Synergistic Research ECT

I use a bunch of SR products and recently Total Contact and E Cards. If you use HFTs you really should consider a FEQ or Atmosphere.  Really kind of amazing how they can transform a room. My order for purchasing would be ECTs, E-Cards, HFTs, FEQ (Atmosphere), Total Contact, Blue fuse and then other SR acoustic products such the dots or panels.  

Got the ECT's today ,one on the power strip ,two on the TT so far so
good. Will experiment more tomorrow.
Tawa.

I really like the Wide Angle HFTs.
I use the other versions to complement these.

Yes, they make a big difference, IMO.
Even a very small difference in placement will change what you
are hearing.

Tawa, where on the TT? And where did you notice the biggest effect?

Gordon, SR claims the HFT Wide Angles "dramatically increase your sense of immersion in the soundfield while expanding the scale and dimension of your soundstage." Dramatically. Would you agree? And, "scale and dimension" would you say everything expands? What I mean, does everything seem to spread further apart? Or does the image stay where it was but with a much greater sense of your room disappearing with the soundstage expanding as in it sounds like you're in a bigger room? I would love to have an even greater sense of envelopment and the Wide Angles seem like the logical next step to get me there. Once I have dialed in the first sets of HFTs I mean.

millercarbon - "I would love to have an even greater sense of envelopment".  Let me suggest you try a FEQ or Atmosphere with your current HFTs. They pop-up used every so often - a used FEQ goes for about $500.

I suggest STARTING with the Wide Angle version.

Even a quarter inch height adjustment on the unit
in the middle of the wall behind the speakers, makes a difference.

The units on each side wall are sensitive to height
as well as location along the walls (closer or further
from listener's ears).

The effects are hard to describe.  Yet you instantly sense when
you "have it right."  Of course, how many times has extended
tinkering put a bigger smile on your face?  That's the fun of 
playing with these things.

sgordon1 and sbayne both makes  important points. The wide angle HFT has a significant effect on the soundstage and how you perceive the soundstage . My room already treated with HFT’s and the Atmosphere unit only needed one Wide Angle HRT. It took experimentation to find that spot but once found then sound was suddenly More Right.
The Synergistic Research FEQ mentioned acts to amplify all the HFT’s and ECT’s and with an added warmth to the sound- without loss of detail.
The Atmosphere unit transmits a wider pattern and more adjustable type of energy. It certainly is the state of the art product.
My Mother who is 95 , finds great satisfaction in her listening room treated with the full family of various HFT’s, a FEQ unit, and the Atmosphere unit.
A most remarkable sound room enjoyed by a most remarkable woman.
David Pritchard

Wow. USPS just delivered 10 HFTs. We will see how that goes. Frustrating, is my guess. Not because of positioning, but because doing crazy overtime while nice for being able to afford this stuff is absolute murder on my ability to find time to use it!

Millercarbon i've got one near the motor and another on the arm near the bearing ,the one near the motor is more effective. Still experimenting.

Thanks for sharing about your mom, David. That generation would listen to tubed radio broadcasts and 78s. When CDs first came out my father-in-law hated them because they didn't sound natural, took me years to realize he was right!

Absolutely. I purchased a 1935  Philco console radio after finding out it was the same model my Mother listened to as a teenager. Very enjoyable indeed after restoration. 

Thank goodness we have learned how to improve digital music since the 1980's. Audio-grade wall outlets and fuses, The Synergistic Research ECT's and  HFT's,  Perfectpath Technologies Omega E-Mat and their Total Contact product all have greatly helped to make my digital systems sound most engaging and satisfying to listen to.

There is just no way my Mother could spin vinyl with her limited eyesight. But her love of music is not limited. With today's technology, she can stream music 24/7 on a system that is never turned off. Her PS Audio DAC has a remote that she can operate by feel.

It is most moving to sit in her room listening to a Benny Goodman song ("Your Father and I loved to dance to Benny when he played live") or notice her softly singing along to a Neil Diamond of  Karen Carpenter.

All of the above-named products are also utilized in her system.

David Pritchard

Ha,ha. Very nice!

I read somewhere that Benny Goodman performed live to more people than anyone else, ever. Or Duke Ellington. Not in monster stadiums like today but clubs with a few hundred to a few thousand at a time. Night after night, 6 nights a week, 50 weeks a year. Playing live instruments. Think of that. All those people listening to, not an amplifier. Not a speaker. A clarinet. A saxophone. Trumpet. String bass. What they couldn't hear live they heard on the radio, and from the mike to the radio it was tubes and point to point soldered wire all the way. What they played was records, many of them recorded with such a high regard for quality they are admired to this day. Even the archaic phonograph, have you ever heard one? I have. Mostly limited to midrange, but with a captivating quality of presence you have to hear to believe.

Today it takes a whole lot of time and effort and money just trying to get back to what they had in every nightclub and living room.

The Stones played to 1.5 million on the beach at Rio one time. That was just one concert. Gotta be 10 or 20 Million over the course of more than 50 years. Not too many groups can pull off world tours when they’re in their seventies. Kinda hard to see anybody beating that. Goodman, Presley, Sinatra, Zeppelin, Britney Spears, whoever.

Had a chance last night to try out the HFTs. Anyone coming in late may want to take a minute, scroll up, and read my OP. There's a whole lot compressed into that one early sentence, "within a year I had heard for myself what vibration control can do."

Way back then I was totally dismissive of pretty much any sort of tweak beyond wire gauge and speaker placement. Then, gradually, I tried a few things that were free and easy. To prove how bogus it all was. Left my amp on all the time just to prove it didn't sound any better. See? It doesn't! Until one day it got turned off and when I turned it back on again it sounded noticeably worse. Until it warmed up. Dang.

But surely pointy cones was all pinhead talk. Not about to waste time or money on any of that! Until someone said oh yeah even something like a phone book helps. WTF? But phone books back then were thick and everywhere so what've I got to lose? Sure enough. Wasn't much. Barely noticeable. But it was there.

Then the best component of any sort I had ever bought, the McCormack DNA-1 amp came with this one pointy little spike in the box. Oh no! Not him too! But it was there so... and sure enough, and a lot better than a phone book!

Next thing, as luck would have it, I stumbled onto this madman totally flipped out stark raving crazy in love with something called a Black Diamond Racing Cone. Nothing, anywhere, could touch any of the BDR stuff- a fact I personally proved by becoming a small-time dealer and taking the stuff to do demos in-home and at audio clubs using it under literally hundreds of different components in all kinds of systems.

One result, I became extremely adept at being able to hear all sorts of micro-details in all kinds of components in all kinds of systems and across an unbelievable range of listening conditions. Components stacked one atop the other? Birds nest of interconnects? Kitchen in listening room? Car in parking lot? Front door open? Barking dog? Crying kid? No problem!

This is all by way of the traditional review writing technique of telling (hopefully) interesting little anecdotal stories that stroke the writers ego while (again, hopefully) providing a little marginally useful information to the reader. Its a reference. There's a continuum. At the one end the phone book. At the other the Herron VTPH 2A. Something like that.

So last night I place just one of my 10 new HFTs as close to the recommended center front wall location as my home theater screen will allow. Which I had my doubts as it was pretty close to the overhanging and padded screen frame. So I was hardly surprised when the result was underwhelming. But in no time flat it was moved down a few inches and wow, what a difference that few inches made!

Just one of these things wiped away a layer of grain, softened some edges while at the same time revealing fine inner detail, and improved image focus with more air or space, vocals in particular becoming more believably present. 

When you do something like that with just one, and it crosses your mind, "and I still have 9 more to go" let me tell you, it puts a smile on your face!

Even being a dedicated sound room there's still plenty of things preventing me from trying the exact SR recommended placements. I can't go quite as low or into the corners as they recommend. Can't go quite as high in the middle either. Even so....

The two mid-level corner HFTs provided another big improvement. Not quite as warm as the center one, but close. The two higher front wall side HFTs brought a surprising degree of shimmering life to cymbals, immediate touch to strings and incredible presence to vocals. And not by accenting highs or attacks like too many tweaks and components, but in a clean way like the way the air is clearer after a rain. 

Think of it, this is all by way of removing room resonances. Not in the crude way of acoustic panels but very selectively and at much higher frequencies. Never in my life would I have imagined my system was actually doing this all along, only the room and the air within it were preventing me from hearing it!

Just amazing stuff. One unexpected outcome, I found myself enjoying tracks like Bonnie Raitt's Cry On My Shoulder and the beautiful Nobody's Girl at volume a fair bit higher than I usually would. It dawned on me that with so much hardness removed listener fatigue was lower and I was free to enjoy it better that way! Totally unexpected!

The lower center one upped the ante yet again. This time in a way that kept everything before and then added to it a lovely inner warmth. Inner, not softening details, warm yet also revealing. Two things we seldom find together. I pretty much gave up at that point and just spent the rest of my limited time basking in the best ever.

And there's still 4 in the box!

"Preachin' to the choir."

David ...

I've always admired your relationship with your mother. You are a good son. 

On Benny Goodman ... he was instrumental in breaking the race barrier in the clubs. Adding Lionel Hampton to the group was a major undertaking back in the day. Benny used to tell the club owners: "If my Negro players have to use the back door to come into, or go out of the club, then the whole band will be using the back door." Nuff said on that subject. 

Frank

It really is an exciting time to be an audiophile and a music lover!
I do hope all on the Audiogon Forum get to hear some wonderful recorded or live music this weekend.

David Pritchard

How right you are, David!

For what seemed like forever we were stuck in the rut of only measurements matter. Budding audiophiles had mostly Stereo Review with their Julian Hirsch constantly pushing his only measurements matter mantra. This was so thoroughly the mainstream view that when J Gordon Holt first started publishing Stereophile it was taken as apostasy. A newsletter mimeographed off and passed around by a handful of followers, hardly the glossy marketing colossus we know today, but then as ever promulgating the view that everything matters, nothing sounds the same, and its your ears- not a meter - your ears and what you hear that really matters most.

This idea is so revolutionary that even today and even on so-called audiophile discussion groups like this one people object to the "rabbit hole" of wire, the inability of anyone to hear, its all in your head, double-blind yadda-yadda. 

Nevertheless, somehow the movement J Gordon Holt began rescued us from, first the hideous sounding low-distortion amps of the 1980's, and then the hideous sounding perfect sound forever CDs of the 1990's, followed quickly by (or concurrently with, but to stick with the decades theme) hideous sounding speaker wire and patch cords in the 2000's. And power cords. And power itself. And along the way the equipment rack, and shelf, and even the lowly feet the equipment rests on. The room! Everything!

The industry, slow and myopic, badly lagging, still pushes the big box gear of amps and speakers and "components" by which of course is meant everything except the components most capable of elevating a system from mediocrity to music: tweaks.

Or maybe they are just giving their customers what they want. For me at least it is a good 20 years since the do tweaks matter debate was well and truly settled. My sense from what I have seen though is this has sunk in to maybe a third of the people. Yes a lot more than a third are buying speaker cables, etc. I'm referring to the whole J Gordon Holt philosophy that the only meaningful measure is listening with your own ears.

Which is what I was doing last night. Rather than just throw up my last 4 HFTs I decided to spend a little time tweaking the locations of the 6 already deployed. These little buggers are so fascinatingly effective and responsive to placement I only managed to fool around with the two in the center.

You guys have been saying these things are so sensitive to placement that moving them even an inch makes a difference. Well, I didn't try one inch, but two to four, and yes it is definitely noticeable! 

But for anyone considering these (which you should be!) its not like they are fussy and require endless fiddling to sound good. Anywhere even remotely close to where they "should" be and they will work great. But it is absolutely fascinating the degree to which you are able to tweak the sound with a little fine-tuning.

With the center ones, moving just one up or down by an inch or so I hear an effect very similar in character and magnitude to the difference I heard between my McCormack DNA-1 amp and the Aronov LS960-I that replaced it. For those who don't know, the McCormack is an exceptionally fine sounding SS amp and the Aronov is an exceptionally fine sounding 6550 (or KT88) tube amp. Both are superb, not a lot of difference between them, but the McCormack does sound a bit like SS and the Aronov does sound a bit like tubes. So in other words for $50 you can in a few minutes perform magic tweaking your system from tube to SS and back again simply by shifting one of these little marvels on the wall.

Only, its quite a bit better than that. Most if not all solid state has to some degree or other this artifact, a very fine high frequency shimmer some have called MOSFET mist. I'm not a fan but a lot of guys love it, many mistaking it for detail, air, whatever. Anyway the point is with HFT its possible to tweak placement enough to get that detailed SS top end detail and dynamics but without the unwanted mist. I didn't like it at first because I associated that sound with the mist. But then moving it lower listening to the warmer slightly tubey sound I went back and eventually realized the top end was there like SS but without the annoying mist. 

I cannot think of a better tweak for anyone who loves their system but wishes it was just a little more this or a little less that. With a set of HFTs and a little trial and error you could easily tame and bring a degree of warmth to an overly aggressive analytical system, or conversely, liven up and bring out details in one that is overly warm. Still better of course to have bought stuff that put you where you wanted to be in the first place. But you run what you brung. Then later when you upgrade the offending piece, unlike everything else I can think of with HFTs you simply tweak placement again for the new gear and wala, you are back in business better than ever!

Would've made the most sense at this point to tweak the ones on the upper and lower left and right. Instead I got out the ladder and put one up on the ceiling. Same thing here. Same responsiveness to placement. 

This stuff to a listener is like crack cocaine to an addict. Any time you find yourself wishing for a little more, or a little less ... make it so. 

Just thought I'd mention there is a used FEQ listed right now for $499.  Here's the link:  https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9ag3h-synergistic-research-feq-frequency-equalizer-tweaks

So FEQ, HFT Wide Angle and HFT 2.0 all about the same cost.
Which to do first?

My vote is for the FEQ, but you probably knew that already.

millercarbon:
Thank you for a most easy to read and insightful look at using the HFTs.
The HFT 2.0 will give some warmth and increased fullness to the sound, and it does not sacrifice detail in doing so. The FEQ is going to potentiate the effect of all the HFTs  in the room. 
I agree with sbayne on getting a FEQ.  Then as time and money allow you can add additional HFTs . If you over order the HFTs or pick a sub type that does not add to the sound you have 30 days to return them.
David Pritchard

 

Frank, swabbing the HFT interior and exterior with a Q-tip of anti-static
spray is good.  But it might not be a good idea on top of the TC.
Also, use a Talisman on them, periodically!

Every time I watch a movie now I have to remove the ECT from my turntable motor and put it on my laptop. The improvement in grain-free detail, depth, and overall realism is hard to live without. I'm talking about BOTH the video AND the audio!

They are very effective on multiple types of equipment and at multiple locations. They certainly have improved my video experience since being placed in the Oppo 203 player and on the ethernet connection.
David Pritchard

Okay so I have figured out how these things work. In a word: dither.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dither

ECT, PHT, HFT, all versions, all have the same cylindrical shape. The bottom third or so is filled with some loose material. Above that is an air space. Above that is a horn. Yes a horn. The whole thing is basically a speaker.

Vibration causes the particles inside to bounce around, generating randomized noise that propagates out the horn. Dither.

You missed your calling. 

I wouldn't say I've been missing it, Bob.

What do you call a guy in a swimming pool with no legs?

• "What do you call a guy in a swimming pool with no legs?"
  

A guy with really strong arms?   

You’re very close. Bob.

• What do you call a guy in a swimming pool with no legs?

Come on Geoff .... everyone knows that swimming pools don't have legs. <Sheesh!>

Frank

That joke has legs.

If I were to buy some of SR’s passive tweaks, which would it be first? The HFTs?

I have none

I do have acoustic panels from another brand for first Reflection points on side walls, and behind speakers (back wall is too far, over 12’ Away). Can these be put on top of acoustic panels?

thyname- Good questions. I have tried ECT, PHT, HFT and Blue Quantum Fuses. They are all amazing in terms of what they do for what they cost. Maybe the biggest bang for the buck to me seemed to be the Blue Quantum Fuse. After I heard what one did for my amp I put them in everything.

After that its hard to say. In my case I did PHT then ECT then HFT. By the time I did the HFTs it seemed like they maybe made more improvement than the ECTs. But on the other hand the HFTs work by introducing dither to smooth out room resonances in much the same way noise is added to a video signal to remove color banding. So it may be that part of the reason they worked so well was the signal had already been improved by the ECTs. In any case they all work so well its hard to see you stopping with just one or the other. 

A more practical consideration might be how easily you're able to use them in your room. With ECTs its easy, they work really consistently well everywhere I have tried them. I even opened up my amp thinking they should work better placed directly on the parts inside than on the case outside, but that turned out not to be the case. Too close to call. ECTs even work on my turntable motor, and arm mount. 

PHT work great right on the cartridge, but also just about as good when placed on the arm. I tried various locations. Also they are additive, and don't seem to conflict at all with each other nor with ECTs. I have both a PHT Black Widow and Green Dream on my cartridge, and another Green Dream on the arm, and one ECT on the arm base and another ECT on the motor. 

HFTs on the other hand are sensitive to placement. Please note I said sensitive not finicky. Stick them virtually anywhere in the general vicinity of their recommendations and you will be amazed. Then play around and you will find you are able to fine tune things to an impressive degree just by shifting their position an inch or two.

You can try them stuck directly on a panel but they seem to work better when firmly mounted to something solid. Also their placement recommendations are quite a bit different than what you would use for old-school acoustic panels.

They all come with a 30 day no-questions money back guarantee. The only ones I ever sent back were the Purple Haze and Blue Velvet PHT, and that is because those come in different, uh, flavors. Unlike HFT and ECT which seem to my ears to be very neutral and just make everything across-the-board better.

PS- scope around for posts by pritchard, sgordon and oregonpapa, plenty of good experience and info from them too.

Thanks @millercarbon! I am more confused now than before 😂😉  I know, not your fault 

Just wanted to share some advice on how to get the most out of your FEQ or Atmosphere without spending much $

Both these devices come with very generic power supplies. Wall warts for the FEQ and a phone like 5V USB charger and generic long USB cable for the Atmosphere

Unfortunately both devices are sensitive to the quality of the power they are getting.

So in the case of the Atmosphere change the mini 5V for a larger (e.g. iPad size) USB charger. Then use a better, and shorter USB cable. I imagine you could even try one of the stand alone USB power supplies sold for use with computer audio systems but I've not gone that far myself yet.

For the FEQs you will get good results by not plugging the wall warts into a wall outlet or conditioner directly -- they are heavy and this puts strain on the two prongs and leaves them susceptible to vibration. Use a cheap pigtail outlet extender, or build one yourself using your choice of power plugs and an in line socket like this.  

Every one of these changes should be clearly audible and lead to an improvement in image solidity, resolution, ease and naturalness on your system

thyname::
I do think an excellent way to begin with using the HFT family of products is to order two packs of original HFT's and one pack of the HFT-2.0.
This approach takes into consideration  the Synergistic Research March special promotion of buy two packs and get one pack free.

This should give you an idea that they are indeed effective.
Yes you can place them on the first reflection panels.

folkfreak:
Thank you for the great suggestions on upgrading the power supplies to the Atmosphere  and the FEQ unit. I am trying this asap.
David Pritchard

Good point, folkfreak, regarding "susceptible to vibration."

I use a small piece of dense foam, wedged in between
the wall warts.  With the larger FEQ plug taking the bottom
position of the outlet, the foam can snugly fit between it and the
plug in the top position.  The vibration control may now benefit both pieces!

The supplied Synergistic Research Atmosphere USB Wall Wart is rated at 0.5 amps at 5.1 volts. I have replaced it today a type folkfreak suggested which is rated at 2.1 amps at 5.1 volts. To see if I could get a further improvement I coated the body of the Wall Wart with the Perfect Path Technology Total Contact enhancer and also the prongs to the unit that plugs into the wall.

It will be a fun comparison.

David Pritchard

HFT Speaker Kit came yesterday. Two each HFT, HFT 2.0, HFTX. SR doesn't bother to label any of these things! Oh well you figure it out.

Like before they even came I figured out one HFT sounded best on the front about half way down. Tried it all over that was the one place it sounded best. Had no idea until I looked at the placement sheet that is where they tell you to put it. Seriously. Yet many still will not believe....

As usual put them on one at a time experimenting with placement. Started with just one HFTX on top in the middle, then towards the front, towards the back.... between the woofer and tweeter, a little higher between tweeter and super-tweeter. Or at least for a while I did. Tried really hard. By the time I had three on each speaker though it sounded so good I just gave up analyzing and started enjoying.

That was just one pack. You're supposed to use one per speaker. Will be ordering a second to get the March deal and a free set of Wide Angles. Can hardly imagine the sound then. Only thought my speakers had disappeared before. Now... wow.

Suggestion: make a diagram of current placements, regarding
their location and the specific HFT versions in each spot.

Remove all, and fix Wide Angle placement.  Small incremental
movements can make a big difference!

Next, gradually add the other HFTs, per diagram.
(Be open to making changes, of course.)

Yes, the Wide Angle units are THAT powerful, imo.

Uh, you're saying one Wide Angle will replace several HFTs?

No I did not say that at all.

millercarbon:
Fantastic that you are using the Synergistic Research HFT speaker Kits. I also agree that they give an impressive upgrade to one's speaker's sound. Finally we have a way to fine tune our own speakers in our room.
 And it is nice that if you latter move or sell the speakers, the HFT Speaker Kit is removable and stays with you for the next room or speakers you own.
I do think they are worth trying on any speaker as they are easily removable and returnable if you do not like them.

The Wide Angle HFT's do have a powerful effect and so I had to experiment to find the optimal location. This was with all the HFT's previously mounted on the wall and on the speakers. 

For temporary placing of HFT's I prefer to use Blue Stick By DAP sold at Home Depot stores. The temporary adhesive that comes with the kit is fine but the DAP product is even better. After I am happy with all locations, I then used a hot glue gun to get a more permanent adhesion. I still can remove the HFT's without damaging the surface they are stuck to. HFT's that are hot glued on have an even greater sonic effect than when using the adhesive putty.


David Pritchard

Blue Stick? Or Blu-Tack? Because there is a Blu-Tack, a slightly stiffer version of the White Tack Synergistic sends. I already have Blu-Tack.

So far with only the one Speaker Kit split between the two speakers, and 10 HFT's, already my system sounds so good I can hardly believe it. I mean the imaging is just freaking amazing! Gonna have to get the other Speaker Kit soon, which will get me the Wide Angles free, then stop and enjoy a while.

Put one on the other night I haven't heard in a while, Francis A and Edward K, and the palpable there-ness of the brass, room ambience, to say nothing of Sinatra, was just insane! Never realized before but it was like the sax was one speaker, horns the other, with Sinatra and Ellington in the middle. Now its like the whole friggen orchestra spread out clear across the room! Ellington's faint little tinkling of keys still soft and low but now clear as can be.

Seriously doubt there's any component on the market can do this, it has to be the room. What lies buried in crappy room acoustics people have no idea until they try this stuff!

And yeah I do want FEQ too. Subs first though.... 

millercarbon:
Yes the removable adhesive I like the best is called Blue Stick manufactured by DAP. Blue Tack is good buy I prefer Blu Stick after comparing both products.

I absolutely agree with you that treating the room acoustics with the family of HFT products gives impressive improvements to the sound.

 I also think treating the room should be done before an audiophile flips more components while searching for that special sound they desire.

David Pritchard

Long time reader, first time poster here.  You guys give some great advice.  I took Millercarbons advice and upgraded from an old Adcom SS amp to a Raven Audio Nighthawk.  I am now jumping into teaks and ordered 6 schuman resonators, and some HFT 2.0's.  can't wait to start tweaking!  Keep up the good work gentlemen, and as always, let your ears decide!