thinking to date. I thus won't repeat any of it here, but the 222 aspect is very present in the Dome (along with much else).
The proof of any pudding though is in the experience of it, not its underlying ideology. At this point I think the Dome becomes remarkable. For some time now – perhaps the past few years – P.W.B. products have led us down a path that is so removed from conventional Hi-Fi sound that it is difficult to describe their effect upon us. Clear high frequencies, firm bass or fabulous imaging somehow don't fit with experience. To my mind the Dome pushes our experience of sound into something so utterly natural the effect is mesmerising.
On listening to a disc with the Dome on top of the CD player is an almost eerie experience, as one ceases to be aware that one is listening to reproduced music, or even music at all. The naturalness of the sound, totally stripped of any electronic falsity, does have to be heard to be believed. As I type this, I can hear Claudio Arrau playing Liszt (More drugs nurse!), fortunately from my CD player, and the rather old recording sounds formidably real, and thoroughly distracting. More recently, I managed to get hold of the recently remastered Schwarzkopf/Karajan "Der Rosenkavalier", and I truly think that I heard, for the first time, why the critics loved the sound of Elizabeth Schwarzkopf's voice. The sheer beauty of tone held me totally; absorbed by such God-given gifts and artistry, time vanished. I think there is something quite ineffable about the Dome's effect, and words do no justice. It is not looking through a window in time any more; it is reliving the experience with the artist(s), in some unknowable manner. It is the closest thing to live performance, yet not even that captures that certain something that is quintessentially 'Dome-ish'.
I should point out that the Dome is expensive, but how can one put a value on a product such as this. Many Hi-Fi products have promised more, delivered far less, and have been yet more costly. Eschewing such old-fashioned inclinations is not easy, but the evidence of hearing a Dome is such that one can only conclude that it is a bargain in such company. It is available on a Trial basis, and if nothing else, it is worth a try. Yet be warned! Its effect is unusual, yet utterly compelling, and more like real experience than anything is so far
FROSTED FOIL
I thought that Teletubbies or Buzz Light-years were supposed to be desirable …
It is always faintly irritating when yet another Foil has come out of P.W.B. but one usually concedes that it is a complaint against the generosity of a feast. Never was that more true than in the case of this Foil. Many will have tried it by now, and I only hope you have all found it as extraordinary as I do.
In some senses it mirrors the Dome in the type of effect it has on sound, and I find the breathless naturalness of the sound that emerges from the application of this Foil so captivating that I think it should be supplied to all as a matter of Public Health. I simply can't get enough of the stuff, and have yet to find somewhere where I don't think 'wow' after fitting a strip. I won't write much more but suggest you try this Foil in the following essential sites – if I've missed any let me know!
a) The Clip Lighter
b) The Clip Bottle
c) Any Photograph and any Photo Folder
d) Any previous Dome
e) Any Morphic Message Label
f) The Electricity and Gas Meters etc.
g) The Water Tanks etc.
h) Everywhere else
I think I was most disturbed by the effect of this Foil on the Slave Morphic Message Labels, which really leapt up, but then it was pretty shocking in its effect almost everywhere. I really cannot highlight the brilliance of this product any more than to say do try some on any of the above sites and enjoy!
Then form an orderly queue ….
THE DOME PASSIVE DISC
This adjunct to the Dome, for use of course in disc cases/sleeves, brings a very worthwhile, perhaps dramatic increase to our pleasure from CD's or LP's. The format is familiar – the Gold Disc – but this time it is adorned with the translucent Labels that are part and parcel of Dome developments, and the Disc certainly looks a class above the standard Passive Disc. It sounds it too. But as with many other products, there are unexpected advantages.
This Disc, when placed inside the case of a CD becomes a treatment device when used with the Clip/White Dome. The benefits of re-Clipping a CD in its case, using the new Passive disc brings a wonderful improvement to an already improved sound. The same I suspect is true of LP's, but I never play these now, and so will allow the reader room for exploration …
P.W.B. has suggested that there will be different levels of sophistication for this Passive Disc, with a Basic Disc and then more effective 'Higher Models'. (This may also be true of the Dome too …) I can only report that the Disc I have received is a very worthy addition to the armoury of Belt devices, and as with the Dome, it gives us a perception of sound quite unlike anything else. It is different, but it is real; very real.
THE FUTURE
P.W.B. I suspect is moving into a new and very creative phase, and there will be much to report. At the time of writing this I have just received a prototype of part of a product series/triptych that pushes everything further. Whilst the price of such a product may push it beyond the hands of many, as with the Dome, and its offshoot of Frosted Foil, I suspect that the benefits may be available to all via new developments.
There will always be pure Gold and alloyed products, but the better the Gold the more radiant the alloys. I advise everyone to prepare himself or herself for the year ahead, with an expectation that things will change in '98 – of that I am sure.
AIM
To investigate the creation of Morphic Messages and their effect on Hi-Fi sound, with regard to
a) The apparent degradation of sound resulting from reading favourable reviews of equipment other than one's own.
b) The apparent improvement in sound resulting from Morphic Messages in the very areas featured in the review(s) in question.
METHOD
Using the P.W.B. Red 'X' pen, a formula was tried out. The formula consisted of the name of my own item of equipment, followed by the infinity sign, followed by the word O.K. On the next line the word 'O.K.' was followed by the infinity sign followed by the name of the equipment read about in the review.
E.g.
SUGDEN A25 MOSFET STEREO AMPLIFIER > O.K.
O.K. > UNISON RESEARCH SIMPLY FOUR
The normal P.W.B. message is reversed on the second line for no other reason than to spell out the concept as approximated – not only is the equipment O.K., but it is also O.K. in relation to the other piece of equipment read about in the review.
Such Morphic Messages were attached to my own equipment and before/after listening tests conducted. The subjective nature of the experiment was seen as an enhancement, not a hindrance (as it is the mind/physical world interface that is being investigated in this particular experiment).
HYPOTHESIS
The Morphic Messages described will not only improve the subjectively perceived HiFi sound, but they will improve it in a way that appears to mirror the attributes of the equipment as praised by a reviewer in a HiFi Magazine.
FINDINGS
Selection of equipment to compare with my own proved to be something of a stumbling block. I felt that the equipment could be more expensive than my own, but somehow not more powerful or of a very different impedance.
Accordingly, I chose the following two items:
a) Unison Research Simply Four
b) Monitor Audio R700 PMC
The reports on both items were extremely favourable.
The Unison Research item was described as having the attributes of valve technology at its best. The photographs also gave the impression of wonderful design and engineering. All in all one might associate such a design with statements with the conditional "if I win the Lottery."
The Monitor Audio items in question were given a high rating for making a wide variety of music come alive. Roughly the same size as my existing speakers, they cost roughly four times as much.
The single-ended triode design would also go nicely with the wooden finish of the Monitor Audio speakers, since Unison Research pride themselves on wooden trimmings for their amplifiers!
The Morphic Message described under METHOD was attached to my Sugden Amplifier, and a similar Message was attached to my JBL TLX3 speakers, linking/balancing them against the Monitor Audio R700 PMC.
A selection of music was then played from CD and LP. The CD's and LP's had been treated with P.W.B. Foils and other well-known-by-now P.W.B. techniques.
My observations were that the music sounded not only better but also in a manner that would be equated with more expensive, indeed expansive sounding equipment.
The most striking result was from an LP which I had purchased second-hand for £4.00 in the summer. It is of Schubert's String Quintet in C Major (Op 163; D956). According to the sleeve, it is a 1970's recording by the Alberni Quartet, with Thomas Igloi on Violoncello. I had decided to track this work down because I had read of its importance in Schubert's development of the chamber music genre; indeed perhaps it was the "apex of his art" in this field. However, in the steam-bath hothouse of August I had not been able to get fully into the atmosphere and had turned instead to a copy, made by a friend, of Dylan's Basement Tapes. It was Dylan's Tapes that stuck me in the holiday mood, as marvellously harmonic and achingly beautiful and without of course delving into the words, which beg to be unlocked from their surface obscurity!
Returning to the Alberni Quartet in October, however, was truly a revelation. Never before had stringed instruments sounded so resonantly beautiful on my equipment. Each fret and bow movement seemed alive with rich associations. There was a breathtaking percussive quality to the whole performance and the whole LP went by so swiftly that I hardly noticed the physical involvement in getting up to turn the disc over!
I did not/could not remove my new Morphic Messages. For me the real comparison was listening to the record first of all in August and secondly now! This was the best "real-live" before and after test imaginable.
INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION
That I had failed to administer adequate controls and limit the variables in my experiment is exceptionally important in this case. Normally a result would be invalidated by the shortcoming, but in this instance the case for a significant reading of what occurred is only strengthened. After all we are talking about the same record and the same equipment – have I really changed that much?
The answer must surely be that it is only my ability to perceive that has improved – this improvement must stem from the application of P.W.B. techniques and the conflict-cancelling Morphic Messages that I have described.
However, I do reserve judgement as to how valuable the concept of mirroring the qualities of more expensive equipment actually is.
One explanation could be that P.W.B. techniques enhance sound quality by removing barriers that prevent us from perceiving what is there. It is therefore only natural that the improvements themselves differ from person to person, and even from day to day.
When a review, a photograph or an advertisement is fresh in the mind, the mind uses those impressions to interpret and label the new freshness of perception that is being experienced.
However it could also be that such a seemingly reasonable explanation may in fact, in the long run be less rational.
What continues to impress the student of Morphic resonance is the extraordinary power of Morphic Messages to set up pathways and channels, along which, and through which, a particular kind of awareness can be encouraged to develop.
Kenneth Hyam
"Cartoons from Kenneth Hyam"
"A fine example of a Neolithic Tweeter Stand, made by the P.W.B. Co., renowned today of course for the Morphic Link Buster. We can only guess at what sort of instrument it supported, But nevertheless, a very fine piece – I hope you have it insured"
…of the devices included with the November Newsletter – BRILLIANT, WONDERFUL, MAGIC! What a difference a Foil makes (could be the title of a song).
A strip of Foil on the CD, along with the little bag of bits on top of the player, and the Silver and Gold 222 bag inside the CD case of the playing disc led to a sound which has a fizz of presence that defies belief.
Those devices even as demo's make an immediate change to the perceptions.
I may have written in the past that I own a pair Rogers LS6 speakers, which, pre-Belt, were a little laid back. Well, they now sit back completely transparent, producing the finest most involving music, regardless of source – CD, LP, Tuner, etc. – that I have ever experienced. P.W.B. reaches the parts others only dream of!
Kevin Kehoe
Dreaming implies a capacity for imagination and vision; the things most lacking in the audio industry? So I beg to differ on the last point …. RG
The New "New P.W.B. Newsletter Vol. I" has certainly been worth waiting for. The graphics are a great asset and in each case they have been pointedly applied. The size of the railway train is fully justified.
It is as though a new-found confidence has been breathed into the pages of the Newsletter. This is due to the extraordinary increase in the effectiveness of P.W.B. materials and our own growing understanding of the principles and techniques involved.
The main impression I get now is that we are dealing with a phenomenon, which operates, in such a way as to make the concept of 'tweaking' seem redundant. These Bag and Dome devices are surely items of equipment! They affect the senses and the mental perception of sound!
A loudspeaker makes air waves; these devices make waves of their own, but equally important ones!
Kenneth Hyam
Kenneth Hyam
Goldilocks quickly inserted a shiny CD into one of the three-box CD Players and turned up the amp. on the control module of the five-box amplification system.
She had been delighted to find this deserted Hi-Fi Cottage in the middle of the forest. Imagine, then, her disappointment when out of the ceiling-height hybrid speakers there oozed a sad muddle of a sound. Could this really be her hero? The Great Neil Young?
Why! The sound was even foggier than at the Ramada Hotel! Quickly she lowered her rucksack to the floorboards and pressed the eject button. Whew - that was better. She unpacked her P.W.B. Hi-Fi Emergency Rescue Kit and went to work. As she worked she noticed the atmosphere of the cottage become clearer. Now she could hear her own quick footsteps on the boards and, more alarmingly, the sound of animals roaming ever closer in the surrounding forest.
When the three bears returned from their morning walk in the forest they were amazed to find coloured discs, white spiral tubing, domes and various types of ring ties attached to their furniture, their central heating and to their Hi-Fi.
Each enquired who had been playing with those items in their home over which they felt most territorial claim. Daddy Bear woofed about his Hi-Fi system, Mummy Bear asked in her midrange accents about her settee and curtains and Baby Bear tweeted about his skipping rope.
Meanwhile Goldilocks, tired after her exertions, had fallen fast asleep upstairs in Baby Bear's bed. (It had been easier to lift this smaller bed slightly than the other two beds so that a piece of card could be inserted under one of its feet.) When she heard footsteps on the stairs she woke up and shinned down the drainpipe, pausing only to fix a large black ring tie round it before she hit the ground. Then, with the three bears woofing , vocalising and tweeting upstairs, she quickly put Neil Young back in the CD-Player and hit the Play Button. Now Young's voice emerged from the vast speakers with all the majesty of his rare emotive timbre: guitar notes seemed to hover and sway like suspended swathes of silver. Dispersed was the polymeric haze of that shiny little disc....
So lost in wonderment was she that she did not notice the three bears gathered behind her at the foot of the stairs. So lost in wonderment were the two parent bears that they forgot to tell Baby Bear not to skip indoors. At last Daddy Bear came to his senses and began woofing in Goldilock's direction: "Who the hell Are YOU?" He would have chased her into the forest but he felt so chilled out from listening to Neil Young that he refrained from chasing her much, especially as Mummy Bear and Baby Bear did not seem to have any urge to chase Goldilocks at all.
Goldilocks briefly explained the concept of Morphic Resonance to Daddy Bear who then said he felt confused.
"Never mind," said Mummy Bear, "porridge is ready! Come and get it!"
Thank goodness for P.W.B. thought Goldilocks.
Despite a considerable entry from Kevin Kehoe, the judges have decided to award the prize this year to this P.W.B.ically correct Fairy Tale. Full of fascinating tips, ideas and porridge, this story should be on the reading lists of all schools. Hopefully Kenneth will give us his 'Little Red Riding hood' ("Grandma! What surprisingly good sound you get from such basic equipment!") with its fascinating character – the Cross-Dressing Morphic Wolf!
P.W.B. would not reveal to me the nature of the prize for fear that I would throw an almighty tantrum at not being eligible for it myself. Suffice it to say that it is the most exciting product yet and possibly something to do with Entropy! Kenneth will of course let us know of this product in the next Newsletter, and I for one cannot wait.
So congratulations to Kenneth, commiseration's to Kevin, who is certainly worthy of a second prize.
I would be very interested to know if anyone has tried the following:
Instead of using the Morphic Hammer on the Freezer Dome device, I have tried applying the Q-Clip to the Magnadisc atop the Dome, and then using the Lighter to activate it in the normal way. I have not used this technique in place of the usual method of using the Freezer Dome, but in addition to it. When the Dome is Clipped on CD's and LP's (lay the CD or LP flat with the disc inside, place the Dome on top, and activate.) and the disc played an immediate increase in 'loudness' and detail is perceived. Especially noticeable are the resonance's produced by acoustic instruments, much easier to make out the different sound patterns generated by groups of instruments playing together.
Incidentally, this is one of the great glories of Belt treatments for me; the wealth of sound that now emerges from Pianos, guitars, cellos etc.. The complex colour of resonance's that emerge from the note or chord struck.
I have a lot of CD's composed of 78 records from the 1920's and 1930's, and whilst it must be said that the engineers do a wonderful job of improving the original sound, they also respond brilliantly to Belt treatments.
It is difficult to believe a Carter Family track recorded in 1927 could have so much body of sound and a freshness that belies its age. Yes even those distant recordings have all the components within them to reproduce what the composer was trying to say. But, getting back to my original point, I have used the Dome and Clip over other devices such as the Gold Message Foil etc., and can only say that the sound continues to improve. In parallel to this activity, I continue to use the Clip in its normal manner to regularly treat 'key' items, and this may influence some of the improvements – but on direct treatment of discs, there is no mistaking a quite profound improvement.
Kevin Kehoe
In my mind, to benefit most from the powers of 'Morphic Liquid' one needs to have fluid pumped around the central heating. I therefore decided to drain the system completely, flushing out the muck, which accumulated over the years.
I then applied the Morphic fluid to the inside and outside of the header tank and then to all the valves throughout the system. With the X-pen I wrote out 'x26'x labels and own name labels which I then stuck, out of sight, to the back of all the radiators, valves and header tank, and then tapped with the 'Magic Torch'.
Has anyone used the Purple CD Pen on the laser sledge in the CD player, or on any solder joint on the underneath of the circuit board? On the small turntable on which the disc rests place five equal marks around the edge, or as you would with the disc itself. Colour in the silver tops on the capacitors.
One further idea for the Morphic Liquid is to use the liquid in the emulsion paint, or mixed into the wallpaper paste when decorating – it truly works. (Does this give a surround sound?) Finally keep the fluid in the fridge as it works better when previously cooled.
John Dymond
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