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Can a tiny silver bowl affect music reproduction

I am speaking of the Ziplex one half inch wide silver bowls, but the same questions apply to the Synergistic Research ARTs.

About two weeks ago I had four audiophiles in my listening room. We were listening to the impact of the Tripoint Troy Signature. I was standing and noticed that one of the eleven Zilplexes in my room was laying flat on the three silver support rods on the wall. It was the one that is about midway down the left wall and about seven and a half feet off the floor. It is supposed to be at a 45º angle facing the wall. As unobtrusively as possible I stepped on a foot stool that I leave there as this is a common happening and carefully inclined the bowl into a proper condition. I then returned to where I was standing.

Someone asked what did I just do, and I stated the above. They all were in disbelief about how it could have such an effect. I told them that Zilplex had been at CES and at the RMAF about a year or two ago, I repeatedly did their demonstration of removing all eleven Zilplexes. Always those in the audience said exactly what my four friends had said.

Having stumbled onto these a couple of years ago, I said that the inventor and owner really didn't have an explanation for the effect that it was all a trial and error process, which, of course, had taken countless hours. Synergistic Research also has a comparable bowl device, which Ted Denny attributes to his hear Tibetan monks and their bowls. There are of course Tibetan bowls. Syn. Res. ARTs are bigger than the Zilplexes but neither is the size of typical Tibetan bowls.

Tibetan bowls, of course, resonate when struck or rubbed at the rim. SR ARTs ring when knocked together. Zilplex don't ring. I asked Zilplex about this and was told they ring but at a frequency we cannot hear. My question is why would ringing bowls located variously in a room, greatly improve the apparent size of the rooms and the realism of the reproduced music?

All I can say is that they do, and I have heard no real explanation.
tbg
tbg OP
5,263 posts
 
Csonros, There are three types. One goes on the ceiling, Three go about 14" off the floor at the front or speaker end of the room. The remaining seven have thiner support wires. All use the same bowls and all but that on the ceiling is at a tilt angle of 45ºs toward the wall.

I see no way that there could be any direction to what come off the resonating. Of course having the bowls at a 45º angle means that their resonance is quite variable in frequency.

The Syn. Res. bowls are all level. There are some similarity to where both systems are located. The Syn. Res. bowls ring audibly but not the Zilplex. Both have no effect if placed on dampening cloth.
csontos
1,311 posts
 
My point is I don't think the bowls resonating makes a lick of difference. If anything it has to do with the re-direction of the waves reflected out of the bowls. Like a parabolic mic in reverse. Placement could still be critical.
salectric
758 posts
 
Tbg, When the bowls are placed at the optimum places, do you notice any change in tonal balance? For instance, is there any brightening or accentuation of the treble? Or possibly some leaning out of the bass?

I have started experimenting with some DIY resonators and they are indeed quite interesting. Based on how this experiment goes, I may follow up with either the Synergistic Research ART or Basik, or alternatively the Zilplex.
tbg OP
5,263 posts
 
Salectric, having sat through multiple demonstrations in my two rooms and at THE Show done by Zilplex, I cannot say that I hear any change in the frequency response. I hear a great collapse of the sound stage as well as becoming much less involved in the sound field.

I still vividly remember how unsettled I was when I first got all of the Zilplexes installed properly in my small room. I had the distinct feeling that had I stood and walked three feet in front of me that I might fall into a void and that a few foot in front of that I would be on the 50 feet wide stage with Diana Krall. That doesn't bother me much anymore but I am still aware when one of the bowls is not at the 45º angle. I can also say that I have learned that having one Zilplex on the left wall slightly below that on the right wall, moves the sound away from the left side. I also only have experience only with symmetrical rooms. But I did hear an L shaped room with the speakers on the long part of the L, get treated to remove the bottom of the L part.

Although I also heard improvements with the Syn. Res. Arts in their demonstrations, they never had me so unsettled by their impact. While I am curious about why I got this impact, I still enjoy the benefits of the Zilplexes.

I should say that I have no money invested in Zilplex and don't sell them. I only would love to know why they have such impressive impact on the sound.
salectric
758 posts
 
Thank you Tbg. Your reviews of the Zilplex are why I am presently leaning in that direction. I just wanted to make sure there weren't any tonal irregularities being introduced.
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