Placement tips for Synergistic Research HTFs

The second round of testing.

For the second round of testing I first started with six transducers or resonators for each test. Three on each side, all mounted face forward on the wall, one about a half-foot off the outside edge of my speakers, one just above my speakers (about 42" off the floor), and one about six feet above the floor. I constructed a few smaller jkbtn resonators, just to make sure I wasn't missing something. After a couple of listening sessions I narrowed my list to a final six resonator types - which are pictured in my “system pictures” section here on Audiogon. For the final I reduced the number of resonators for each test down to four with only a resonator just above my speakers and a resonator just to the outside edge of my speakers. I was only listening for resonator characteristics not placement optimization.
For the final notes portion I used only one song. I had just received a copy of Steely Dan's "The Royal Scam", and decided the first track, "Kid Charlemagne", features a number of good evaluation parts in it. In the first verses the bass and one of the keyboards are having a nice playful dual. This was an excellent part to evaluate bass response and clarity. Some resonators were rather muddy sounding; some were able to keep the two instruments separate.
The first verse also offered an opportunity to get a good reading on the amount of stage depth each resonator type produced.
During the second verse the cymbals and percussion come into play giving a good opportunity to gauge percussion, drums, and overall kick-in-the-gut impactfullness provided. As the second verse ends and the song transits into the chorus you get a good chance to gauge how each resonator handles vocals. Steely Dan vocals are fairly nasal sounding and keeping the vocals sounding musical was a challenge for some of the resonators. The chorus magnifies these difficulties as the main vocals become more forceful and background singers enter the song with gusto. This is where harshness can really rear its ugly head.
The guitar solo and remaining verses are great spot to reaffirm your thoughts on the overall performance.
I played this song over & over, going back & forth between resonators, I also occasionally went back to the no resonator sound – just to refresh my memory as to where the starting line was.
So here are my impressions of the six finalists. Once again – your mileage may vary.

The Small Ozinators (rear left in photo)
Depth of soundstage................................ 1
Clarity of bass and piano......................... 4
Percussion and drums impact.................. 4
High frequencies (cymbals)..................... 4
Vocals/guitar solo quality and purity....... 4
Harshness/raspiness avoided.................... 2
Overall..................................................... 19


The Large Ozinators (front left in photo)
Depth of soundstage................................. 1
Clarity of bass and piano.......................... 4
Percussion and drums impact................... 5
High frequencies (cymbals)...................... 4
Vocals/guitar solo quality and purity........ 4
Harshness/raspiness avoided..................... 4
Overall........................................................22

The Small jkbtn cone - press fit or glued   (rear center in photo)
Depth of soundstage.................................. 3
Clarity of bass and piano........................... 3
Percussion and drums impact.................... 3
High frequencies (cymbals)........................4
Vocals/guitar solo quality and purity….... 4
Harshness/raspiness avoided.......................3
Overall...................................................... 20

The large jkbtn cone in 3/8” copper bottom   (Center front in photo)
Depth of soundstage............................... 4
Clarity of bass and piano......................... 4
Percussion and drums impact.................. 4
High frequencies (cymbals)..................... 3
Vocals/guitar solo quality and purity....... 4
Harshness/raspiness avoided.................... 3
Overall.......................................................22

The large jkbtn cone in 1/8” brass bottom     (Right rear in photo)
Depth of soundstage................................. 4
Clarity of bass and piano.......................... 3
Percussion and drums impact................... 4
High frequencies (cymbals)...................... 4
Vocals/guitar solo quality and purity........ 3
Harshness/raspiness avoided..................... 3
Overall........................................................21

The large jkbtn cone in large ¼” brass bottom     (Right front in photo)
Depth of soundstage................................. 5
Clarity of bass and piano.......................... 4
Percussion and drums impact................... 4
High frequencies (cymbals)...................... 3
Vocals/guitar solo quality and purity.........4
Harshness/raspiness avoided.................... 5
Overall.......................................................25

So there you have it. My take on evaluating the resonators.

Ultimately, I sold my HFTs and reduced my usage of resonators in my main system way down. I tried using eight Big Bottom jkbtn resonators with two other smaller resonators thinking that I might be able to bring a little extra hi-frequency zing to the Big Bottom jkbtn sound. For me there seems to be a thin grey line when it came to the harshness factor and I just could not find another resonator that that didn’t push me over the harshness edge. In the end I cut my usage down to only eight Big Bottom jkbtn resonators. Two are mounted on the back of my front channel speakers – facing the front wall, two are mounted on the inside edges of the front speakers, two on the outside edges of my front speakers, and lastly two mounted on the sides of my rear speakers, which means they are facing the rear wall of my listening room. (I’ll post some pics soon)
This setup produces a somewhat deeper soundstage and helps keep the stage away from me. Vocalists and instruments are generally positioned more toward center stage. There is a little better bass clarity, smoother vocals, a little more kick to percussion, drums and transients, better all-round clarity, and a little more ambiance.

I hope your final choice affords you as much. The experimentation has been worth the trouble. I’m glad I have my favorites in place.


The following parts were used in the construction of the different resonators:

For the smaller Ozinators Here are Ozzy’s own words. - “I used 1/8" copper caps with a large copper cones from a company called Hareline. Hareline makes items for fishing lures and can be bought from Amazon. The caps however, will need to be purchased from a plumbing house. Then just simply glue the cone inside the cap. The cone is a direct drop in. I used Elmer’s school glue to seal the cone inside the cap.”

For my larger Ozzinators - I substituted the larger Hareline Alaska Brass Cones – I buy them at online fishing lure stores, wherever they are in stock. They come in packs of 15 for $4.50 plus shipping. These are 3/8" or 9.5mm cones. I glued these into 1/4” copper caps and later into 1/8” brass caps from Valley Hydraulic

For the rest of the resonators I used these bell-shaped brass cones. All you need to do is to place the bell into a 3/8" copper cap by hammering it gently. Tight and secure! And it makes a very nice resonator cup. Or you can glue it in and have half the cone sticking out from the base.

Here is the ad for the jkbtn brass caps – I mostly use the 14mm models. You get 30 for about $8.00 including shipping
http://www.ebay.com/itm/302130537660?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&var=600948813663&ssPageNam.

My 1/4" Big Bottom brass caps come from Valley Hydraulic.
http://www.valleyhydraulic.comhttp://www.valleyhydraulic.com/store/pc/Brass-1-4-quot-Female-Pipe-Cap...
SKU: 3129X4

A slightly smaller 1/8" Big Bottom brass cap also comes from Valley Hydraulic.
http://www.valleyhydraulic.com/store/pc/Brass-1-8-quot-Female-Pipe-Cap-21p1266.htm
SKU: 3129X2

Toolbox

Damn toolbox, you are one productive human! This thread has become quite the treasure trove of info. Since you seem to rate the version of the resonators I’m using the lowest, I’m going to pick up some heavy brass caps today and make some using those. I’ll still go the press fit route and may try the glue ins later.

@ozzy I haven’t tried them on top of the speakers yet. I’ll do that. As for the bb or crystal, I’m assuming you glue them in?

Crystals. Ha. We’re getting all new agey! What’s next? Dream catchers? Ooh, that’s not a bad idea for diffusion...

Dream catchers? I thought that’s what this is all about. The ability for us to go to our listening area and catch a dream of some musical performance. I was dreamin’ pretty good last night.

I’d be very interested in reading your opinion about the heavy brass caps coupled with the 14mm jkbtn brass cones. You WILL need some kind of glue to assemble them. The cones are too big to presss fit.

Throughout this whole episode, I’ve been trying to figure out if the bigger bases help produce better sound, or if it’s the big 14mm cones, sticking way out of the bases that add the most to the sound. While I’m kinda leaning toward the idea that the bigger bases have the bigger impact - I could make an argument for either point of view.

The one, big drawback to my favorite resonators is that they ARE heavy. It takes a pretty good wad of Blu Tack to hold them in place. Every time I head to the listening room for some music, I start out by making sure all eight resonators are still in place. Luckily I have carpeted floors. It’s not uncommon to find one on the floor.

Hope you’re having fun.

Toolbox

My Brilliant Pebbles was the first comprehensive crystal-based (all crystal, actually) audio product to address all aspects of the audio system and room, and was introduced at the London HiFi Show way back in 2003 (WHOA!!) which was in fact some years after they were an actual product.  I suspect I might possibly know a little more than the average bear about crystals. Fire at will.