Hello sky, hello flowers, hello mortals.
Spring is here, and with it comes the flowery prose of one smitten with new products, great music, and a jolly good read.
This must be one of the most enjoyable Newsletters yet, adorned by affectionate accounts of the Beltian life, and crowned by news of two products that take the breath away. When one comes across the arid, and often turgid, descriptions that pervade many of the Hi-Fi magazines, I not only remember the words of the late Peter Turner, but also realise how Hi-Fi writing has departed so much from the music it purports to revere. Peter Turner, who wrote those lively pieces on equipment supports (mainly home-made) in the 1980s, would often wax lyrical about the fun and camaraderie of the Hi-Fi world in the 50s and 60s. As someone who tested equipment for Naim at times, he knew his ears, but he was dismayed at how sound was becoming divorced from the music. P.W.B. was the antidote, and this Newsletter something of a representation of those that do not just want to count bits at high sampling rates, but want to hear the music soar.
So a cornucopia of the personal?; empirical evidence from the committed and reasoned? Well, let's hope so, for after all the vein of scientific enquiry still informs. But as in medicine, the role of qualitative methods of enquiry have progressed (as opposed to the hegemony of the double blind trial) simply because no statistical model yet evolved, captures the subtleties of human experience. Is there a programme that shows us why most odd numbered symphonies are better than their even numbered cousins? – yet it always seems so despite exceptions. Why should one product sound better than another, since the principles of good engineering are available to all? The hated blend of art and science, of intuition mated with reason is the creative way forward, and anyone who argues other is simply not in touch with human experience. We are not rats in a maze, or monkeys awaiting bananas. We need to hold on to the aesthetic experience, and the fun of experiencing great music.
As with any great form, over rehearsal can deaden the possibility of something new and alive emerging from a procedure, whether conducting an experiment or an orchestra. And it is the spontaneous assessment of experience, of the results of a new step, that most impresses here. In a world where disbelief in science (why do many turn to alternative medicines, under-researched as they are, compared with the explored avenues of conventional medicine?) it is a relief to find good old human experience celebrated without apology. Is there scope for a punk-science?
Yet these steps are not easy, especially if one is part of the establishment. I wrote repeatedly in earlier Newsletters about the dangers of the new idea, and of how this has been explored repeatedly in art – the shock of the new. But if you discover something that changes everything, and are part of the establishment, what do you do – keep your mouth shut, or speak out? Whilst eschewing the 'moral dilemmas quiz' aspect of this, I wish to draw attention to May Belt's contribution to this Newsletter. I have encouraged May to write more and more on Peter's peculiar odyssey, and here she gives an account of the split between Peter and the Hi-Fi journalist Jimmy Hughes some time ago. This is a timely account as Jimmy recently appeared with his system in Hi-Fi Choice, and made reference to Peter, and notably how his devices worked. Such acknowledgement is very rare, and surprising in this Hi-Fi magazine. Yet the reference to the piezo-tweeters is an important one as May reveals.
One cannot emphasise enough, even to oneself, that how we think things are is not how they are. The simple view that sound emerges from electrical items connected together by wires, and that to improve matters one must improve either the electrical items or the wires, remains a simple view. Jimmy Hughes ultimately fell at this hurdle, as do we all. Given the choice, when a new Foil arrives, do you put it on the audio equipment first, or the fridge and phone? It may be the latter has the greater benefit, yet we cannot resist the former. How many of us seriously treat our keys, plates, cutlery or shoes. Yet all have an effect, perhaps at least as great as treating CDs. Jimmy Hughes believed in the sonic attributes of the piezo-tweeters, not in Peter's work. As if bound by elastic, he was pulled back to a belief system that he could not escape from. But at what cost, both to his own system, and perhaps to Peter's prominence. May gives us an insiders view. Miss it at your peril.
Still, whatever the losses, as Voltaire might have suggested, in this best of all possible worlds, the reference in Hi-Fi Choice to Peter's devices as being effective is the cool breeze in a desert of censorship, and Jimmy must have valued something from Peter's work to have kept this reference alive.
Time does move on though, and the products have come a long way since the late 80s. But how many of us have yet to liberate ourselves, and thus the music from the prison of current Hi-Fi thought? Well, a lively number of Beltians keep writing of what they find, what they feel. Neither correct, nor incorrect; a map for those exploring, not a 'Rough Guide' to keep the accidental tourist comfortable. It is hard enough to believe oneself currently without anyone dictating what should be felt. But it is helpful to hear an echo, and that what one is experiencing is real. Should a Jimmy Hughes or Keith Howard have had such support, we may be in a different place now.
The preoccupation with the explorer Shackleton in the UK, and his unlikely Antarctic endeavours, shows us that courage and leadership can create possibilities from the limited, finite selves that we are. Despair was once a sin, and is truly poison to the mind and self. This Newsletter is its nemesis; a celebration of the lovely, the joyful, and the quirky.
It is spring.
Until the summer – stay cool (and frozen?)
Richard Graham
U.K.
Address for correspondence
P.W.B.
Newsletter
P.W.B Electronics
18. Pasture Crescent
Leeds
LS7
3QB
England
Or for you sophisticates
E-mail – to
Newsletter@belt.demon.co.uk
There maybe something a little ironic in this established part of the Newsletter, as I am about to describe something that everyone may already have sampled. If anyone hasn't, sit up, take notes, and prepare yourself for something big, albeit something complex.
The 'Freeze Effect' Products
Whilst the magazine writers and discussion board postees continue to rage as to whether the benefit of freezing is related to the temperature when frozen – the lower the better – we can move on.
I will take it as read that many of you reading this have been through the shameful debacle of removing odd things from your freezer – CDs, cables, even speakers! – only to be caught by an enquiring and perhaps hostile mind. Well fear no more as there is another way, although the deep freeze will always have a place in our hearts and minds for those things we cannot stick foil to.
As you can imagine, Peter has struggled with this freezing thing, partly as it is nothing to do with giving molecules a good rest, but because it is a means to an end, not a definitive process. I will not attempt to echo Peter's attempts to explain how his thinking about evolution, dualisms, and modern products sharpened his approach to this matter, as it can be read by all in the text that accompanies a Freeze Effect device, but focus instead on what he hoped to achieve.
As stated above, the aim was to capture, yet advance the nature of the freezing process, without the hassle, physical dangers, or social problems associated with putting car keys in the freezer etc. You may wish to remind me that Peter has been trying to do this all along – remember the Freezer Dome, the Heat/Freeze Label etc. Well yes this is the case, but as with all refinements, or progress, how does one take this further? Is one simply reliant on very low temperatures or is there the more imaginative approach that takes the matter further?
Well as you can read at your leisure, Peters grasp of how patterns and fields have evolved in nature, across time, whilst still dazzling and confusing in equal measure lead him in a different direction. The aim, no less was to create products that improved upon the freezing process, even of Belted devices, in a Belted freezer, such that one could (almost ) reserve the freezer again for something less essential such as food….
Thus two products were born, and Captain Birdseye breathed a sigh of relief, and this time, even the midwife was smiling. I will describe the products together as they share more than they differ.
So we have two products, and it will surprise few to discover that one is a Foil, and the other a Ring Tie. Imaginatively they have been called the Freeze Effect Foil, and Special Freeze Effect Brown Ring Tie (or the SFEBR Tie for anyone working in the stock market).
There is little to thrill when one views the products, the foil appearing like a sibling to the X Foil, albeit with a Silver belly, the Ring Tie appearing to be, uh, brown.
What differs from other Foils and products though is the necessity of activating the devices once applied. To apply simply cut a 2-3mm sliver of Foil and stick on object, or attach the Ring Tie to any lead. Do not apply Electret Cream, and I can see this might lead us to be more dextrous when smearing the wonder-cream. But then comes that ultimate Beltian twist; to activate, the Foil or Tie, must be tapped with a small frozen jar containing tea, coffee, sugar, salt, fluoride, and a matchstick. You need to get hold of the whole text to see how to construct this wonder, but lets just say it is very important to what happens next. For when you tap the Freeze Effect device with the jar, it becomes something quite astonishing. If you feel you have taken leave of your senses, you can reverse this process by tapping the Foil with an ordinary ice-cube, and boy does the sound deteriorate. You can restore the new state by tapping again with your frozen jar, thank goodness.
The Foil can go on everything, and it is very hard to recommend where you should put it first. I have a preference for Photos, although I think there is something to be a little aware of on this matter. But CDs, equipment, speaker cones, stands etc. all blossom with the application of this Foil.
The effect of the Tie is similar, but it is quite sensational on the mains lead of an object that even has the Freeze Effect Foil upon it.
Is it better than freezing ? – very much so. What benefits come from this? Well if you know what freezing does to your leads and CDs, you have a clue, but that is all. I have always found freezing added a phenomenal naturalness to the sound, taking away glare or frostiness. These products go very much further, and it is an unforced lushness, or an effortless expansiveness that takes one so much closer to the heart of live performance. It makes everything addictively gorgeous, and invisible. By the latter I mean that one simply forgets that one is listening to reproduced music through mechanical processes; the music just breathes. As I type this, a 1960s recording of choral music just sounds …lovely!
Is there a downside, well perhaps. On receiving my sample, I threw Foil all over my photos and photo folders, which I think created something of an imbalance. The sound seemed a little too dead. As I treated all of the equipment, a sense of magical balance was restored, and so I would argue that you put a strip on everything, before going down the 'massive' road to treatment.
Of course there is cost too – this ain't cheap, but it is compared with Krell, and almost certainly much much better than the latter juggernaut approach.
Electret Discs
After many tantrums, much moaning, and a degree of coercion, I was most surprised to receive an update of the CD discs.
If you like music, you know what to ask for.
Richard Graham
U.K.
The first impression is often the most important. Mine was of suddenly being closer or as if a barrier had been removed between myself and the music.
Then, I realised that I could follow individual instruments much better than before. I could listen to the bass and the back-up and the foreground instrument all at the same time but each was separately identified in the sound stage.
When I tried undoing the effect with the ice cube the effect was not of a bad sound. It was still quite clear and impressive. Then, when I re-used the P.W.B. jar from out of the freezer, the full unbelievably three-dimensional sound came back.
I was listening to a jazz album of Chet Baker. His trumpet sound was very sweet and soulful, but it was as if he seemed to be butting in on the others so strong and near and immediate seemed the force of his personality.
My view is that this foil can be used to develop an acoustic in your home which is undreamt of in ordinary hi fi terms. I am mindful of how the Gothic builders of churches used the shapes and forms of tall trees to sculpt the interiors of religious and artistic spaces which have never been equalled and where the atmosphere and acoustics together hold a spiritual key. The new foil, with its jar and tree-energy addition, seems capable of making the acoustic grow up like a tree.
The ring-tie effect is the same but more intense – especially when the device is attached as close to the mains plug as possible.
Ken Hyman,
U.K
A brief note.
As some of you know, we have moved recently. One obtains a good sound from good equipment in a good environment. Change the latter, and a collapse occurs.
One can achieve very good sound from so-called modest equipment and Peter's devices. I have also seen that very good Hi-Fi can get even better. I consequently have moved onto to products from Audiolab (now Tag Mclaren) and Meridian.
I can confidently state that the difference between budget and high-end products is much less than the difference between a treated and untreated environment. High end products in an untreated environment sound worse than budget products in a treated environment, and not by a small margin.
When you move house you learn this.
It is not pleasant.
Richard Graham
U.K.
I recently had the opportunity to review a sample of the new P.W.B. foil entitled "Freeze Foil".
Its properties are said to mimic the effect of freezing your various Hi-Fi components - a practice not always practical in domestic environments, not least as to how do you explain a CD player sitting next to a shoulder of lamb to your nearest and dearest.......
The treatment involves attaching small strips of the foil to components and CD'S and the, with a suspension of disbelief, "treating them". I say a suspension of disbelief because the actual treatment involves touching the affixed foils with a small jar of cold tea with a matchstick in! Are you still with me or have you dismissed the above as a prank or mumbo jumbo jumbo?
As with practically all P.W.B. devices the results are for some arcane reason almost directly related to the unconventionality of the process. Having treated my amplifier, player, speakers, tuner, stand and radiators as described I can report that the results warranted the "suspension of belief / sanity".
There is a definite "relaxing" of the music played without any loss of dynamics. What I am trying to say is that the music particularly the mid-band feels clearer and less stressed. Notice I use the word feels - this is exactly the effect - it is more than auditory. I have had people come into my house and comment on the fact that they can only listen to their Hi-Fi for an hour or so after which it becomes tiring and stressful and yet on hearing my system they comment on the smoothness and "at oneness" of the sound. I am convinced that this is a direct result of P.W.B. devices and would recommend anyone who is thinking of their next "tweak" to invest in some "Freeze Foil" - you will not be disappointed.
John Traynor.
U.K
Few of us may have this, but it should not be forgotten.
Whilst re-freezing some small items recently, I put the room device in the same room as treated freezer, to enhance the effect.
We then started to watch a film, forgetting that the room device was elsewhere. After struggling to hear the dialogue clearly, I suddenly remembered the device, and went to get it.
To say my wife and I were stunned by the improvements to our vision (colours richer, more…beautiful, more 3D) and to the sound would be to minimise things to a ludicrous degree. It was an incredible change for the better.
If you can get one do. It is taken for granted, but when reintroduced, it is stunning.
Richard Graham
U.K.
"May has kindly invited me to make a contribution to the Newsletter. I am a newcomer to using P.W.B. products, and therefore cannot add to the wealth of knowledge and experience of their use to be found on the P.W.B. Web page. What I am hoping to do is to help anyone wondering whether they should take the plunge into what for many is an unknown and controversial world. Hi-Fi has been my hobby for 32 years. After countless upgrades, I have put together what I consider to be a serious system. At the start of this year its principle components were a Crown Jewel Mk 1 cartridge, SpJ arm, Kuzma Reference turntable, active Vibraplane isolation base, Sony SCD-1 SACD player, Convergent Audio Technology SL1 Signature II preamp and JL1 mono power amps, Verity Audio Parsifal speakers, Shun Mook sextet and a number of other Shun Mook products, Nirvana Audio wiring, a secondary fuse box with 3 dedicated power lines, individual components sitting on Aurios Pro feet, PACC IDOS power strips and Amazing Cable Jackets to shield my cabling from RFI. Now this should have been audio heaven, but I was not a happy bunny. There was still something irritating with the sound that has been bothering me all the time I have listened to my Hi-Fi in its various iterations over the year. The best I can do in trying to describe this is that there was a glare/harshness/brashness in the upper mid-range, and the sound was not musical and it lacked warmth.
What to do. I spoke with a good friend who is an Australian dealer with a real interest in tweaks. He spoke to me cautiously and said that I should write to May and buy 2 Red Electret Ring Ties and the Missing Link clip. He said that he did not recommend P.W.B. to most people as they were not receptive to products that were so different to the norm. Well, I learnt my lesson as to having an open mind in 1992. My Hong Kong dealer asked me to try 3 Shun Mook Mpingo discs. For those of you who are not familiar with them, they are principally made out of ebony and are 1.75 inches in diameter and a little less than 0.5 inches thick. A good friend who is a doctor of chemistry was visiting me at the time. He told me that these things were so small when compared to the size of the room and objects it contained and therefore they could have no noticeable effect. I put on a well recorded vinyl disc with plenty of detail and ambient information, Enya's "Watermark". Our jaws dropped within a few seconds. Somehow the noise floor had apparently dropped and there was more musical and ambient information. From that moment on I realised that while the quality of all that went to make up my Hi-Fi was important, there were some accessories which would give results that could not be obtainable through increasing the quality of the equipment. This experience also reaffirmed my belief that community acceptance is irrelevant. If I can hear something good with my own ears, that is all I need.
I have a fish tank in my listening room. I often watch my fish swimming as I listen. I presume that they have a "knowledge" of the world within and without that tank. I also presume that my knowledge of the world exceeds theirs. These have to be assumptions as I am not a fish and do not know what they know! But my assumed greater knowledge does not mean that my knowledge and understanding is complete and absolute. If something is not within my current knowledge/understanding/belief this should not mean that it does not exist and should be belittled. To adopt this outlook is oh so arrogant and overstates one's knowledge. My Shun Mook experience had proved this to me, and therefore I was happy to approach P.W.B. with an open but querying and cautious mind.
So I decided to move my listening experience on with a two-stepped approach. I purchased some Pioneer TAD 2251 speakers with wooden dispersion horns and am in the initial stages of auditioning some Tenor 15 OTL power amps. TAD is Pioneer's professional monitor line and is designed in the US. You may wish to check out their site
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com
This direction of high efficiency speakers and high quality low output amplification has given me more detail and speed, rendered musically. The other programme was to investigate P.W.B. products. So, I took the Missing Link Clip and attached it to a photo of mine and left it in the listening room. I was not sure whether I could perceive a difference. I mention this not to warn you off trying experiments with photos. I have had great success since with attaching Freeze Effect Foil to both sides of my photo. Rather, I want to emphasise that there is no willingness on my part to convince myself that I can hear fringe products improving sound. I then attached the Missing Link to the aluminium grounding foil on one of the Amazing Cable Jackets to which the ground cables of a number of other Cable Jackets are connected. Now this was something. There was a significant increase in realism and musicality.
Next I tied two red Ring Ties to the power cord of my SACD player. By-the-way, this is the first digital player I have been able to listen to in my system. It still falls significantly short of my turntable though. It is not just the reproduction of SACD's which compares so well to the sound of previous digital players I have had, but it also does a so much better job when playing good ordinary CD's. The Red Ties were a revelation. This was a "night and day" difference that dumbfounded me. The SACD player all of a sudden was transformed and its increased rendition of spatial and musical detail brought it toward good analog. I have since purchased quite a number of ties of various colours and the benefits just keep on coming.
A good point to remember is that there is a need not just to treat the items in your Hi-Fi but also other items in your living space. Two Red Ties on the power cord of one of the neon lights to my fish tank proved this to me, as did applying Freeze Effect Foil onto the fish tank glass, PC monitor, TV screen, etc. The Freeze Effect Foil is an excellent product.
I remember originally writing to May and stating that I was only prepared to do some straight forward things and would not go to what I then thought were absurd lengths such as striking out bar codes with the Red "x" Pen. Well, having heard the wonders of the Ring Ties, Missing Link Clip and the Freeze Effect Foil, I have decided that I will actively pursue implementing P.W.B. products. I have recently received a serious order comprising of the Quantum Clip, more ring ties and Freeze Effect Foil, Red 'x' Pen, Chunky Violet Pen, Electret Disc and Sol-Electret and am excitedly looking forward to applying the products. It never ceases to amaze me how the application of P.W.B. items is gradually step-by-step transforming my sound in ways I cannot achieve through upgrading components or accessories. It is as if all the music is there but I cannot hear many of the clues which will bring me closer to recreating a musical experience in my living room. Applying P.W.B. products is something like the layers of plastic strips open-wheel racing car drivers and motorcyclists have stuck to their helmet visors and peel off one-by-one and discard during the course of a race as deposits build up. Just imagine that you are listening behind this visor and that between each plastic strip are impregnated dirt and insects. With my application of P.W.B. products I am able to progressively tear away each strip and "see"/hear that little bit more of what apparently is always there.
If you have a budget system and limited financial resources, you can obtain some very significant benefits with a modest outlay on say a few Electret Ring Ties and some Rainbow Foil and examine the information on the P.W.B. Internet site in relation to freezing. If you have invested serious money, effort and time in your Hi-Fi like I have, it does not make sense to me not to pursue some significant expenditure on P.W.B. products to transform the system into the extraordinary and what has been up to now unachievable to me.
I hope you take this journey and enjoy it as much as I am.
Chris Ingram
Hong Kong
How do comparative tests (A/B-tests) between treated and untreated components really work? I think I have to revise my previous opinion.
I have always been able to grasp that listening tests with two copies of the same record (one treated, one not) would show up differences in favour of the treated copy. After all, the records spin, and a treated record ought to affect the listener to a lesser degree during the spinning than the untreated record would.
But when it comes to objects that do not move, my thinking went along a different line. I had this theory that if you compared two copies of an amplifier, for instance, you would not get a better performance from the treated one. Why? Because they would both be present in the listening room, both affecting the listener to the same degree. The presence of the treated amplifier would raise the performance of both amplifiers, and the presence of the untreated amplifier would hold back the performance of both amplifiers somewhat, keeping them from reaching the higher level of performance they could have reached if both amplifiers had been treated. I believed that auditioning the amplifiers side by side would make them sound the same. But this does not seem to be the case.
What, then, is it that makes the treated amplifier sound better to the listener than the untreated amplifier when they are sitting side by side in the listening room? Is there something that makes the amplifier in use (active) affect the listener more than the amplifier not in use (passive)? And does it matter if the passive amplifier has its power turned on or not?
Could someone please explain this?
Kind regards,
Mats Lindberg
Sweden.
Since the last Newsletter, I've performed miracles of personal budgeting that would be the envy of any Chancellor. All my other interests that involve cash have been severely cut. Excepting drink and CD's of course - They're my "Health and Education" departments, only to be looked at in times of dire need. The result is the purchase of some P.W.B. violet discs. They did for me exactly as described by Richard in the new product pages of the last Newsletter. The only difference was that I attached the first one to my turntable. As it happens we have a mono 1965 vinyl recording of Elgar's Cello Concerto by Jacqueline Du Pre, aquired in a charity shop a few years ago for a pound. It always seemed that the quieter musical passages on this disc disappeared into the vinyl and masked the beauty of the music. I have since listened to this record a number of times and some P.W.B. treatments preceded each listen. The treatments were not necessarily to the record or turntable, even to the Hi-Fi for that matter, but the result is always the same, each treatment produced a much more "airier" sound that seemed to lift the music free of the groove. This experience of course goes for all my records; it's just that this particular record disappointed more than most on first hearing.
It also happens that this was the particular record I chose to play after the attachment of the violet magnadisc. The change was immediately apparent. The cello sound took on much greater weight and the quiet passages were far easier to perceive. It is nigh on impossible for me to get across on paper the emotional connection the music now makes compared to when it was first purchased. But that, as they say, isn't the half of it!
I have now got a few more of those devices attached to items such as the CD player, amp, TV etc. Only lack of funds prevents me getting more - that's how much I like them. Then, out of the blue, a P.W.B. jiffy bag arrived. It contained a "Freeze Effect" evaluation kit. This consisted of a small jar containing an infused mixture of tea and coffee together with salt, sugar, a small bit of wood and a few drops of liquid fluoride. Also within the bag was a strip of a new foil called "Freeze Effect" Foil along with a Special "FreezeEffect" Ring Tie. The kit was accompanied by three pages of notes which give an explanation as to how it works and instructions on use. The first thing to do is put the jar of liquid in the freezer department of the fridge until it is frozen solid. To treat an object you attach a strip of "Freeze Effect" Foil to it and then touch the attached foil with the frozen jar.
From past experience I have found that treatments to household objects other than directly to the Hi-Hi can be just as effective. Therefore, some of the first foils went on things like plant pots, glass doors, mirrors etc. A quick play of music was all that was required to make me realise this was something big. There is no other word to describe what I hear from any of the sound reproducers within our house now except RIGHT! I attached the "Freeze Effect" Ring Tie to the already fully treated phono leads from the turntable. Again, I used the Elgar record as a reference. To start with, the fact that it was recorded in mono now seems irrelevant. It is a real cello making a real cello sound and it draws you along with its flow. I can't put it better than that. Classical music has not been my main choice of listening – I gained an appreciation through my partner Wendy taking me to concerts. But it now connects directly as anything from The Cheap Suit Serenaders to Half Man Half Biscuit. My lack of experience regarding classical music seems to matter far less. I just put on the disc and enjoy the trip.
If I were to never use any more P.W.B. treatments, I could be very happy with the present sound quality. But of course P.W.B. means much, much more. It's the excitement of following an unknown trail-a sort of magical woodland path with untold wonders waiting to be discovered. When we were children we lived in the country. One of our favourite places was a wide flat riverbed strewn with millions of different coloured stones. The water flowed over the top a few inches deep, and in spring each bank was a carpet of bluebells. A row of very tall trees grew along each side and formed an arch over the top. We used to imagine that if we followed the river it would lead to a very special and magical place- quite what it what it might be like could never be fully formed in our minds. We just knew something truly wondrous must exist if we were to follow the river's path. It's that kind of child-like curiosity which fuels my interest in the Belt's work, a need to know what's coming next. The "sense of wonder" factor is immense.
And finally, a little tale. My brother, who works for a car security company, loaned his car to a colleague for a few days. Now, my brother's car has had a bit of P.W.B. treatment carried out within it- mainly to the sound system. His colleague's car is the same as his, with the same sound system fitted. When returning the car, his friend remarked how good the sound was and what had he done to modify the system. My brother pointed out the little foils attached to the stereo and said those were responsible. He gave as good an explanation of the Belt basics as he could and was very surprised at the fairly positive response. It extended to the point where his friend is considering getting me to do a few treatments to his own car. Any further developments I will report on.
Finally, finally. My brother remarked the other day that on some days, the car sound is better than others. It happens that on some occasions, he loads the car with photographic and projecting equipment for meetings etc. I told him that this could be contributing to the downturn in sound quality. He will keep a note of what is in the car on "off" days and if anything significant shows itself I will relate it to Richard for possible future use.
Kevin Kehoe,
U.K.
This was a very long and not so interesting story. For your benefit, however, I have chopped and hacked leaving behind only the good bits so please let your imagination fly while reading this. My original aim was to find a way to make the new Real Foil more cost effective. It seemed the more strips I stuck on a CD the more improvement I could easily hear. I got up to 6 strips on one CD then calculated 6 strips x 3 mm x a couple of hundred spinning discs = A lot of foil time and money. What I eventually made I give the name of a tuning disc. I cut out from a piece of overhead projector plastic film a CD silhouette, placed some real foil strips on it. Inserted it into a CD player with CD and presto, it worked. Perhaps not quite as efficient as sticking the Foils directly on to the CD itself. But it was effective enough to continue the experimenting which led to my new discovery.
With 6 strips of Real Foil on my tuning disc. I began to experiment with the Morphic Message foils. What I then discovered is that each Message foil has its own specific signature in the way it improved the perception of the music. Here is a list of my results described as well as I possibly can,
'x' Film = all frequencies clearer and smoother
Black 26 = adds crispness
Blue Z = sparkly clear
Safe Hole = improves low frequencies
New Type Communication = makes for full heavy strong bass
Comfort = clearer midrange pushing back the soundstage
And with the Red 'x' pen'
'x = PRESENT TIME = upper middle has more presence
'x 26 'x = clearer high frequencies
sign you name > O.K. = warm full sound
And a new one I discovered
YOU ARE > O.K. = all frequencies clearer and smoother
I imagine that each individual would have to try this experiment for themselves and write their own evaluation. I tried some other words with the 'x' pen it is a little dangerous in that while some words improve some parts of the music, they can also simultaneously have a negative impact on a different part of the sound spectrum. For example YOU MAY ENTER. enhanced the deep bass but the rest sounded awful. EASY LISTENING. mid frequencies and below all clearer but it seemed to me to make the sound unbalanced so I have not used this one.
So armed with all these labels and messages and a rather blank looking tuning disc you can probably guess what happened next. Playing a CD with the tuning disc on top. what would you like improved? add two labels or messages on opposite sides of the disc (to keep it balanced). listen again. What would you like improved? and so on until the disc is completely chocka block filled with messages.
The end result was not as powerful as I imagined it would be as I could quite clearly note the difference in sound upon each set of labels being added to the disc and I thought the total combined result would be extraordinary. But as it is, it is still a wonderful device to create. The result for me was to make the sound wonderfully smooth deep and rich and as you can tailor and make the sound to suit your own ears. It can only produce a very pleasing effect. It also prevents having all my nice CD tops being graphited by red ink and pretty little stickers. But you won't get the added bonus of having a lot of treated discs sitting in your listening room, and it seems to work slightly better if at least one Rainbow foil is placed on top of the DISC logo directly on the CD.
One thing to note is with the RED 'X' Pen, I found that it was not important how large the writing was. I found that writing the same message again next to itself created little improvement. It is more important to write the same message on the opposite side of the disc. A greater effect would be heard if the messages were evenly spread around the diameter of the disc and that 8 messages equally spaced seem to be the optimum number of each message. I never used more than eight of one message.
One other thing. When I was making this disc I had the stickers and writing facing upwards. When I had finished the disc I did some A-B testing. Hmmm. The sound improved in clarity but it was a little thin sounding, a bit of bass it missing, How can this be? I turned the tuning disc over so the labels would be touching the CD. Yes this was better. Not a noticeable improvement but more smooth and natural. If the truth be told I think having another plastic disc spinning on top detracts from the sound a little and it takes a few labels to remove the negative effects of this disc. Perhaps with treatment with the Quantum Clip this negative effect would be lessened. I guess what I made was a cheap, less efficient version of the P.W.B. Electret Disc. The important thing to come from this experiment was finding the different effects of each label which can then be applied to anything in greater or lesser amounts to aid in the fine tuning of your own ears and system.
Cool. So now I have a whole lot of Real foil I can use for other things that I have not given a real lot of attention to yet like room and house treatments.
Part II
Now May has said that we perceive only a small percentage of the actual sound from the stereo. I can well believe this and she says that it is possible that a cheaper amplifier can be made to sound like a more expensive amplifier. I also believe this to be true. I am in fact very impressed with the clarity of my system and I have no doubt that with more treatment it will improve even more. I occasionally walk into the Hi-Fi store to be offended by the exorbitant prices on tinny sounding machines.
I have a rather modest sound system. I picked up, second hand, a 20 year old NAD 3020 amplifier for around 130 Australian dollars which is equivalent to about 50 Pounds! I had to replace dried out capacitors and made a few other modifications while I was at it. And it sounded a lot better than the modern NAD310 that I previously used. But what I am finding now, impressed by the sound as I am. is that with each new P.W.B. treatment I add it takes me a little closer to hearing the true sound of the weakest link in my system which I believe I have traced down to this Little NAD amp. This brings me to state something I have heard from an audio engineer and believe which is that you can't add to something that is not there in the first place. It is a little difficult to explain but although the sound stage and dynamics are constantly improving. I am also hearing more of what I think are called, cheap little transistors. So My next step in this audio world will be to invest in a new hopefully SET valve based amplifier.
Also note that my choice of amplifier now is vastly different to what I would have chosen before knowing of the P.W.B. phenomenon (I don't even know what SET stands for! I know what it does though.) and, with all the P.W.B. treatment that has been done in my surroundings, I am certain this will be a much more revealing and rewarding experience.
I find it interesting that it is commonly perceived by people that if you have a very transparent audio system it becomes very easy to detect when a low quality component is installed in the sound path and can make things quite unlistenable. The interesting part is that I seem to have acquired this type of transparency purely by using P.W.B. treatments. And, in fact, with the P.W.B. treatments it has also become (excuse the French.) a shit load easier to fine tune the turntable, speaker positioning and such. I recently did a reality check or should I say idiot check and removed all the P.W.B. treatments that could easily be reversed. What I found was a muddy bass, the open sound had been compressed into a shoe box and the sharp attack of the cymbals shot out arrows made of tin aimed to pierce then splinter my ears. With this sound I may well be resetting my system back to its default position. There is no substitute for P.W.B. it is an absolute necessity for any audio enthusiast. In my opinion!
I would like to thank people from past Newsletters that gave links to interesting sites such as the Eichmann cables and one in particular the Decware web site. I have learnt more about audio from this one site than I have in the past years and years.
Hope all is well in audio land!
Best Regards to all,
Paul Topic.
Australia
22.12.01
For quite a while now I have been out of things – in both Hi-Fi matters and P.W.B. wise – because of my retired lifestyle which includes simplified (although lovely) domestic environment.
Just recently though, I bought a Sony Discman and a pair of top-end, reference headphones, which yield a really satisfying sound.
Of course, such small gear is easy to treat with foils and freezing, and my level of enjoyment has gradually increased – up to a certain point, which, I will confess, satisfies me almost entirely. (There is always a reservation, as I'm sure you've noticed!)
Today I received some purple goods and 'Real' Foil, and I am writing this within thirty minutes of affixing one Purple Magnadisc to the Walkman, plus a Purple Tie to the headphone lead, and a piece of Real Foil to the CD. I am awestruck with delight. What's going to happen when I try a Purple Magnadisc on each of the headphone bins, and affix strips of Real Foil to all and sundry until I use it all up?
24.12.01
Used up all the Foil and Purple goods. The domestic environment feels just lovely. And what about the sound? It is so good that I am rationing myself. I've resisted the temptation to keep on listening to my favourite discs. (It's called delayed gratification!)
All in all, an amazing achievement from P.W.B.
Michael Leach
U.K.
Dougie Swann's recollections scanning 20 years.
Real Hi-Fi and P.W.B. Inexorably drawn to each other, it equals NO Hi-Fi without P.W.B. !!
How do I, Dougie Swann, know this ? Well, I'll tell you truly, 20 years ago I needed a bass drive unit for a Wharfedale speaker. I telephoned P.W.B. because my brother Eddie's friend Harry had got Peter Belt to rewire Harry's Monitor Audio MA 1's in the pure lead (Pb) wire that Peter was currently working with. Coupled with the speaker leads in pure lead wire, they produced fantastic results. Clean, clear, natural sound. I don't think that Peter will remember my telephone call about the bass unit and I didn't mention it when I called at P.W.B's family home in Leeds with my brother Eddie to listen to a demo of 'The Black Hole' - a very intricate, hand made record clamp in two parts. Take it off after listening to music and - no stereo., no bass., no resolution., unlistenable to. And something I always experience when a P.W.B. item is removed, a feeling of vertigo and nausea - a 100% certainty that something was right when using the Black Hole record clamp !!
Then I enquired about the pure lead (Pb) wires I knew were in P.W.B's own system. BIG shock when Peter took a 3 inch piece of lead wire out of the system and replaced it with a 3 inch piece of copper. I almost fell out of my chair with the shock of the difference in the sound - hard, brittle music, so slow I felt I could hold a conversation between each note - honestly !! The sound was fully restored when the pure lead wire was replaced. I was impressed with the Black Hole device and the pure lead wire but this was only the start of the demo. Peter showed how the internal wadding and foam inside a speaker cabinet totally destroys the sound. Take it out !! This was the start of many hundreds of visits of a most enjoyable nature to P.W.B. Headquarters.
When, at the time I had to move house, I rented a flat only a quarter of a mile away from P.W.B. My brother Eddie was impressed with the demos but did not quite experience the same dramatic sound changes that I did. He was careful with money and after I demonstrated the Black Hole device I had purchased, he happily bought one, and as P.W.B. also made headphones, he and I bought those too.
Peter Belt is, to me, a remarkable man. I could see, as he explained to me how he had got to where he was, how frustrated he was. He knew how to alter the Hi Fi sound, to greatly improve sound quality but he also honestly and wisely knew that there was a long way to go to perfection. Of his many friends, I thought that I was appreciated because I could hear and because of this I felt part of the 'team'.
Pure Lead tubes greatly improved the lead wires in the speakers and cables. Peter showed me how to make them (compared to his, mine were rough !) and Peter produced a special solder to use. Peter was using his own massive speaker system with 105 orthodynamic drive units in each tower plus Volt bass units in a 50 litre capacity bass cabinet. Very special copper wire woven around the pure lead wire, then copper wire heat treated around lead. The 'team', me only a listener, were working as hard as possible. (How many people would rewire both speakers - 105 drive units in each tower - in a Saturday afternoon ?) Peter would - a number of times.
About this time, I was so hooked (and still am 20 plus years later) that I had to write to Hi-Fi News about the pure lead wires and the pure lead tubes and a part of my letter was published.
I felt that I must get this P.W.B. Phenomenon thing out to everyone. Many, many demonstrations in Peter's front room almost always impressed me and of course I had vastly improved my own very cheap and modest system so much so that I could only go to my friend Harry's flat to hear any improvement over mine. NO Hi-Fi shop or my many Hi-Fi friends could compete with mine and Harry's systems. Harry had lots and lots of P.W.B. Devices on his system, 'charged washers'., special plugs., lots of coloured stickers etc. And, in fairness, Harry had a few bright ideas of his own. Only P.W.B. enthusiasts could produce a really good natural sound. I remember Peter P.W.B ing an £80 Sansui amplifier, 25w per channel, and hearing it outperform some very expensive Naim amps !! Peter experimented with magnets all over his system and room, little clips, pins for the curtains and carpets. They all worked.
But, my girlfriend Diane wanted to hear this amazing sound at P.W.B's own room. So, one Saturday I took her to Peter's house and she was amazed. But Peter is always full of fun and full of surprises. He had made some devices which he said would work to improve the sound by putting them on a telegraph pole 50 yards up the street !!
"Is he kidding" said Diane. "Nope" I said. Up the street Peter went, then back to listening. Wonderful improvement, even Diane heard a difference. Then shock to me and Diane, Peter removed the device from the telegraph pole and brought it back into the house. The improved sound quality had gone ! GONE!. Diane said "He must have a secret switch"
No way. The device worked. Fuses were treated with a purple pen, creams, on and on Peter worked. I moved to Luton for a few years to work and I sorely missed the education, the drive, the unstoppable qualities that Peter could put into your home - music, television, video etc. And many things were learned from Peter. Reverse your speaker leads on certain tracks of vinyl records, CDs. It is a long job with a large collection but the 4th track on Pink Floyd's "The Wall" sounds right the reverse way. Peter made me a device to reverse the leads at the flick of a switch.
If you don't know P.W.B. get in touch with them. At a very reasonable price, compared to renewing equipment, you are in for proper sound, superb TV picture quality etc. I once P.W.B'd a Pioneer PL12D turntable (£10 second hand) with a M75ED cartridge. Friends have brought their Linns., Oracles., Luxmans etc to compare with my system but the unanimous vote was invariably for the P.W.B'd PL12D !!
If anyone deserves a medal for hard work, skill, determination, and dedication to take audio technology into the 21st century, Peter Belt deserves it. I feel privileged to know Peter and to have been involved in some of his work and I was also delighted to have been able to attend the extremely informative talk which May Belt gave to a group of P.W.B. enthusiasts some three years ago.
Dougie Swann,
U.K.
A number of our long established customers, having read Jimmy Hughes' article in Hi-Fi Choice ( May 2002 issue) and seen Jimmy's reference to a 'fall out' with Peter have asked me
"What was THAT all about ?". As I was the one who took the 'treated' Piezo tweeter to Jimmy's, I will briefly recount the story behind it. This particular story IS part of the Peter Belt story which I am in the process of writing and I can use it to also illustrate some of the difficulties Peter has experienced in trying to get people to appreciate the enormity and importance of what is going on.
As I have mentioned repeatedly (and particularly in the talk I gave in the summer of 1998), Peter cannot chose the materials with which to work and 'treat'. He has to work with what responds best to our treatment techniques. One example I always use is that there is no point in us having a desire to use something which is gold plated and diamond studded if gold plating and diamond studding does not respond well to our treatment techniques. If we find that 'common or garden' plastic responds the best, then we have to use 'common or garden' plastic, no matter how plain and insignificant it looks !!
Whilst experimenting with various materials, Peter discovered that the material piezo responded well to our treatment. At around the same time, Peter had become aware that a concave shape i.e. similar to the concave flare of a (loudspeaker) horn presented a problem for human beings and that this shape had to be 'treated' to make it acceptable for human beings. Using the concave shape of an ordinary domestic saucer, Peter worked out the sequence of treatments for beneficially treating a concave shape.
Peter knew that to attempt to demonstrate the effect of a simple 'treated' piezo device ( just passively resting on top of a piece of audio equipment) to audio engineers would be completely unacceptable to those engineers (from an intellectual point of view). He also knew that to attempt to demonstrate the effect of a 'treated' concave shape by using an ordinary 'treated' saucer (just passively resting on top of a piece of audio equipment) would again be completely unacceptable to audio engineers ( again from an intellectual point of view) !!
Peter realised that there was already available an easy and inexpensive source of both a piezo device and a concave flare in the form of a piezo horn tweeter from the electronic component supplier Maplin. But, Peter knew that, again, attempting to demonstrate a 'treated' piezo horn tweeter which could be shown to improve the sound but which just needed to be placed passively on top of a loudspeaker system - not connected electronically in any way to the actual playing loudspeaker - would be unacceptable to audio engineers. He therefore connected a wire to the 'treated' piezo horn tweeter to enable the tweeter to be connected to the terminals of the loudspeakers being played. This, Peter reasoned, would at least make it more (intellectually) acceptable to engineers for them to experiment with.
Peter 'treated' the piezo device and the concave horn flare of the piezo horn tweeter and I took this 'treated' horn tweeter to Jimmy's. The whole purpose behind my visit and my taking this 'treated' horn tweeter was because we knew that Jimmy's favourite speaker was the Impulse horn speaker system. We also knew that Mahesh Patel, who was the owner of the Impulse Loudspeaker Company, was in regular contact with Jimmy. Our reasoning was to give Jimmy something which he could demonstrate to Mahesh Patel and to be able to make Mahesh (or any other manufacturer, distributor or audio journalist who visited Jimmy) aware of what was going on and what could affect the 'sound'. For Jimmy to be able to make people aware that concave shapes (particularly speaker cones and horn flares etc.) were a problem and had to be 'dealt with' if you wanted good sound. Also that such things as piezo material could be 'treated' to create beneficial devices.
It is what happened next which made Peter and I decide not to pursue it further with Jimmy.
A few weeks after my visit to Jimmy's, he telephoned us to say that yes, the 'treated' piezo horn tweeter had made an improvement to his sound but that he (Jimmy) had been doing further experiments. He explained that he had been trying different values of resistors (different values to the original resistor which Peter had inserted in the connecting lead) and that when changing to a resistor with a different value, he (Jimmy) had obtained a better sound. It was during this conversation that Peter realised that we had been completely wasting our time taking the 'treated' horn tweeter to Jimmy's and that it was pointless wasting any more, because Jimmy appeared to have completely missed the whole purpose of my visit. Jimmy had been acting as though Peter was intending to market a 'treated' piezo horn tweeter and that he (Jimmy) had found something which improved it even further. Whereas the truth was that the 'treated' piezo horn tweeter did not have to be connected to the speaker system at all - it would give an improvement in the sound by just sitting passively on top of the speaker cabinet !! So, in those circumstances, no resistor, of any value whatsoever was needed !! Yes, changing the value of the resistor would change the sound, but so would doing such things as leaving the original resistor in place but changing the colour of the resistor's outer insulation !!! The important purpose of my visit to Jimmy's was to show how significant a problem such as a concave shape was and that this particular problem was really only the 'tip of a huge iceberg'. After Jimmy's telephone call Peter and I were of the opinion that, if all Jimmy was going to do was to play about changing the value of the resistor, then Peter would arrange for one of our sons to collect the 'treated' piezo tweeter from Jimmy's the next time he was in London. This is what Jimmy refers to as 'the fall out' with Peter.
The whole purpose of the 'treated' piezo tweeter was not to just make Jimmy's sound better. Nor was the purpose of my visit to show Jimmy how to 'treat' just the horn aperture and speaker cones of his own loudspeakers. The purpose was to make Jimmy aware that ALL horn apertures have to be 'treated' because they are a problem for human beings, that ALL concave speaker cones have to be 'treated' because they are a problem for human beings. And, just as important, so are concave horn apertures and concave speaker cones of PASSIVE speaker systems, just standing in the room, not being used and not connected to the audio system !! For Peter and I to discover, a few weeks after my visit, that all Jimmy had done was to play about changing the value of the resistor in the 'treated' tweeter's connecting lead !!! was, to put it mildly, incredibly frustrating.
For the people who are used to using our Red 'x' Pen. Imagine this situation. Imagine me taking a 'treated' piezo tweeter and a Red 'x' Pen to Jimmy's and showing Jimmy that there were beneficial messages written on the concave horn flare with the Red 'x' Pen. Leaving Jimmy with the 'treated' piezo tweeter and the Red 'x' Pen to enable him to become aware of just what can have an effect on the 'sound'. Imagine then. a few weeks later, discovering that all Jimmy had been doing was to play about changing the resistor in the 'treated' tweeter's connecting lead !! The purpose of my visit would not obviously be just to improve Jimmy's sound with a 'treated' piezo tweeter. It would be to make Jimmy aware of the serious implications of what he could hear. The serious implications are that you can change 'sound' by writing beneficial messages or by signing your name or initials with the Red 'x' Pen !!!! And, if you are involved in the audio industry, then you have to begin to ask far more difficult and searching questions than you have ever asked before. Such as "What is being affected ?"., "How is it having an effect ?"., and "Why is it having an effect ?"
I will try to illustrate the futility of some of the visits that Peter and I have made to audio journalists etc. over the years by using a hypothetical example. It is like Peter buying an el- cheapo amplifier from Richer Sounds and 'treating' it. Then taking the 'treated' amplifier with a jar of Cream-Electret and some of our various Foils and other devices to an audio journalist. To enable the audio journalist to become aware of what treatments could improve the sound, to enable the journalist to 'treat' things for himself, to enable the journalist to demonstrate to audio equipment manufacturers, distributors, other journalists who visited him from time to time and to make them aware of just what could be achieved.
If then, a few weeks later, the journalist telephones Peter to say that he (the journalist) has been experimenting with the el-cheapo amplifier and has found that he can get an improvement in the sound by changing an original resistor for another resistor of different value !! It becomes obvious that the journalist has completely missed the point of the whole exercise. Peter has not 'treated' an el-cheapo amplifier because he wishes to market an el- cheapo amplifier but solely to use it to demonstrate the beneficial effects of certain treatments on so many other things and the importance to the 'sound' of these treatments. But, all the journalist has done over the previous few weeks is to play about with the el-cheapo amplifier.
I am sure that many of our customers will appreciate the frustration that Peter can experience so many times, in so many other similar situations. Such as Peter emphasising how important the freezing technique is and demonstrating and using the beneficial freezing of a Compact Disc as one, single, example. But to find out later that, subsequently, all the audio journalists, audio equipment manufacturers, audio equipment retailers etc., he has demonstrated this to have only ever experimented with freezing a Compact Disc - they have never frozen an interconnect, never frozen any components, never frozen any other item in the listening environment to see what effect those things, when frozen, can have on the sound !! This blinkered attitude has been and still is so prevalent amongst the majority of the audio industry.
This blinkered approach was exemplified recently by the editor's response to Richard Graham's letter in Hi-Fi Choice ( January 2002 issue) - following a review of Max Townshend's cryogenically frozen interconnect. After Richard has suggested in his letter that people just try for themselves freezing interconnects using their domestic deep freezer, the editor of Hi-Fi Choice replies with the simple observation that the cryogenic temperatures are so much lower than a domestic deep freezer. A simple comment obviously used for the purpose of putting an end to any discussion.
The editor of Hi-Fi Choice is a 'professional in audio' and yet there is no hint at all in his reply that he has ever tried the experiment of using a domestic deep freezer for himself 'and it works' or that he has tried the experiment for himself 'but it does not work for him'. Nothing !! Why not ? Does that mean that an editor of a Hi-Fi magazine, a 'professional in audio' has not actually tried what thousands of other, so called 'amateurs in audio', throughout the world, have tried and found to work for them ?
The comments in the article about Jimmy being, at times, fearless in his reporting about tweaks are correct. In the late 1980s, Jimmy was the most courageous of the audio journalists in his reporting of Peter Belt's techniques and devices. But there comes a point of realisation, with many journalists, when one is 'knocked back on one's heels' and the implications of just what is going on are so disturbing that one wishes not to go along that path any more - not to have to think disturbing and challenging thoughts. I am sure that Charles Darwin faced staring into this abyss with his concept of gradual evolution in the face of the religious teachings, all around him, that the earth was created in a particular week a few thousands years previously!! The same must also have applied to Joseph Lister, 100 years ago, with his concept that the 'germs which caused septicaemia were in the air', when the prevalent belief structure within the medical profession was that the 'micro-organisms' were in the patients own 'bad blood' and could erupt and cause septicaemia spontaneously and therefore there was nothing the doctors and surgeons could do.
Since the beginning of audio, the belief structure has been that there are only two ways in which the sound can be changed:-
1) By 'something' affecting the signal when it travels through the audio system.
2) By 'something' having an effect on the acoustic air pressure waves in the room.
And that if the 'sound' is reported to have changed then it can only be because of either of those two areas being affected and if whatever has happened cannot possibly, by any stretch of the imagination, be having any effect on either of those two areas, then the reactions of the majority of the people working in the audio industry are that the reported changes in the 'sound' must be imagined !!
Take, for example, two P.W.B. Devices/techniques i.e. Cream-Electret and the Red 'x' Pen.
If you can apply a small amount of Cream-Electret to an object in the room - an object not in any way associated with the audio equipment, or write a beneficial message or sign your name or initials with the Red 'x' Pen on any object and create an improvement in the 'sound', then neither of these devices or techniques can, by any stretch of the imagination, be having an effect on the audio signal nor on the acoustic air pressure waves. And yet, an improvement in the 'sound' (in the form of hearing additional information) is perceived !! This can only mean that the additional information now being heard MUST HAVE BEEN IN THE ROOM ALL THE TIME !! You were just not able to perceive it until - - - - - - - - - - . These are the disturbing implications of our devices and techniques which people in the audio industry wish to hide from !!
I know that there are many 'professionals' (engineers, retailers and journalists), all over the world, who have heard 'unusual' things having an effect on the sound. But, what they have done is to struggle to push, squeeze, bend what they have experienced into some (sometimes obscure) part of conventional electronic or acoustic theories. Such as 'it must be something to do with the dielectric effect', 'it must be microphony', it must be 'vibrations', it must be problems with 'static', it must be 'RF interference' and so on. What they should have done is to say "There is something strange going on here. I must put up a marker flag and remember to return to this and investigate further". Which is what Peter Belt did twenty years ago !!
May Belt
U.K.
Friday morning, 8th March, when I heard the Postman pushing the mail through the letter box. Picking up the letters, a small package from P.W.B. stood out from the rest. Since I didn't have any orders outstanding with P.W.B. this came as a complete surprise and instantly aroused my interest.
Other P.W.B. enthusiasts will have experienced the tingle of excitement that accompanies the arrival of a package from P.W.B. and, being unexpected, this was doubly so.
Opening the package revealed a small glass jar ; three quarters full of a most unappetising looking brown liquid. Floating in the liquid was a broken piece of match stick. Accompanying the jar was a gold coloured foil that at first glance appeared to be 'x' Foil but a closer examination of the foil showed that at the end of the foil was printed the words "FREEZE EFFECT". Also included in the package was a Ring Tie assembly.
I realised that what I was handling was, obviously, a major new product from P.W.B. and I quickly read through the notes which May had enclosed. The liquid, I learned, was a fusion of Tea, Coffee, Sugar, Salt and a few drops of Fluoride. I suppose the average person stumbling across P.W.B. techniques for the first time can be excused for thinking that a dabbler in witchcraft is at work and this potion in the jar would easily reinforce that view. Magic potions in folklore are, however, invariably boiled but this brew, produced by our Wizard in Leeds, has to have the opposite treatment. It has to be frozen solid and used in the frozen state.
My eagerness to sample the effects of this most intriguing P.W.B. product would have to wait until the evening when I would have some free time but meanwhile the jar would have plenty of time to reach a deep frozen state. Time never passed more slowly while the evening approached.
The new treatment is simply cut a strip of the Freeze Effect foil, place it on an object (any object) then touch the foil with the frozen jar. By such simple actions is magic performed.
For the first application I chose the cassette in my VCR. This cassette has had numerous treatments over the years and is always placed inside the VCR whenever I listen to music. It is a constant reminder that P.W.B. treatments, with their beneficial effects on perceived sound quality, have absolutely nothing to do with modifying/manipulating audio signals etc.
So the usual routine. Listen to a familiar CD track for about 20 seconds; repeat it a couple of times, then carry out the "Freeze Effect" treatment on the cassette and listen for any changes to sound quality.
I have to say that it came as no surprise when there was a noticeable lift to the quality with an added life and vitality to the music, and I knew this was a taster of what would be an engrossing evening.
Next in line for the new treatment had to be the CD I had been listening to. The result? Suffice to say, once experienced you know that no CD will ever again sound quite right unless it has had the "Freeze Effect" treatment. In her notes May writes of the adverse effects of glass and lenses and particularly recommended the treatment of cameras. I have a Digital camera in my lounge so this now had a strip of the foil applied to the camera body and touched with the frozen jar . The result was excellent and once again confirmed what Peter has been saying all these years about the adverse effect which every day objects have on us and operating at a level out of consciousness . A quartz clock on the mantelpiece was treated and again gave excellent results but the quartz wristwatch I was wearing seemed to have little effect after treatment. Over the weekend I applied many more foils but I will not go into details because as a few days later P.W.B. sent me an upgrade. This was a 15 mm square of a new version of silver foil which had to be stuck on top of the jar.
The new silver foil was duly attached to the top of the jar, which of course, first had to be defrosted and thoroughly dry before again being re-frozen.
From the accompanying notes I was informed that P.W.B. had recently discovered the filter pattern of a leaf and this was replicated in the new silver foil. Now I'm sure every schoolboy over the age of five understands the significance of the leaf pattern and I would therefore be very grateful if one of them would kindly contact me and remind me of the details of it's importance since it seems to have slipped my memory. However what I can tell you is that that small square of silver supercharged the potency of the frozen jar and I marvelled as previously treated objects produced even better results as they were again touched with the upgraded jar. Morphic labels also responded well to the new treatment.
From then on I have had a field day(s) as I have proceeded to treat as many objects and Hi-Fi components as possible. I did make a few notes as I worked through various items of equipment. For example:-
15 strips inside the amplifier - 10 strips on morphic labels on top of the amplifier.
DVD player - 8 strips on inside and 3 on labels on top.
Tuner - 10 strips inside and 5 on labels on top.
CD player - 16 strips inside and 8 on labels on top.
All producing excellent results. The one item that stands out above all the others though was the treating of my DAC unit. This was the first piece of Hi-Fi equipment I treated and had 8 strips inside the unit and 7 strips on morphic labels on top of the unit.
For listening I was using a CD of Claudio Arrau playing the Beethoven opus 109. The sound is superb having been consistently improved over the years thanks to P.W.B. treatments. Having applied the "Freeze Effect" treatment to the DAC I stood back and pressed the remote for track 5. The transformation that was brought about can only be described as dramatic and held me spellbound with the sheer opulence of the piano sound which now filled the room. It was if the DAC had for all these years been smothered and was now free to breath freely and with exhilaration. This was one of those moments that leave you wondering what is going - on what else is out there still to be discovered. After this experience with solo piano what would a full orchestra sound like? So into the CD tray went the "Leningrad" symphony for an intended two minute snatch of the third movement. Thirty eight minutes later at the end of what must be one of the most inspirational endings of any piece of music, I had the thought that no cat ever came away from a bowl of cream feeling more satisfied.
In my bay window there are two potted plants that have never had any P.W.B. treatments ( shame I hear you cry ) so these were given the "Freeze Effect" treatment. The effect to me was that the room then seemed to take on an added feeling of peace and quietness with the result that music came from within a deeper space and was more involving.
The associated "Freeze Effect" Ring Ties I also found produced excellent results when fitted to power cables and interconnects.
The new foil is P.W.B.'s most expensive to date. From the 175 x 20 mm foil I reckon to get 84 strips which works out at approx. £1.20 per strip. Which for favourite CD's is fine by me.
There should, however, be a health warning sent out with this foil since once you start using it you can become addicted to the gratification it brings. I have been back for more supplies and I shall be reordering again soon.
When I consider the cost, I remember the experience with my DAC and for that alone all I have spent so far has been worthwhile.
The last CD that I have treated and listened to was of Ravel's Ma Me're L'Oye. The end of which is La Jardin Feerique. Usually translated as The Enchanted Garden. The experience was just that!
Tom Marsden
UK
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Note from P.W.B.
Due to the success of the "Real Foil" we have decided to continue the introductory price of £50 per 170 x 20 mm length for the "Real" Foil for a further period, i.e. until 31st August 2002.
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© P.W.B. Electronics 2002