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Snake Oil?


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Thought I'd throw this out there to see what the general consensus would be on this one.

http://www.audiostream.com/content/synergistic-research-high-frequency-transducer-and-frequency-equalizer

Is it everything they say? Does the Emperor have new clothes?

Check out the reviews and videos on Synergistic Research's website.

Is it really this simple to achieve audio nirvana?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts

Edited by Lemon string
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Guest David H

Actually I heard the S.R. line of this past weekend.

Some of their pieces affect the sound, but I believe it to be Snake oil.

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The little passive transducers are made of aluminum. They are said to resonate and calm the high frequencies down or something like that. They are tiny, so just how much influence could they have? An 8mm circle on a typical 12' wide and 8' tall wall is less than .002% of the area. That percentage is similar in volume to the region of the room including ceiling and floor for which the transducer is responsible. The math simply doesn't make sense. Also, when I strike an anvil with a hammer it rings. When I strike an aluminum block with a hammer it goes THUD. That is counter intuitive to me.

This could be a bunch of college buddies supporting their friend the inventor. I will believe it if one of us reviews it. Until then, I say it's snake oil.

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Since high frequencies are very directional, unless you put these in your ear or something, why would they affect what you hear at all? Utter none sense. Also, the review is very poor too. I'm not going to read 6 paragraphs to sort of find out what these POS's supposedly do. :pwk_bs:

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The little passive transducers are made of aluminum. They are said to resonate and calm the high frequencies down or something like that. They are tiny, so just how much influence could they have? An 8mm circle on a typical 12' wide and 8' tall wall is less than .002% of the area. That percentage is similar in volume to the region of the room including ceiling and floor for which the transducer is responsible. The math simply doesn't make sense. Also, when I strike an anvil with a hammer it rings. When I strike an aluminum block with a hammer it goes THUD. That is counter intuitive to me.

This could be a bunch of college buddies supporting their friend the inventor. I will believe it if one of us reviews it. Until then, I say it's snake oil.

Im with you on this one as of now

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The last time I saw something like this, it messed with phase. The reviewer's wife might have been able to shout out "bigger" and "smaller" O.K., but was it better or worse?

This thing, with it's "passive" high frequency transducers [sic] (I must have missed how they get the signal unless through the air) might have a flashy first impression effect -- if it has any effect at all -- but would the impression remain positive after days of listening?

The "transducers" are too small and too few to act as diffusers. I have several diffusers, and it takes quite a few to make much difference.

I have screwed around with devices that actually do change the sound, and usually have found them helpful on just a few CDs, records, etc. I used a Lexicon CP1 on my rear channels, with many different programs to choose from, and wrote down a few on stickers I put on CD boxes, but ended up just turning it off ... and nowadays, I've got the rear channels turned off as well, except on multichannel SACDs or movies.

The "blind" wasn't "double blind," and, also, the wife and neighbor knew he was trying out something new, so maybe they were prone to considering any change to be a change for the better. Or maybe they imagined the whole thing.

For now, I'll vote for snake oil. By the way, has anybody tried putting out little shot glasses of real snake oil? If we could only find some snakes that aren't endangered, and squeeze them into small bottles. A shot glass sitting on each speaker might do wonders. At $125 per bottle, it would be a steal .......... wait ........ aren't there unwanted, alien pythons in Florida?

Edited by Garyrc
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