has anyone else tried Lloyd Walkers latest tweak

Geoff, I sense your sarcasm, but I am immune to it. Another computer search today reveals mainly that Google finds either confirmation from many sources that crystal oscillators are a source of RFI OR it finds references in the Tweakers Asylum and elsewhere in audio fora, many of which are to your past postings, when I search on any combination of words that include "crystal" and "RFI". I see that you previously denied the probability that Cardas Caps block RFI from entering into an audio chassis, and on Tweakers Asylum you wrote this in 2010:

"I therefore propose there must be some other mechanism in crystals, when used individually or in groups - besides piezoelectric effect - responsible for the change in sound -- at least when discussing RFI/EMI absorption. I also propose that - in almost all cases - the actual operation of a crystal or group of crystals in an audio system has nothing whatsoever to do with RFI/EMI absorption - rather acoustic/mechanical energy absorption!"

So, we agree (because it's come to be my view as well) that crystals are unlikely to have a beneficial effect via blocking or absorbing RFI, unless you've changed your tune in the past 3 years.

Forgot to add a response to Stringreen: This is not about whether crystals "work" or not. This is about the simple question of whether a crystal can absorb and eliminate or reduce RFI or EMI, at all, to any extent.

Lewm wrote,

"So, we agree (because it's come to be my view as well) that crystals are unlikely to have a beneficial effect via blocking or absorbing RFI, unless you've changed your tune in the past 3 years."

You need to read what I said again. I didn't say crystals were unlikely to have a beneficial effect via blocking or absorbing RFI. What I said, or at least what i intended to say, was that in most locations audiophiles use them crystal(s) are acting as resonance control devices. I did not say, nor did I intend to imply, that crystals cannot act as RFI/EMI absorbers in certain locations.

I don't want to get into this too deeply on a personal level. I have known Lloyd for years, and I like and respect him highly. In my experience, every one of his tweaks works, but I have not tried them all (as you can tell vis crystals). I think his turntable is one of the finest I have ever seen or heard. The Walker Motor Controller, which I do own, made a sea change for the better in the sound of two of my turntables. It is difficult for me to engage in this discussion without seeming to be disrespecting Lloyd, but I assure you that is not my intention. So Benjie, do you think Lloyd can refer me to a paper in the scientific literature that describes absorption or dissipation of RFI by inert crysals? If so, I will call him. It would behoove him or anyone else making such claims to post the supportive references. I don't by the way deny that you or Geoff hear differences with crystals in or on or near your equipment; I am only wondering whether the given explanation holds water. In other discussions and on other websites, crystals are said to act by controlling "resonance" (as Geoff says in the quoted passages), not by absorbing RFI. Who can argue with something as vague as "resonance control"? Not I.

Geoff, you did write, "I also propose that - in almost all cases - the actual operation of a crystal or group of crystals in an audio system has nothing whatsoever to do with RFI/EMI absorption - rather acoustic/mechanical energy absorption!" I guess you can cling to the fact you used the word "almost".