Synergistic Research ECT
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I use the Synergistic Research ECT’s in my components and am very impressed with the sonic improvements they create. It is an easy experiment to do as there is no break in time after installation. Both front end equipment and amplifiers ( Tube and solid state) respond. It is a bit of try a location and listen. If better leave one there and try another location. If no change or worse remove. Most pieces of equipment will benefit from 3 to 7 ECT’s being installed. With the December sale of a free Blue fuse with a Box (5) ECT’s I think this is a very good deal. David Pritchard |
Yes, forgot to mention that, thanks for the reminder. Highend-electronics has a promotion through the end of the year, one free Blue Quantum Fuse with your ECT. Killer deal. I also have something interesting to add to my review. My first ECT placements, based on info from Synergistic Research as well as users, were near electrical components. Well they are after all SUPPOSED to be ELECTRONIC circuit transducers. But for various reasons I won't go into I was pretty sure they are in fact vibration control devices. Very, very amazingly effective vibration control devices! That is why the first thing I tried, mounting one on my turntable motor, was a place no one had suggested they be used. The improvements I heard were at least as big as what I heard using them in the usual placements near tubes and transformers. Well, last night I decided to try one on the base of my tone arm. The Origin Live Conqueror has an aluminum base that extends out to first the cueing lever and then the arm rest. Sticking out as it does this would seem to be a prime target for vibration control, as indeed OL seems to agree, as they put several curved cutouts in it. There really is no reason for these I can think of other than vibration control. In fact, they cut out so much it was hard to find a place wider than the ECT! Now being ELECTRICAL CT's nobody should ever think to try this. Nothing electrical about an arm board. But if they are, as I think, really doing vibration control then there may be no better place for them. Which does indeed seem to be the case. Because when after sticking one on there I sat back down the results were staggering. Everyone I'm sure is familiar with the sound, often at the end of a recording, or even sometimes during a piece, where the music suddenly stops and you're left with the reverberation of the recording venue. That sound that gives you a real impression of the space around the musicians. I always love that part. Well, with the ECT on the Conqueror I wasn't just hearing that space at the end, I could SEE that space AROUND the singer DURING the song! Yes the noise floor dropped that dramatically. Dynamics, especially micro-dynamic shadings, took a big step up as well. All the little timbral signatures that contribute so much to the sense of a say a sax really being a sax, or a human voice an actual human being, they got so real I still can't believe it. Okay, granted, this is on one mighty fine turntable. The Conqueror is a superb arm. Koetsu Black Goldline, PH-3 SE. You get the picture. Every single one of these components was chosen for its inherent ability to present fine detail naturally and effortlessly. But still. Never heard anything like this before. Not. Even. Close. I'm ordering more. |
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Okay so check this out. Look real close at the ECT. Look down inside to where the horn ports into a chamber at the bottom. There's a very fine mesh screen. Just past the screen there's something. What? Then take a look at the lateral x-ray. What? You don't have x-ray? Good thing I do! The horn curves down to a port that opens into a cylindrical chamber. The chamber is partially filled with something. What, I don't know. X-ray only shows density. All I can say, whatever it is, is less dense than the surrounding material. The space above appears to be the same density as air. In other words, this thing looks EXACTLY like a horn speaker. Only with a chamber instead of a driver. In other words, it looks EXACTLY like a bass trap. Only, if you understand how bass traps work, one designed to work on very high frequencies. On the order of 40 kHz, I would say, http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-waves.htm Hard not to notice the distinct similarity between the ECT, PHT and HFT. My hunch is they all work on essentially the same principle and are simply sized or tuned a bit for different applications. This would explain why the ECT works so well on my tone arm, even though to go by what SR says its for electronics. But it works great on my arm. One of the first things I will do when I get some time this weekend (after a good dose of time bathing in the splendor of amazing sound I'm experiencing lately!) is try the ECT on my cartridge. Then when I get PHT will try them on the arm, etc. Meantime for the guys with HFT, would be nice to know if they work on turntables, arms, components. As I think they will.... |
Working 12 hour days I won’t have time to listen at all until Saturday. Why not try it yourself? Pull one off the wall, tack on the turntable, tone arm base, or right on the arm itself. Placed directly over the pivot point it won’t affect VTF at all. I will even bet you notice a bigger effect there than on the wall. |
The Synergistic Research family of transducers -HFT's, ECT's, and PHT's are amazingly effective and easy to use. The HFT's now come in five different types and are now the cornerstone for acoustically treating my listening room. Each piece of equipment also has at least one ECT on it, and most have several. And it is nice that if you sell that piece of equipment or change the listening room you can keep these devices for the next application. David Pritchard |
Yes I'm surprised more people aren't able to realize the many advantages to tweaking what you have compared to buying a new component. Not that there's anything wrong with component upgrades. I just brought home a game-changer, Herron VTPH-2A. Probably no amount of tweakery would be enough to elevate my old PH3-SE to this level. Or should I say realm. Universe? Whatever you want to call the place the rest cannot go. But yeah, I now have two ECTs on my tone arm. One by the base, another way out near the arm rest. I really wanted to experiment with more locations. But the Herron sounded so good, even right out of the box, I lost all interest in doing anything but feeding it. These things are worth the coin all by themselves, but with the free Quantum Fuse deal its an absolute no-brainer: Just keep going until you run out of fuses to replace! lol! David since you seem to have a good pair of ears what can you tell me about the different PHTs you've tried? |
millercarbon: I have not personally tried the PHT's as I do not have a turntable. But I have tried a HFT original model and then an ECT at the same location on an amplifier. Two different flavors of sound. Fascinating to me that there is such a significant change in sound. I do hope you will trial the different PHT's in your system. SR is very good about their 30 day return policy. I have also found their written descriptions of their products to be accurate. Glad you finally got a day off work! David Pritchard |
My understanding is these work by vibration control. They are shaped just like tiny little bass traps. Take the dimensions, work out the math, they are damping ultrasonic vibrations, frequencies on the order of 40kHz and above. Exactly how this works is not nearly as obvious to me. But there’s a clue I think in something Keith Herron said about timing and the Fourier Transform. Being mathlexic I will for sure screw this up, but it was something like he has done measurements and listening tests that demonstrate people are exquisitely sensitive to timing, and that frequency is (where the Fourier Transform comes into it) a function of timing. Specifically, he found he could manipulate a listeners preference by changing frequency response as little as .03 dB. Three hundredths of a decibel! That is why his components are hand-assembled using individually tested parts. Three hundredths of one dB! Clearly these tiny little things (PHT, ECT, HFT) are at best capable of doing next to nothing. Equally clearly, at least according to this finding, they only need to do next to nothing! Three hundredths of a dB! Gonna get some PHT to try, and some more ECT. Let you know how it goes. |
millercarbon My understanding is these work by vibration control. They are shaped just like tiny little bass traps. Take the dimensions, work out the math, they are damping ultrasonic vibrations, frequencies on the order of 40kHz and above. >>>>They also work with electromagnetic waves of that particular wavelength. These things are 1/3” diameter? I should point out one of the Sonic benefits of the uquiquitous one inch tiny little acoustic resonator bowls from Franck Tchang and others is better bass performance. Franck Tchang measured effects beyond 2 GHz. Which doesn’t make sense going with the strict definition of acoustic vibration control. |
A few points the idea of these working on the electromagnetic spectrum will need to contend with. In no particular order: The radio frequency at a wavelength on the order of 10mm is around 30GHz. While harmonics at a few multiples of 20kHz exist, and a good case can be made for their influence on lower (audible) (in air) frequencies, thirty billion seems a bit of a stretch. Then too we have the problem of knowing they work equally as well both directly on electronics as well as on the outside case of components. They also work on a tone arm- and not on the cartridge which would be electrical but on the tone arm rest far from any electromagnetic field. A lot of this is conjecture. But one thing we know for certain, electromagnetic fields attenuate according to the inverse square law. Another thing we can know for certain, we can't have it both ways. Either its electromagnetic, therefore attenuates with distance, or its not. It does not attenuate with distance. Therefore its not electromagnetic. Also if its electromagnetic then why would it be so necessary that they be securely fastened that SR includes both white tack and adhesive? Electromagnetic radiation goes right through clothing. They would work even in your pocket. (Or in the box!) Also in order to work electromagnetically they would need to be, you know, magnetic. Ferrous. At least a little. But they're not. Because then the last place you would ever want to use one is stuck right next to the delicate electromagnetic field of the phono cartridge. Which is exactly where they tell you to stick them! One way to figure things out, rule out everything it cannot be, it must be what you're left with. Electromagnetic dog don't hunt. |
millercarbon OP20 posts12-17-2018 7:16pmA few points the idea of these working on the electromagnetic spectrum will need to contend with. In no particular order: The radio frequency at a wavelength on the order of 10mm is around 30GHz. While harmonics at a few multiples of 20kHz exist, and a good case can be made for their influence on lower (audible) (in air) frequencies, thirty billion seems a bit of a stretch. >>>>>To be fair I said effects were measured for the one inch tiny bowls. That’s why I asked what diameter the SR bowls are. Then too we have the problem of knowing they work equally as well both directly on electronics as well as on the outside case of components. They also work on a tone arm- and not on the cartridge which would be electrical but on the tone arm rest far from any electromagnetic field. >>>>>The acoustic waves and the *electromagnetic waves* are everywhere. Since I have not had the pleasure of using the SR products I can’t say yeah or nay. A lot of this is conjecture. But one thing we know for certain, electromagnetic fields attenuate according to the inverse square law. Another thing we can know for certain, we can’t have it both ways. Either its electromagnetic, therefore attenuates with distance, or its not. It does not attenuate with distance. Therefore its not electromagnetic. >>>>>But we’re not discussing *electromagnetic fields*. We’re discussing *electromagnetic waves* - I.e., radio frequency waves. So forget about the inverse square law. Electromagnetic waves travel at speed of light. Also if its electromagnetic then why would it be so necessary that they be securely fastened that SR includes both white tack and adhesive? >>>>I don’t say it was strictly electromagnetic in nature or even that SR claims it is. I was making an observation based on the similar products from other manufacturers. Like Franck Tchang. Electromagnetic radiation goes right through clothing. They would work even in your pocket. (Or in the box!) Also in order to work electromagnetically they would need to be, you know, magnetic. Ferrous. >>>>That’s actually incorrect. They don’t have to be magnetic. Franck Tchang are silver or gold or platinum. Not ferrous. As I already noted effects were measured up over 2 GHz. If electromagnetic waves were magnetic you would be able to bend light with magnets. Which you can’t. At least a little. But they’re not. Because then the last place you would ever want to use one is stuck right next to the delicate electromagnetic field of the phono cartridge. Which is exactly where they tell you to stick them! >>>It’s not an electromagnetic field, it’s a magnetic field, around the cartridge produced by a moving inductor. Or, if it’s a moving magnet an electric field. One way to figure things out, rule out everything it cannot be, it must be what you’re left with. Electromagnetic dog don’t hunt. >>>>Nice try. Better luck next time. |
Okay so New Years Eve watching The Bird Box with the wife wasn't doing much for me so I decided to try something. The movie was a download playing from my MacBook Pro. Part way through I got up and stuck an ECT on the MacBook, upper right corner close to the sound and video outs. Immediately- and I mean immediately, before I even had time to turn around- my wife says, "What did you do to the volume?" I knew what she meant. Of course, the volume hadn't really changed. What had changed, there was noticeably less glare and grain, with a lot more space, depth and focus, and a lot better dynamics which of course actually means not only louder parts louder but quieter parts more quiet. Overall listener fatigue drops, it is just less hard on the ears, which sort of feels like less volume even though it probably measures the same. But that's way too much audiophile jargon for her. To her its just volume. Since I hadn't touched the volume at all I did what all husbands would do in a situation like this.... nothing. Just sat back down. Actually sat there kind of amazed that this ECT had not only produced such a big improvement in the sound, but in the video as well. Which had me curious. So I said, "Look at their faces. Notice the glint on the skin, the pores, hair, all the little details." That are missing from the androgenized botox passified mask Sandra Bullock tries to pass off as a face. But Malkovich, and the others. Human beings. Look at their faces. Chock full of all kinds of detail. Then I went and removed the ECT. Boom. Everyone looked like Bullock. Well not really. No one this side of Michael Jackson, or the people in that one Twilight Zone episode. But you get the idea. I put it back again. "Its like there's more contrast!" Yup. Contrast, for those who don't know, is the #1 factor in assessing video quality. Not color saturation (which was also improved). Not image resolution or detail (again both a lot better, and in a beautifully natural film-like way). Contrast. Might not have a big vocabulary. Nailed it anyway. So here we have one little old ECT stuck on a laptop, just one, and it makes such an obviously huge improvement its immediately apparent to.... my wife. These things are just freaking amazing. |
millercarbon: I agree the Synergistic Research ECT's are amazing. I find their placement to work well on both audio and video systems. One of the good things about them is the effect is immediate. Try a spot and watch or listen. If improved leave it, If worse or no change remove it. You can put too many in a component and get a sound that becomes lean. But they are easy to put in and out and so a bit of experimentation is in order. They do come with some suggested sites to try. When placing them for a temporary listen, I do like to use a dab of DAP brand sticky putty called Blue Stick (bought at Home Depot). Once I have finalized placement, I prefer to more permanently attach them with a High-Temperature glue gun. This adhesive does not melt or run even in a high-temperature environment such as my Pass Lab amplifiers. It just takes one Small drop of glue to affix the ECT. They still can be removed at a later date if necessary. The ECT is effective, easy to use, and if you do not like them you can send them back. David Pritchard |
Yeah, and just to be clear as far as video is concerned, the improvement in picture quality is on par with going from 720p to 1080i, or 1080i to 4k. Its about as much or more compared to when I upgraded from standard HDMI to a very good $350 HDMI cable. Or plugging into a good power conditioner.
Its better than when I had my cables cryo'd. Actually all of these to me still leave a kind of grainy look like you see a lot in stores where they turn everything up too high to catch your eye, while the result with just the one ECT is much more natural and film-like. Or like the way a good 70mm film looks compared to the usual 35mm, if anyone's familiar with that. Greater color saturation, contrast, and incredible detail without grain. This is, again, just from one. Plus of course the audio improves as well. Considering how much greater this is from just one compared to the cost of alternatives like a power cord, conditioner, HDMI cable or interconnect, and you get 5, these things have got to be considered one of the great bargain tweaks. |
The Last Tweak Syndrome - The last tweak you try will generally be the most amazing thing you ever tried, due to the fact your system has become progressively more resolving and therefore capable of revealing the next thing that comes along in all its glory. Whereas if that particular tweak had been tried first the results would not have been so spectacular. |
For those who don't know, the comment above is from the inventor of Teleportation, Flying Saucers and Codename (Yes, really, Codename) White Poppy. http://www.machinadynamica.com/index.html Good luck tawa finding someone credible who has tried all those. Two things you might want to consider in choosing where to spend your hard earned Federal Reserve Notes. All the Synergistic tweaks are super easy to try and then remove and send back if you don't like them. 30 day money back guarantee. And you will know right away, because with ECT and PHT there is zero break-in time. Even assuming Total Contact is as great as its many satisfied customers claim, they also are very clear in saying it takes quite a while to settle in. How long do you plan on enjoying music? Six months or a year or three from now when you may have sold or traded components you will still have your ECT or PHT to tweak the new gear. Meanwhile whatever you had left of your Total Contact will have long since gone bad even if you did try and carefully preserve it in the fridge. If it was me I'd start with the ECT. They are just so consistently effective and easy to use on so many components. Next would be a toss-up between PHT and HFT. Between those two the deciding factor for me would be which do I think is likely to be improved the most? My room is pretty well dialed in acoustically, and I am free to do more of whatever I want. But if I had a room with problems, and especially a room where I had to be discrete in treatments, then I would probably want to try HFT first. Either way I always go into it knowing it really doesn't matter what anyone else has said, it only matters what I hear in my system. And if what I hear sucks then I want to be able to send it back. Because, much more often than not, that is what happens. Can you do that with Total Contact? |
Tawa: The good news is all of the mentioned Synergistic Research products work , and also please do not forget their wall outlets and fuses also make a significant difference. Perfect Tecnologies Total Contact and their Omega E-Mat also have a beneficial effect. The big question is where to start. If your budget is $300.00, I would get a tube of Total Contact and treat the circuit breaker box wires. In my box that was about 80 contacts. This will decrease noise in all electrical circuits in the house or apartment. This can be thought of as establishing a good foundation to better sound. If my budget is 1500.00 I would get the Synergistic Research HFT’s and treat the acoustics of the listening room (even if the room has been acoustically treated with other products). Then I would use Ect’s, outlets, and fuses. I use all of these products myself. David Pritchard |
Late night listening is always better what with the lower noise floor and reduced grain and glare, presumably due to quieter cleaner power. I've noticed the same effect day or night simply by flipping a lot of breakers off. Which while it is a really nice improvement is also a big hassle what with all the stuff you wind up having to reset, hot water heater going cold, etc. But it does indeed clean up the power very noticeably, even in the daytime. Is that what you get treating the breakers? |
Synergistic Research High-Frequency Transducers (HFTs) were really substantial in getting my room calmed down. This in spite of many other room treatments already aboard. I would proceed like this: 1. A ten-pack of SR HFTs placed around the room as directed. 2. A tube of Total Contact. Paste all connections as directed in the TC thread. 3. Omega E Mats ... as many as you can afford. 4. SR ECTs. 5. PHTs. 6. Save up money for the upcoming Perfect Path Technology "Gate." From what I understand, it will be a real game changer. All of the above assumes that by now you've experimented with proper speaker placement, have selected good sounding wire and have good electronics. Frank |
millercarbon: I have treated two different shaped rooms with the HFT family of transducers. I think you will have very good results with 10 HFT's (two boxes) and then one box of the warmer HFT-2.0. This combination should give you a very nice sounding room and also give you a good idea of how these products work. David Pritchard |
My room is approximately 17x24 with a 9 ft ceiling, wall to wall carpeting, fabric over the lower 3 ft all the way around, 14" triangle tunes in the 4 ceiling corners where walls meet ceiling, with similar panels of Owens Corning fiberglass panels running most of the length of where the walls meet each other as well as running around where the ceiling meets the walls. The best way I know to tame reflections the most with the least material and the most effective treatment I knew of until now, but it gives you some idea where I'm starting. The biggest thing I wonder about is while this room is two channel listening driven it also is my home theater with a nearly 9 ft wide projection screen on the back wall some 6 feet behind the speakers and extending down to 32" above the floor. It seems that gives me only a small vertical area to experiment with one or 2 HFT, all just below ear level from my sweet spot. But maybe that will turn out to be not all that much of a restriction anyway? |
As it stands i am quite happy with the way my music sounds, espiecally at night , but the tweaking bug itches ever so often . I live in Germany and buying from the USA involes duty and sometimes having to drive out near to the air port to collect stuff , even if it's posted with UPS. I will order from England. |
Millercarbon: I think you will enjoy experimenting with the HFT’s as they are so easy to attach and remove. I especially do like using the DAP brand Blue Tack (I buy mine at HomeDepot). Easier to remove the adhesive that what comes with the HFT’s. You should be able to trial the HFT’s on your acoustic panels and even consider the outer frame of the projection screen. I think you will hear an improvement to a room that has already been well treated. I look forward to your impressions. David Pritchard |
Hey David, Frank, thanks to you guys, not only your comments here but I also read through a lot you had to say on prior threads. Very helpful. Anyway I now have ten HFTs coming. Obviously this is something I'll be able to figure out myself but I'm wondering how well these will work if I have to stick them on something soft like my screen frame vs being more solidly attached directly on sheet rock wall? It seems like you and others are saying once you find the location with Blue Tack then its better if you glue it. I was already thinking of the outer frame of my screen, just because of where it is, its as close as I can get to where SR says to place these. But that frame is covered in this sort of fuzzy velour fabric (beyond black, reflects almost no light, you have to see it to believe it!) which Blue Tack sounds like a mess, because of which my best idea so far is stick a tack (wood behind fabric, tack will be firm and you'll never see the hole) then Blue Tack the HFT to the tack. Or am I overthinking it, and a bit of double-sided tape will work just as well? How sensitive are these to being solidly mounted? |
Double sided 3-M tape is a good plan for fabric. You can evaluate if that is a good location. For long term placement I do like using a hot glue gun. I experience a further improvement when I more firmly afixx the HFT’s to a wall using the glue gun approach. I have them attached to the fabric headliner of my car using the glue gun approach❤️. |
Frank: Absolutely correct reaction when even just one HFT falls off a wall. After installing two Synergistic Research Blue Wall outlets yesterday, I sat down to listen. First impression was “something is not quite right”. I had bumped a HFT and it was now on the floor. Reattached and the sound stage was now again wonderful. I do a HFT count after anytime the room is cleaned or my system just sounds OK. David Pritchard |
I saw that story on the other thread Frank and its funny but that was one of the things convinced me these things are for real. Reminds me of the time I had a party and this one guy from work who thought it was all BS (I told him even 1/16" of speaker placement matters) moved the chair a fraction of an inch to one side. I just happened to listen before playing something for the next person and of course right away noticed it didn't sound right, fixed the chair, and the guy who thought it was all BS was done. Or the time this dealer friend had left me a Shakti Stone which it turned out only worked over the CD transport, barely. Even before he came in the house I told him it hardly does anything and without skipping a beat he says, "Did it work best over the transport?" Haters gonna hate but odd little stories like this totally blow away all their in your head double-blind yadda yadda. Fingers crossed and hoping my HFTs arrive by Friday. Should be fun. |
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^^^ You guys are a riot. :-) Millercarbon ... When I first installed the ten-pack of HFT's, I didn't tell my (skeptical about all audio tweaks) friend Robert ( who just happens to hear like a friggin' bat), about the installation. As soon as the music started, Robert said ... "What have you done to the system? This isn't subtle at all!" Nope, not subtle, and this in spite of tons of other room treatments in place. By the way, I've pasted my HFT's with TC to good effect. Try it, you might like it too. Frank |
