P.W.B.'s Shooting Gallery
Any change in year number always brings forth hopes and anxieties, and in the midst of great hopes and doom laden prophecies, it is both heartening that work continues at P.W.B, even if a little depressing that we are hardly in a new age which is more open minded. The Millennium has yet to impact in such a manner, yet there are some telling signs.
This year has perhaps been one in which what was accepted is suddenly questioned, be it the American electoral process or the price of petrol. Revolution, whilst never comfortable, must always attend progress, and we appear to be in a climate where challenge and change are much more possible. The sense of a shift in the balance of the world powers is both heartening and worrying. The powers of those in control may be dwindling, and there is then the space for something new to enter.
Yet the most astonishing change appeared in the quiet and neglected corner that is the letters page of 'Hi-Fi News'. The eloquent letter from Ken Hyam – a regular to these pages – that was printed under the title of 'Reappraisal of Belt' challenged all expectations of that journal. What does it mean? Are people tired of increased sampling rates and the greedy squabbles that delay such promised treasures of SACD and DVD-A? Who knows, but someone held the door open long enough for Ken's letter to breakthrough. It will be interesting to see if Tom Marsden's letter gets published (at the request of Tom Marsden, a copy of his letter to Hi-Fi News is included in this Newsletter on Page 11). I also feel that our letters are getting better, and if this Newsletter was only a laboratory for ideas to be fashioned and tested, before release into the world, so much the better. The lightness of touch shown by Ken and Tom conveys much more than the angry, ham-fisted missiles from myself in past years. After all the certain man does not need to convince – his point can just be made. Yet there remains the philanthropic dimension, of wanting fellow audiophiles to taste the nectar of something different, and really rather groovy.
After last years excitement, the Internet continues to be a resource for those that wish to communicate and question. After Greg Weaver's initial pieces, there is hope for further pieces in the near future, tackling the thorny issue of the Red X-Pen (why should it work?) and related phenomena.
The Internet of course allows those afar to be in contact, and as before, we are privileged to read the thoughts from those around the world, and their struggles to make sense of the P.W.B. phenomenon – something which still strains the man himself! Thank you to all contributors, and feel free to send any piece, no matter what you feel about it – it will always be of value to someone; silence is always the greater crime. The richness of what is here should excite and not daunt.
Of course there is an element of hypocrisy here because it has been over six months since the last Newsletter, although the fact remains that it cannot function without contributions. For those desiring more frequent Newsletters: start writing!
You will note on reading this Newsletter that one or two themes recur. Firstly there is the struggle to make sense of what we see or hear, when using Belt devices. This is clearly an ongoing struggle for us all, but fundamental to our being alive. There is the arrogance of our so-called Scientific Age, that we can actually make sense of everything around us, and this obscures the perception of something unknown, and un-theorised. Science should pursue enquiry, but bound by the chains of economics and politics, it is as free as the Church was when spreading the Good Word. But struggle we must, not just in relation to P.W.B. devices, but to acknowledge in the more general way everything about us. There is one comment though from our Dutch writer that I want to comment upon as I feel it is significant. For many years live sound has often been promoted as a reference point for audio. I would challenge this, as much experience in the Opera House and Concert Hall has left me in recent times with a feeling that the recorded sound I obtain at home is far superior. I will leave this point for further discussion.
Secondly, the theme of how the environment impacts upon us courses through this edition. It is always shocking to find that treating objects unconnected with the equipment produces such a large effect. Never underestimate this effect, and any time and money spent on such matters will be amply rewarded.
As this is a seasonal and indeed Christmas edition of the Newsletter it is of course competition time, and this year the challenge is more than seasonal. The challenge this year to all is to submit a piece, incorporating P.W.B. ideas or devices in the text, based around a Christmas/Seasonal story, tale, fantasy or pantomime. Drawing on myth, or such tales as 'The Nutcracker' would be examples, as would Cinderella etc. For British entrants, 'The Sound of Music' is acceptable. As usual, as judge I am open to all manner of corruption, but many readers refuse to entertain this sadly… Peter is currently fashioning a prize, and these are usually well worth having!
To end, thanks, as ever, to Peter, May, and Graham, and family, for their tireless dedication, patience and imagination. We are better for them.
And for a final thought: Treat everything, no matter how small you think the effect will be – nothing is wasted.
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year
Richard Graham
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
I find myself feeling somewhat reluctant to pursue this piece, as it is evident from other pages in this Newsletter that there is so much to be done with existing products, that the pursuit of a new one is hardly the point. Yet development does not stop at P.W.B. Electronics, and is hardly of the order of insanity that, say, Intel pursue faster clock speeds for PCs. The product is a goody, and wonderfully inexpensive, so here goes.
Charge Barriers
In the halcyon days of the late 1980s, when CDs were still spurned, and Linn ruled, as many of you will know, Peter Belt thought that low levels of electromagnetic interference fogged our senses, and therefore directed his mind, and products to this problem. Of course Peter was constrained by the (still) dominant ideas of the time, and perhaps serendipitously created devices that worked. He of course now eschews such simple models, realising that the electricity supply is but a part of a much wider problem, that of adverse patterns, functioning across all dimensions (including time) negatively impacting on our sense organs. It is beyond the scope of this piece to delineate and describe the patterns which affect us so, and also much on these matters has been written about in these pages before.
However, there are the vestiges of the older products that still have potency. Some of you may remember that an early product from P.W.B. – the Charge Barrier – that took the form of a thin sliver of plastic, festooned with Black and Red circles, and which was placed over the pins of a mains electricity plug. The idea then was that it helped deal with adverse charges – the electricity supply was thus an obvious target. For anyone still using these old Charge Barriers, rest assured they still work, and are enhanced by Morphic Liquid, Electret Cream, Message Foils i.e. all recent products, should you wish to get something more from them. Still, despite this, they are rather ….old.
Quite by surprise, this summer, an envelope popped through the door containing a number of purple squares of cardboard, with a black grid and other splodges of ink upon the card. I think it would be fair to say that they looked surprisingly ineffectual, and even lacked the visual charm of some of P.W.B.'s more recent Foil extravaganzas, such as the Freezer Label. This product on closer examination had rectangles of ink at three points, and on failing to precisely divine the nature of the product alone, I succumbed to reading the accompanying literature. Well, it turned out, these were new, updated Charge Barriers, which were to be fitted to the electricity plugs in the same manner as before.
Of course as the product appeared different, so the thinking had moved on. WE are no longer dealing with adverse charges, but with the adverse patterns of electricity plugs themselves, interfacing with the whole electricity system, replicated millions of times throughout the world. Breaking the pattern was clearly the issue, and not reducing charge.
Yet I have to say that old habits, and therein ideas, die hard. I found it hard to believe that such flimsy pieces of cardboard could have any effect upon my senses. Further, I sort of felt that there must be something about 'charge' inherent in the product, as the previous Charge Barriers were made of a plastic that could at least hold an electrostatic charge. Could cardboard really make such a difference? Wasn't the thinking about such matters different now?
If there were any recent product that really highlighted the P.W.B. conundrum, this may be it. You will read elsewhere of how treating heating devices in your home, such as radiators makes a huge difference to the perceived sound in the home, despite having nothing to do with the Hi-Fi, or electricity for that matter. I accept this easily now, and yet may still be haunted by electromagnetic theorising, which leaves me feeling perhaps it is still a charge of sorts in the radiator that impacts upon us. Yet these purple squares are extraordinary. It is always difficult to place P.W.B. products in any coherent hierarchy, and my home is so loaded with P.W.B. devices that one has to question whether one is truly hearing something from the product on its own, or something more synergistic. Yet I felt these Charge Barriers seemed special. Absurd looking, but sublime sounding; at least in their effect upon myself. I felt the softening of digital glare, the increased richness, and that indescribable sense of realness, quite wonderful. Just one, placed over the pins of the plug, then inserted into the electricity socket was very impressive.
Once I'd recovered from the shock, it was a much smaller step to realise that the product works just as well on equipment not even being used at that moment: fitted to the plug of the TV, even whilst it was switched off, would have the same effect – the plug would still be in the socket though.
For those with a sense of history, adventure, or colourful home, they are a great addition to the P.W.B. range, and surprisingly cheap.
Just provide the scissors….
Richard Graham
It has been said many times that one of the most stressful experiences suffered by most of us is that of moving house. Well three weeks into life in a new property, and still falling over cardboard boxes, I'll be joining those who put about the above snippet of knowledge. But, at last, with the major priorities now sorted – the location of the local Indian Take-away, and the opening hours of the nearby Outdoor – I turned my attention to reassembling the Hi-Fi. Half an hour later, I drop the P.W.B. Dome on top of the CD Player and away we go with the first CD.
But what's this? It's 'Stressed Eric' time again! The sound is not a patch on what I'm used to. Pinched, vague, no focus to voice or instruments, and worse, dull!
I had been prepared for a sound down turn because of the amount of Belt Treatment I had carried out on the structure and services of the old house, but this was big. I should have contacted P.W.B. at this point for some advice, but instead, with a bit of time available turned to the Q-Clip. After re-Clipping all of the Hi-Fi components, including mains and signal leads etc., a considerable improvement had taken place, but it in no way approached the previous high sound quality in the old house. The next course of action was to purchase some Red Magnadiscs, Q-Clip Film, Gold Message Foil, and some double-sided adhesive film (free of charge) to re-stick previously used Magnadiscs and foils to locations in the new house.
After a long session treating radiators, water tanks, services and fluorescent light fittings, I returned to listen. Once again I find myself at a loss for adequate words to describe the change that had taken place. Once again, I find myself in the privileged position of experiencing a phenomenon so far shared by so few. But hang on, get a grip. Get back to the point of this little piece.
The point I want to make is this. You can treat a Hi-Fi system – or TV – with every P.W.B. device available, but you will be short of its true potential. Whether we like it or not, our home, and everything in it plays a very big part in how we perceive sound and vision. I know most of us are aware of this already; I write only to relate, through my recent experience, just how forcibly this was brought home to me. If any P.W.B. user is about to move home it may be an opportunity to again realise the magnitude of Peter Belt's work.
Kevin Kehoe
I have written many times before that often the sound that we can obtain (perceive) in our home, from whatever quality of Hi-Fi, depends a great deal on how much time we are prepared to devote to treating all relevant objects in the home, as much as we can. Some treatments such as a strip of Rainbow Foil can be easily applied. A line through a Bar-code with the Red X-Pen, nil problem. But what about some of the other things – the paths less trodden?
For those that have ventured in to the worlds of the different colour pens, you may be aware of the extraordinary effects that they can have on many items, notably CDs. The Blue Pen in particular seems to me to be quite an invention, and an essential part of any CD case. But when you have many discs, what a pain the colouring is. But what of all the other applications – colouring the edges of tapes and computer discs!
I had become a little lazy in relation to these matters, and a reorganisation at home led to a surprising experiment, the results of which continue to trouble me.
On moving a lot of old video and audio cassettes, I took it upon myself to treat them with all four Pens, plus a new Clipping, before returning them to storage. I have lots of old radio and TV items that I would be loathe to get rid of, even though I sometimes wonder whether the ultimate P.W.B. product is a vacuum, and the tapes should be sent to meet their maker.
Out of curiosity, I applied the four Pens to one video tape, tapped and Clipped in line with the instructions, and sat back to listen to the disc that was playing prior to the application. Well the sound improved nicely, and I set myself the task of treating 5-10 each hour, as it was a maddening process, and annoyingly fiddly. Over the course of the day I treated mucho tapes, probably with just the radio on. I certainly wasn't listening in any serious way to anything.
I should add that these tapes had some inks from older Pens upon them, plus basic Foils, and they had not been treated with Clip and Tweezers. Thus I was taking quite a few steps in terms of treatments.
Yet the overall effect at the end of that day was just something else. We watched DVD first, quite without thinking that I should be testing the sound. The picture and sound leapt from their frames in a staggering but utterly natural fashion. Thus the TV became a window, and the sound was just there.
Sampling trusted CDs confirmed the enormity of the change, as did subsequent treatment of further tapes and MiniDisc. I haven't tried computer discs yet out of fear, since I haven't finished the audio tapes yet. Indeed, I would finish this article, but the urge to colour calls. Try, and be surprised, then occupied….
R.G.
The P.W.B. products are absolutely counterintuitive to everything we learn growing up and everything audiophiles and engineers embrace as mainstream knowledge or even "secrets of the trade". It does not surprise me that there has been resistance to these products and concepts. Even for me - as a designer and merchant of quite an esoteric product in its own right and an avid reader of quantum mechanics and astrophysics texts (my schooling was in theoretical fluid dynamics and mathematics) - it has taken quite a while, with diligence on my part, to grasp the significance of the information contained in the newsletters plus the correspondence I have received. It is all just so hard to believe, even though what helps convince one is the sincerity and ability to describe the effects of P.W.B. products on the part of the contributors to the Newsletters, especially Richard Graham and others. It must be a natural, instinctive reaction of people to dismiss out of hand something that is so unusual, even bizarre.
I have, over the last twenty-five years, gone to the extreme to find out what constitutes good sound and attempted to assemble "the perfect system". I have spent an unbelievable amount of time in this endeavour, for better or worse. I suppose I wish I had stumbled on P.W.B. earlier, but I am happy to have done so at all. The products that I have gotten from P.W.B. so far have exceeded all expectations; I could rest on my laurels at this point and be perfectly happy with the results. Fortunately, there is no real penalty for continuing, as the P.W.B. products are not costly. I've spent more on a brake job than on all the P.W.B. stuff I've gotten to date.
Geoff Kait,
Machina Dynamica,
Virginia, USA.
I am interested in the phenomenon of copies sounding better than the original as recently I have had an experience with MiniDisc, which confirms your findings with the CD Rewriter.
This phenomenon seems to apply to CDs which have already been treated with P.W.B. materials and then copied.
I found that the treated CD sounded much better than the untreated CD in a by-now predictable way: better sound in terms of vocals being much clearer, sound stage better, bass clearer, deeper and more musical. But when I copied this treated CD to MiniDisc for a friend I was amazed to discover that the improvements were magnified in an unpredictable way.
The bass was yet fuller and was now positioned in the sound stage and the separation of instruments was highlighted still further. Most interestingly the vocals had entered another level of crispness, clarity and positioning in the sound stage.
Most people would categorically state that originals sound better than copies. It could even appear as an ipso facto truth. Now that this accepted truth has been stood on its head, what can we call it? Re-Fi?
Ken Hyam.
I first learned about P.W.B. after reading Greg Weaver's online piece. With a free sample in the offing, I saw no reason not to give it a try. I suspect that I am not alone in not comprehending how or why the devices work. I have experimented with several items from the P.W.B. product line and never once did I wish to take advantage of the 20-day risk free return policy.
Regardless of the cost of new components that I have acquired over many years as a audio enthusiast, my untreated system always became somewhat irritating and fatiguing with extended listening. On the other hand, I find my treated system continues to provide enjoyment even after an extensive listening session. The result is that I have moved from being a critical/analytical listener – one who can't help to detect the limitations in recorded sound quality – to one who is more able to become involved in the music for its own sake and less distracted by the sonic limitations I previously could not ignore. I find the greatest impact of P.W.B. devices occurs with my more ordinary components. A 15 year old tuner sounds remarkably improved after treatment and the same goes for a standard model satellite receiver. Even so, even my very best components benefit in no small measure following treatment.
I have recently acquired blue, purple, and black pens. These are worthy devices in their intended use, however I have found that storing the pens on top of a component yields additional benefits. For example, I have 4 special blue Magnadiscs attached to the inner top of my CD transport. These work very well by themselves, yet I detect sonic benefits of storing the blue pen directly above the Magnadiscs on the outer top of the component. I suggest that those of you with any or all these pens give this experiment a try.
As others have observed, sound improvement with P.W.B. products is a cumulative process. My earlier applications of P.W.B. products seemed mostly to produce greater sound clarity. I began to hear lyrics and individual instruments that had previously remained hidden in the murk. As I have continued to apply new products, I have noticed the depth and width of sound staging also seem much improved. I sometimes wonder if there is a point of inflection at which additional applications produce increasingly smaller improvements. If one exists, I have thankfully yet to reach it and I continue to experience higher levels of listening satisfaction – perhaps a better word might be "astonishment," --as the result of what these mysterious (at least to this writer) devices have accomplished.
David Gibson
Virginia USA
The November edition of 'Hi-Fi News' dropped through my letterbox, and I settled down to a good read of the only Hi-Fi magazine that is worthy of my time and money. Eventually I turned to the readers letters. I blinked – rubbed my eyes- cleaned my reading glasses. But no, it was not my imagination. There, in front of me, incredulous as it seemed: 'Reappraisal of Belt/' Surely there had to be some mistake, after all, hadn't the all knowing ones in the editorial office decided a long time ago that readers had to be protected from the scribbling and ranting of that raving lunatic Peter Belt. Then I realised that we are now in a new Millennium and perhaps this heralds in a new age of enlightenment.
For readers unfamiliar with the work of P.W.B, let me, as a converted sceptic and old hand (literally) in the uses of P.W.B techniques, explain that he has made some extraordinary discoveries which give rise to the conclusion that almost everything (but not quite everything) in the modern, man made environment, has an adverse effect upon all human perceptions. What, you may ask, has this got to do with Hi-Fi anyway? Actually, a hell of a lot. It means that however wonderful and expensive your cherished audio equipment might be, you will never, never 'hear' it at its full potential due to environmental influences that you are completely unaware of.
To ameliorate these undesirable effects P.W.B. have produced a range of devices which are placed on everyday objects in the listening room, and also on Hi-Fi equipment and CDs etc.
What most critics fail to understand is that these devices, typically 2 mm strips of coloured foil, do not have the slightest effect whatsoever on the signals in the electronic circuits of equipment, or the airwaves from loudspeaker drive units. Therefore the most sophisticated measuring instruments available will fail to detect any before/after effects – Barry Fox and all HLOs, please note.
These devices do, however, have a remarkable effect on analysing processes taking place deep within the human brain. The best instruments you can use for measuring P.W.B. effects are your own ears, and the best place to listen is in the comfort of your own home.
I find it odd that critics of P.W.B. cannot trust their own ears but must have other supporting visual-evidence, and this is to listen to music. Presumably, if Stradavari had the use of modern scientific equipment he would have made better violins. Believe that if you will, but I don't.
I rarely visit Hi-Fi shows these days because what I hear there is so awful. My last visit was to the one put on in Manchester by HFN. True to form, the demonstrations there were depressingly poor. The one exception, and my reason for the visit, was the demonstration of SACD. The sounds in that room had a wonderful tactile quality and I had a feeling of having a weight lifted from my shoulders after the tensions experienced in other rooms. The musical experience of the SACD room was similar to what I experience at home in my P.W.B. treated listening room.
So would there be any point in my upgrading to SACD? Definitely yes, because I am sure that in my listening room that SACD sound would be much better. You can be sure that when a multi-channel version becomes available, I will be first in the queue to buy. In the meantime, believe me, few people realise just how good present day CD can be with a little help via P.W.B.
Here is a simple P.W.B. technique that anyone can try. Take the left and right interconnect wires between your CD player and amplifier, and tie them in a knot; it is important that you tie them in a reef knot. The technique will work on other leads such as speaker leads and mains cables – if you have two running together. I find that the tighter the knot (thinner cables) the more effective is the improvement in sound quality. The difference you will hear? Well, I'm not saying. Try it and judge for yourself. Why this simple trick works I have no idea, but perhaps others such as Richard Black can give an explanation.
I will end with this intriguing thought. Every Saturday evening, I sit down to a delicious home cooked meal. With the meal I always have a glass of Tesco's £5.00 plonk, but after a few seconds of P.W.B. treatment on that glass of wine, it seems like I'm drinking Tesco's £10.00 plonk. It is not magic. Simply that the influences Peter Belt has discovered, which affect our sense of hearing, also affect all other senses.
Tom Marsden
This is the second time I am writing for the Newsletter. This time, I would like to share with you a few things I have learned. Well, I now have behind me more than 20 years of love for music and dedication to its faithful reproduction, both as an amateur and (during a few years) a pro of the audio trade, so maybe I can bring you a few nice ideas you were not expecting.
Since you're reading me, I understand you have at least some basic interest in P.W.B. products and knowledge of Peter Belt's theories. Let me just say that I am very independent minded, and by pure luck I was born with a very keen hearing. I do believe that P.W.B. products do improve the way you're living ( and not only your hearing ) in a very unique way, simply because I feel it everyday. Of course, my TV set, Nicam scope, audio system, and computer are all treated. But have you tried treating your hand watch ? I have put a red Magnadisc on the back of mine, and I am sure this somehow has a positive effect. I have a new, untreated hand watch since a few weeks, and I don't feel exactly as well when wearing it. Anyone with a similar experience ?
Now, back to more audio and video related matters. I have treated hundreds of electronic products, be it mine or other's ones, some cheap, some really high-end. My opinion is still the same after 10 years : an untreated product simply sounds/feels like it is "ill", Peter would say "unfriendly". Sometimes, you only realise what was wrong after treating it, when you discover its true potential. I strongly recommend that you burn-in or demagnetize your system's components beforehand, otherwise your ear will not be able to let you know exactly why things are now better. Simply use one of the specialised CDs made in the USA ( Reference Recordings, Sheffield Labs ).
Try to use a separate mains ring to power your system, and keep things simple. I am not very found of the "power purifiers" some specialised brands are offering. They are rather costly, and always take away some " vital life" from music. Rather, use some quality mains cable, say RATA's or SonicLink's one, and P.W.B. treat it (freezing included). You could be surprised...
As for audio/video furniture, do avoid glass and wood shelves, both are really too audibly "wrong" by way of specific resonances, and treating them is almost useless. Try granite instead, or Max Townshend's "Seismic" range of specialised tables and supports. Now, we're really talking about serious supporting for your precious electronics. Careful and comprehensive P.W.B. treating is however needed, if you want to have a real taste of what audio nirvana feels like. I told you : untreated items always somehow feel "wrong", even if raw materials and manufacturing choices are dead right or/and ingenuous.
Let's talk about quality cables now. This is a market where most manufacturers know nothing about music, and only sell their products in numbers by offering dealers huge margins. I can tell you this is pure madness, believe me. Avoid all cables incorporating any kind of boxed filter network like the plague : they are awful sounding, and not worth even a tenth of their retail price ! Some years ago, I compared over twenty brands of cables at my shop, with the help of friends/customers. The result was clear and is still valid, I would like to offer you a kind of summary of what we wrote down then.
- Any cable using PVC as a dielectric, even cheap, is not worth your money. Don't even think about treating it, unless it's the only one you can lay your hands upon/offer yourself. Go for foamed Teflon or PTFE whenever possible.
- 24k gold plated connectors are obviously a must, standard nickel plated ones being so poor sound wise. However, have you tried the rhodium plated ones ? They are found on some nice cables from Cardas, SonicLink, Kimber ... Well, at first I thought they were superior, more open sounding. But soon I became tired, hearing detail over emotion, and found gold is a better choice. Gold is less demonstrative, but if your system is well chosen, it will add less coloration. Go for gold ! By the way, try to do without banana plugs on multi-way binding posts, just insert the bare end of the cable, and tighten the post. You'll love the audible result.
- High-end shops will definitely sell you the idea that pure silver cables ARE better than copper ones. Sorry, this is not exactly true ! They are different, interesting, but sadly all add a "metal like" coloration I cannot stand for long in the treble. Silver is a poor conductor compared to copper, and is used only because it is less prone to oxidation. Simply, the better all-round conductor I can think of is made of two or three solid core stands of PC-OCC 99,999999% pure copper, twisted "à la Kimber". Use the right dielectric (see above) to protect it, freeze and treat the whole with various P.W.B. items, and you have a winner : pure and neutral sound, nothing added or removed. Just one worthy competitor on the market : the Van den Hul First "carbon fibers" interconnect, itself shockingly faithful to the music but just a bit "laid-back". Obviously, the rest of the system must also be of the "purist" type to let you hear the music, nothing else.
May I help you getting more for your money, next time you upgrade your system ? I suggest the following :
- CD player : go for top-of-the-range 24 bit 96kHz ready integrated ones, separate drives and converters no longer are a good idea. Only Naim got it right by separating the power supply from the electronics, but this is not to say I support the brand... Just that the basic idea was right.
- Amplifiers : if you knew how active pre amps mess-up the sound... Please do without them ! Either partner a passive pre amp with the power amp(s) you like; or more simply, use an integrated with just a potentiometer as means of volume control. Believe me, the difference is staggering.
- Loudspeakers : two or three ways only, this is not a secret. Go for purist, first-order filter designs, they are the only phase correct ones. The backside is that the drivers must be of very high-quality. Take also care of the very few crossover parts and its cabling : you can easily hear what each of them is doing on the final result sound wise. If you are not afraid about voiding your ( possibly remaining) warranty, take apart the drivers and the whole filter + internal cabling from the cabinets themselves, after writing down on a piece of paper how all this was laid out and secured at the factory. Treat carefully every item, driver part, and freeze. Put everything back in place, resolder where necessary, and listen ...
Whao !!!! Jaw dropping experience, no ? You should be amazed at what P.W.B'ing and freezing can do !
Now that your system is optimised, do check that all your precious vinyls, CDs, and tapes have been treated and frozen. Treating further items in the house, non-audio or electronic ones included, will always reap rewards, as crazy as this may seems to the P.W.B. world newcomers.
Well, do not hesitate to contact me through the newsletter if you need more advice. Just a reminder, my favourite P.W.B. treatments still are the Cream Electret and the Silver Rainbow Foil, not that they are the most efficient ones or that recent additions to the P.W.B. range have been uninteresting ( far from it ! ), but just because you can't beat them in terms of value for money !
There is however one item I am deeply missing : the past, "classic" CD Electret disc. The new one's pricing must surely reflect a big increase in its ability to free our hearing. This sounds like a terrific product, sadly I have yet to hear/test it. Has anyone compared the two ?
All the best
Jean-François
France
PS : I am looking for JPEG pictures of P.W.B. products, to be used on my brand new web site. Anyone willing to help me by offering quality shots from his/her digital camera ?
Dear Editor
As a newcomer in the world of P.W.B. I feel that it is important to be patient, something I am not very good at. I would like to have extraordinary results immediately. Wouldn't it be great if there were just one single device that took care of all adverse influences in our surroundings once and for all? Yes - and no. It would be convenient, but also very expensive. Not many people would ever have the opportunity to buy such a device. (And such a device could only function in a static universe, where nothing ever changes and no new problems arise.) The way things are now, with different P.W.B. devices dealing with different problems, it is possible to work your way slowly towards friendlier surroundings. You choose how much money and time you care to spend. And it does take a lot of time...
However, what seems like a Herculean task when you think of the amount of "treating" that has to be done, might also raise hopes. Because, if there is so much work to be done, there is also the possibility of much improvement.
The old Newsletters are a great help, but when I read about the improvements achieved, I have to consider that the homes of the writers are already full of P.W.B products, which ought to have accumulated effects. And mostly the products described are (or were at the moment of writing) the latest developments and perhaps not the most suitable beginner's items. They are more effective, more expensive and probably of even higher value after some basic treatment has been applied.
Mats Lindberg,
Sweden
Two purchases of the same magazine may seem excessive, however it remains the cheapest way to obtain two identical copies of the same music CD. For those who wish to experiment this creates an ideal opportunity. The first time I did this I listened to piano music by Chopin and Field. The "Belted" and "unbelted" CDs were then compared in an article for this newsletter. The main difference came across in what I called the genius of the pianist. In the P.W.B.- treated version Melvyn Tan sounded brilliantly in control and somehow at the top of his powers. In short his timing was perfect. In the untreated version I could not pick up on the genius quality. Frustratingly, there was very little in clarity or depth of dynamic range to bear this out. It was just to do with some holistic quality that came across much more in the CD which I had treated in the usual way with a combination of Foils and Pens.
This time I am comparing identical copies of a CD with plenty of baselines, vocals and instrumental attack . The purpose here is to identify more obvious differences between the two – differences one could be relatively precise about instead of relying on words like "genius". Well, here goes.
Perhaps appropriately, my choice of CD is the John Cusack High Fidelity five- track – free with the Independent. My impressions of the untreated followed by the treated versions are as follows.
Music Tracks
"Good and Strong", written and performed by Sy Smith, is a danceable soul-oriented track with hip lyrics and a shuffling beat. The untreated version definitely had bite and was fun to listen to. It even had me bopping for a few seconds.
The treated version was markedly better. The baselines came over with much more presence and seemed to have a definite timbre of their own. The really interesting difference was a dramatic separation of the back-up chorus vocals from Sy Smith's vocals. I simply hadn't noticed the subtle interaction that was going on until I heard the treated version. Now the element of call and response, or in this case call and commentary, comes over in a really satisfying way. The remarkable thing is that had I not listened to the treated version I would have gone on thinking of it as a mass of undifferentiated voices putting across the interesting lyrics well, but the full potential of delivering these lyrics would have been lost.
"I'm Wrong About Everything", written and performed by John Wesley Harding, is an emotional and catchy song. The treated version is much sharper and tighter to listen to: most outstanding is the rhythm section, which works away with panache at all times. The main point is again the improved perception of the relationship between performers together with the greater clarity of individual contributors.
"Fallen For You" is an aching movie style ballad with pianistic background. Personally I don't usually like this sort of track but on the treated version I have to say that writer and singer, Sheila Nicholls impresses me with a fabulous vocal range and purity that is impossible to resist. The untreated version was not so powerful and the vocal seemed far more ordinary. The conclusion is shattering to the recording industry as it now stands. The very talent which enables artists to gain credibility is obfuscated by the most obvious trapping of success: a CD spinning in a good but not that good high technology system. Add P.W.B. to the CD and the system: the talent is given a chance to communicate its full power to the listener. Some people would say the recording industry is doing very nicely thank you……. this may be true but music coming into people's lives and affecting the way people live and breathe may not be doing so nicely.
Another good track is the last one on the CD. Jack Black's vocal soars like a bird whilst bright whipped up guitar licks keep pace with him like bright little UFOs. Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" grabbed me on the untreated version but strangely I never noticed those humorous little UFOs until I applied the Belt accelerator.
Dialogue Tracks
This CD has alternate dialogue and music and the dialogue tracks are also enhanced by the use of P.W.B. treatments. The crispness, timing and the naturalness of the voices are all outstanding. The result of such noticeable improvements is that the humour, which of course depends on timing, comes across better. What made me smile and nod with the naked CD made me chuckle out loud on the Belted version – particularly the exchange
" Have you got I Just Called To Say I Love You…. I want it for my daughter"
"But do you even know your daughter…."
"Thanks .If I had known it was knock middle-aged square day, I wouldn't have bothered to come in." (clean and fast like chewing-gum pellets shooting out of a machine and getting wrapped in silver paper).
If, like me, you like Stevie Wonder, listen to the full dialogue and you will see that the point of the dialogue isn't anti-Stevie.
All in all I have enjoyed and appreciated this CD far more than I thought I would. The techniques I used are:
The Purple Pen, The Red 'x' Pen, Silver Foil, Clip Foil and Clip, Morphic Liquid.
I am aware that some of these have been recently improved and updated by P.W.B. and I am using part-updated and part older versions.
For anyone not familiar with the above treatments, collectively they seem to work like a focusing lens where a grainy or blurred subject is now clear.
Kenneth Hyam
The endless journey for sonic perfection...... it always seemed an endless trip and quite an adventurous one. So what's more important? New equipment, vibrations control, room treatment or just treating your equipment? As we all already know, using P.W.B. products can result in VERY significant sonic improvements which are simply available nowhere else. In fact, I consider Peter's discoveries to be so advanced and amazing, they are just wonders to marvel upon.
So which one of the 4 is more important? Let me say that in the rather long and detailed e-mail correspondence I had conducted about a year ago with May Belt I have reached the conclusion that what affects the signal is not as important as how we REACT to the signal. In fact, I was so convinced in the need to improve our reaction that I have since purchased almost any P.W.B. product available.
I recall one of the first times I took the rainbow foil and the Electret Cream and treated EVERY item in my room, I found that the sound stage got much wider and better. That was a simple proof. Some other times I wasn't sure of the difference but I knew it was there.
To prove how dramatic these products work I have conducted the following experiment: I took a friend and asked him to raise his RIGHT arm straight forward. I then had him hold a video tape in the left arm. To measure if the tape was adversely affecting his body I pushed down his straight held arm, and it came down at no effort to me. Step number 2: I had applied 2 Rainbow foils to the video tape, one on each side on the top surface. When I had him hold the tape in his left arm and try pushing his RIGHT arm down again, I was UNABLE to bring it down. The adverse energy pattern was gone. His body was NOT stressed anymore.
I repeated the same test with the Electret cream (on an untreated tape) - same results. I repeated the same test with a Quantum clipped video - same results. The conclusion is clear. Adverse energy patterns DO affect us and our perception.
In fact, I had just found a perfect way to explain WHAT P.W.B. PRODUCTS DO:
This is the SIMPLEST way I have found to explain to new people how these products work:
Think about it: Every object in the universe has its own energy field. A flower, for example, will have a pleasant energy field while a computer monitor will have detrimental one, one which is capable of causing fatigue or other unpleasant effects. While the good fields keep the space CLEAN and CLEAR, the bad fields (as created from various metals, electronics, or most inanimate objects) pollute the space around us with screens or, if you will, energy smog. Imagine trying to watch a beautiful view from the top of a mountain but the city is all covered with smog and clouds. You wouldn't be able to see much, would you? The same applies with music-when you have too much smog in your listening environment, you can't hear much of what's there. It is as if you were surrounded with a cluster of screens all around you, all hiding the music from you. Enter P.W.B. products. Apply the Rainbow foil to a CD, and you've got one less screen between you and the music. Things sound better. Try some foil on your amp, your CD player and even on your wall, and more and more screens drop down, the view clears up, the music is much more accessible. You can now more easily touch the music, there is LESS between you and the music, the smog is far smaller. Add the morphic labels to different objects or components, add the Heat/Freeze label assembly, the missing link products and other products and you have removed MORE of these undesirable screens polluting your sound space. Your space gets clearer and clearer, and you can see better and better. See what? The music of course. You will see music you didn't even know was there. Remember the attempt to view a landscape from a top of a mountain?
The only question now is this: how far do you want to go? As the sky has no limits.
Is there a way to make P.W.B products work even better? I believe I have a very positive answer for that and this is apparently an almost untouched area in the newsletters, I believe. What does reproduced sound consist of? It is air movement of course.
So HOW MUCH air movement does my music contain? Well, that depends on the volume setting. If you have a loud volume setting, you will have a lot of air movement in your room and if you have the volume playing in low levels, you will have very little air movement. Naturally, if you have too little air movement you aren't going to hear very much music, and it wouldn't, at that point, matter how much of P.W.B. treatments you have in your room as, with hardly no sound, our reaction to it is a secondary factor.
What am I getting at? You could significantly improve the effect of ALL P.W.B. products if you removed ALL interferences in the way of the air coming from your speakers. What does it mean? If next to your speakers you have 3 dressers, 2 bookcases, and 10 other furnitures the air vibration in your room will take a hit. You see, the P.W.B. products control the QUALITY of the sound; taking things and undesirable objects out of the way of the reproduced sound will control the QUANTITY of sound. The more you suffocate the sound with absorbent materials and a cluttered space, the less music (air vibration could exist).
All you have to do is to try and clear up as much as possible the area between you and the front wall. ANYTHING you put next to the speakers could STILL affect the way they sound. This experiment should be done to be believed, but it will only serve to prove HOW MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE P.W.B. can get.
I hope this gives you some material for thought. Good luck!
Eric Daniels
Los Angeles,
USA.
After many requests from a number of sources the release of the following transcripts has been agreed – with thanks to HiFimagazinos who maintains that he is sticking to his guns, despite his editor's advice that it would have been wiser for him to have suppressed the interview altogether.
Socrates: When we perceive an object in the material world our senses tell us that it is there. Without these five senses of ours we would remain oblivious.
HiFimagazinos: Well – yes that's sort of true I guess, but we can of course measure these things, you know, using instruments. By using electronic sensors we can know everything we want to know without involving our senses. In fact using our senses is probably the most unreliable way of observing anything.
Soc: Do you agree, Himag, that listening to music on a P.W.B.- treated system sounds infinitely better than listening to the music on the same system without P.W.B. effects being applied?
Himag: Well, admittedly some people claim that it makes a difference but it all is obviously nonsense because when we measure these things the instruments detect no difference at all.
Soc: Come, come Himag are you telling me that you would use a rusty bucket with a hole in it for tasting wine?
Himag: Of course not Socrates. I am merely asserting my right to depend for beliefs on the reliable tenets of scientific method. If for example we all went around claiming that we could hear things better when sticky foils are stuck to our CDs or that putting wires in the freezer made them sound better, we would have to give up all our cherished scientific certainties. We would have to start comparing how things sound before and after freezing and with and without bits of paper stuck under the furniture. There would be no end to the changes we would have to make in the way we view the world.
Soc: That is precisely my point, Himag. That is my point.
When we go to dinner after this discussion you will no doubt choose your favourite dish of chop and chips. Am I right?
Himag: Certainly – if it's on the menu I'll order it. But so what?
Soc: You won't order Fish and Chips or egg on toast?
Himag: course not, Socrates, as you know chop is my favourite. It tastes better than the others you mention. Besides it's the cook's speciality.
Soc: In that case I will not come with you and you can eat alone.
Himag: Why? Have I offended you?
Soc: On the contrary, I am only being polite. It is just that with every mouthful you took you would be relying on your senses to enjoy your favourite meal, thereby proving me right and you wrong. And I have made it a rule never to carry on these instructive discussions at dinner – it would be just like carrying on with it Himag. So off you go and have your dinner.
Himag: Well… if you're sure. But are you sure you can stomach going without dinner?
Soc: I think I can handle that, Himag. As Plato used to say, "An evening without dinner is bearable, as long as we have digested a little truth…."
Kenneth Hyam
Going to a live concert gives you the reference: it has to sound just like that. Your music installation is not that good, so you buy an expensive system. You are delighted by the sound but after a few years you just hear that there is still a difference. Are you just like me? If yes then is it time to spend time on trying to get the information which is on the CD's but which is so difficult to get out without noise?
The problem is at first quite easy: you send a laser beam to a CD that has built in holes and you try to analyze the reflected beam on delayed (1) wavelength and fully reflected (not delayed) beam (0). This is actually what the common people have. The main problem with it, is that it seems to happen more in the CD player: what to think on reflected laser beam in other direction than the detector one? What to think on light, which passed through the CD?
However I heard from my Internet network that someone has a "magic" foil: it was just amazing how much the sound was improving. The friends on the Internet are very trustworthy so I told a friend in my own town about the subject and we ordered a test batch. And guess what? Amazing sound! We heard so much more details than we had ever heard previously! And believe me, I have a very expensive D/A converter and I thought it was the best I could possess to hear every detail on the CD. But this was a new dimension. And not only all details, but also every instrument sounds so much more natural (I listen mainly to classical music)!
What 's going on with these strips? May Belt claims' a relaxing flux or something like this. This is difficult for me to believe. That's why I try to setup another theory on this. In my belief, the next phenomenon is happening: The laser beam is partly reflected by the CD aluminum surface, a great part is going through the CD (try to look right at the sun through your CD). This light has the same wavelength as the reflected and detected one. When this light passed the CD back, through for example the CD middle (which is most of the time not aluminum coated), this light will act as noise light on the detector and will affect the signal to noise ratio and will probably (if strong enough) create a music signal as well. And here comes the work of the FOIL: the light, which is passing through the CD, will be divided in many other wavelengths because of the polarization property of the Foil. Once the light wavelength is changed, it will not be recorded by the Detector and thus will not affect the sound.
Based on this theory, I thought that if I could absorb the light which is passing through the CD or prevent the light going back to the detector room (the light which goes through is above the CD, the detector is below the CD) I should improve the sound as well. So I colored with a black waterproof "STAEDTLER" 2 cm of the inside CD (until the text) and the outside (a few mm). This of course is in addition to the FOIL, which is absolutely critical because the light has to be changed in property anyway. And guess what happened? I have never had a sound like this before! This is very close to perfect. Every instrument sounds very natural and all is in balance. It is just like a third new dimension is created: you just get depth in the music. Listening to live Opera's (like The magic Flute by Gardiner - ARCHIV), gives you the feeling you are actually in the Concert building. Every instrument is really clearly sounding and yet is in balance with the others. Even the text they are singing is at once very understandable! Listening to pop music is amazing as well: I listened to all my old CD's after putting the FOIL and coloring them. You just don't believe your ears, listening to "The dark side of the Moon" Pink Floyd: so much room and detail in the music! This CD is full of little noises and voices etc. I have never heard before.
WHAT I THINK IS REALLY HAPPENING?
The Laser beam goes partly through the CD. This light, which is normally amplifying the NOISE to SIGNAL ratio, just can't go back to the detector (by coloring the upside of the CD black) and is just changed in wavelength by the foil so that the light still goes through the CD back to the detector. The consequence of FOILS + coloring is that:
1) The detector get a very strong signal: end signal = (detected signal) - (noise signal) when the noise signal is high, the end signal is low.
2) No "double" signal is present anymore. Normally when you have a sound X1, after a few milliseconds the passing through CD light creates a sound X2 when getting back to the detector. It is thus creating some kind of echo, but this echo is so quick after the original sound that it is just preventing the sound from being pure. This can really be heard when listening and comparing violin work before and after putting on the foils and coloring.
We can thus conclude that putting the foil and coloring on the CD's eliminate the interferences due to the fact that the light wavelength is changed and kept away from the detector. A part of the laser light goes through CD's and is not being processed by 'non P.W.B. treated' CD players. Taking care of this "light" improves tremendously the end signal going to the D/A converter, which is perceived as an enormous improvement in sound quality. ENJOY!
PS: many thanks to MAY and PETER BELT making this a reality...
Francois Ramond
(Process Analytical)
Holland
Via E-mail
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