Large Brilliant Pebbles test info and reviews

[Bigerik]

Large Brilliant Pebbles for room corners
Brilliant Pebbles is a unique room & system tuning device for audio systems and satellite TV. Original (Large) Brilliant Pebbles is a 3-inch clear glass bottle containing various minerals/stones. A number of highly-specialized, proprietary techniques are used for preparation/assembly. Brilliant Pebbles acts as both a vibration "node damper" and EMI/RFI absorber, depending on application, via atomic mechanisms in the crystal structures.
The 3-inch Large Brilliant Pebbles is intended for speaker cabinets, tube traps, room corners, satellite TV receivers, tube amps Output Transformers, turntable armboards, and solid state amps (over the output section).



Signed up for the Large Brilliant Pebbles are:
1) GaryP
2) Holst
3) Tedrick
4) Sansui Louie
5) Fast Eddie
6) Grainger49
7) ChrisF
8) Dnewma04
9) John_W
10) Andyman
11) Theodoric
12) Tonedeaf

Again, did I miss anyone?
Please post reviews, etc on THIS thread.
Thanks
E

[Fast_Eddie]

Thanks Bigeric! I'm really looking forward to this! What a great idea! I'm really glad it came together.

Take care,

Ed

[Bigerik]

Thanks Bigeric! I'm really looking forward to this! What a great idea! I'm really glad it came together.

Take care,

Ed

Thanks!
Should be a very interesting experiment.
I sure hope you enjoy it.
Erik

[john_w]

BigErik - Would it screw things up too badly to put me right after fast_eddie? I'd like to pick the product up from him directly, as he doesn't live that far from me.

Thanks!
John

[Fast_Eddie]

I'll promise to keep my testing brief if it helps.

[Bigerik]

I'll promise to keep my testing brief if it helps.

I am sure we can arrange that. No problem guys!
Thanks
E

[Grainger49]

Hey, where are the reviews?

[Bigerik]

Hey, where are the reviews?

The reviews are coming. We just started this test. The first review was just posted yesterday.
Erik

[BULLWINKLE]

Where is it?

[GaryP]

Here.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=78343&page=2

[john_w]

Here.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=78343&page=2

(i.e., all reviews are still in this forum, but in different info/review threads for each item.)

[GaryP]

Machina Dynamica certainly has interesting stuff! The Brilliant Pebbles are a room and system tuning device but on a different level than I am used to.

I have and use vibration control devices and one day I will try bass traps even though I don't have any problems in that area.

My test discs were the usual suspects: Nat King Cole - Love is the Thing, Wings - Venus & Mars, Deep Purple - Made in Japan, Linda Ronstadt GH#1 which are all DCC gold discs and Tom Donahue - Underground Radio (DCC silver) as well as The Who - Who's Next, and some others like the Lynyrd Skynyrd, Loreena McKinnet, some classical CD's, etc.

I tried them on the speaker cabinets, in the room corners and beside my tube amps and CD player.

I could not notice a significant difference with the Brilliant Pebbles in any of these positions. I think the most noticable differences were when they were next to the tube amps and CD player.

For me, in my present system and room set up, these would not be a worthwhile investment.

Who's next? :)

[BULLWINKLE]

Pics?

[geoffkait]

Just to ensure that some info has not been lost (and to provide the best possible chance for success with the Large Brilliant Pebbles), let me take the opportunity to say a few things. BTW This is not intended to influence or change any results anyone might have.

I usually ship the Large bottles with white rubber seals and cotton inside the bottles to prevent the stones breaking the glass during shipping. I recently stopped shipping bottles with the while seals to prevent the case where a seal is inadvertently left in the bottle. The white seal and the cotton must be removed for listening tests - they are for shipping purposes only and definitely affect the performance of the bottle.

The Large Bottles are rather system and room dependent. For dipoles/electrostatics the bottles should be placed directly behind the speakers against the wall for best results or in the rear corners behind the listening position. For conventional speakers, corners are usually best, but rear corners might be much better than the front corners - difficult to predict - so both should be tried. If room corners don't seem to respond, another good location is about two feet out and to the side of the speakers near the side walls.

For tube amps, the Large bottles are usually best on top of the output transformers.

Another (usually) good location for the Large bottles are on top of tube traps. And if you have a Large bottle you can try it on top of the CD player directly above the transport spindle. (I usually use the smaller Mini for this purpose but the Large should work quite well also).

Regards, Geoff at Machina Dynamica

[Grainger49]

. . . For conventional speakers, corners are usually best, but rear corners might be much better than the front corners - difficult to predict - so both should be tried . . . .

Regards, Geoff at Machina Dynamica

If I might ask. My corners are occupied by shelving (4.5' tall), behind my seat, and by furniture behind the speakers.

Should I try the bottles in the corners formed by the shelving units and the wall or on top of the shelving units?

Thanks,

[geoffkait]

I would try to get the bottle as close to a room corner as I could, all things being equal. Rooms seem to be unique in terms of locations of standing waves - i.e. sound pressure peaks, so it can sometimes be difficult to say with certainty the precise locations where the bottles will be effective. (A sound pressure meter can be useful in finding the sound pressure peaks in the room, which can be anywhere in 3-D space, not only the corners; but listening is very useful in finding the locations, too.) Bottles should be placed at the worst peaks in the room which can be 4 times greater (or more) than the average sound pressure level in the room.

For your case, with furniture & shelving, I'd try the bottles as close to the wall/wall interface as possible and as close either top or bottom corners of the room as possible. I'd try front corners behind speakers first, then rear corners to see which are better. It's even possible that one rear corner plus one front corner will be the best combination. The sound pressure peaks can occur along the upper portion of the room (in addition to the lower portions), so a bottle might be audible when placed on top or bottom shelf out away from the corner.

Regards, Geoff

[Grainger49]

Geoff,

Thanks for the suggestions. I will do some moving around with them when I receive them.

[GaryP]

I would try to get the bottle as close to a room corner as I could, all things being equal. Rooms seem to be unique in terms of locations of standing waves - i.e. sound pressure peaks, so it can sometimes be difficult to say with certainty the precise locations where the bottles will be effective.

I had a pair of Tangent speakers in my listening room once and was disappointed at the lack of bass - and then when I went to get another CD when the music was playing "BOOM", a tonne of bass! Standing waves also had a weird effect on some of my CD's.... Kate Bush's latest is one. Great music but there is something weird - bass wise - with it. Maybe I should experiment with the Brilliant Pebbles playing that CD / LP!

Hmmm, maybe I've been too hasty in my listening - luckily I don't have a response to my PM to Holst (the next person on the list) so I get to try them out some more.

Geoff, I hope you don't mind if I copy your PM to me on this thread. It'll help future testers and I am sure it's going to help me!

Gary - just want to mention a few of things re the Large Brilliant Pebbles. Just in case,

I originally shipped the Large bottles with white rubber seals inside the bottle to prevent the stones from breaking the glass during shipping. Cotton is placed inside the bottle for same reason. Both the cotton and white seals must be removed prior to evaluation as they will interfere w/ the way the bottles work.

Also, for tube amps the Large bottles work best on top of or above the output transformers (not the power transformer).

In some rooms, esp. if dipole speakers, the bottles will actually work best out in front of the speakers and to neat the side walls. About two feet out in front and over next to the wall.

You know what? I never opened the bottles at all! I guess I missed that in the instructions... :scratch2:

Anyway, I have a bit of time before I send them off to member Holst so I should have some time with placement experiments!

Thanks for the post, the PM and the guidance! :)

[GaryP]

PS When shipping to the next person, I will (as I think we all should) replace the white seals and cotton.... don't want to break that glass!!!

[geoffkait]

Gary, thanks for posting my PM, and I have recently eliminated the white seals from the bottles to avoid the potential problem - as it turns out the cotton alone in the bottle is sufficient to prevent the stones breaking the glass when shipping. I found out a while back the white seal and the cotton overdamp the action of the stones & bottle.

It's more than OK with me if you simply discard the white seals altogether, but not the cotton, prior to sending the bottles along to the next tester. That will eliminate the potential problem.

Regards, Geoff

[GaryP]

Ok, will do! One less thing to remember for us.... :)

[GaryP]

I will be sending the LBP to Holst tonight.

Geoff, I put the white seals and the cotton back on / in the bottle for shipping purposes. The bottles were not secure enough to ship without them - I guess the wire "ties" were stretched.

[geoffkait]

Gary, thanks.... it's not that the metal clasp was "stretched" - the white seal provides a bit of a spacer so the clasp closes tightly, w/o the white seal the clasp sort just hangs there :-). As long as testers remove the white seal and cotton before listening I'll be a happy camper....Geoff

[jmathers]

Large Brilliant Pebbles for room corners
Brilliant Pebbles is a unique room & system tuning device for audio systems and satellite TV. Original (Large) Brilliant Pebbles is a 3-inch clear glass bottle containing various minerals/stones. A number of highly-specialized, proprietary techniques are used for preparation/assembly. Brilliant Pebbles acts as both a vibration "node damper" and EMI/RFI absorber, depending on application, via atomic mechanisms in the crystal structures.
The 3-inch Large Brilliant Pebbles is intended for speaker cabinets, tube traps, room corners, satellite TV receivers, tube amps Output Transformers, turntable armboards, and solid state amps (over the output section).



Signed up for the Large Brilliant Pebbles are:
1) GaryP
2) Holst
3) Tedrick
4) Sansui Louie
5) Fast Eddie
6) Grainger49
7) ChrisF
8) Dnewma04
9) John_W
10) Andyman
11) Theodoric
12) Tonedeaf

Again, did I miss anyone?
Please post reviews, etc on THIS thread.
Thanks
E

Yep, jmathers.

Jeff

[Holst]

The large Brilliant Pebbles have come and gone.

Great way to start a review huh?

They are two cheerful looking little bottles of pretty rocks, all different, they don’t seem to be standardized in anyway. Big ones, little ones, pink ones.

I contacted Geoff Katt upon their arrival. I organized my thoughts and questions and pm’d him several times. He responded very quickly and offer lot’s of information.

My first two impressions where.....
1)..The cheerful looking bottles had a nice vibe about them.
2).. Geoff is likely a very nice guy, on the level, and sincere in his desire to be helpful.

Here’s an excerpt.

The Large size bottles can be used in a number of ways, all of which are system and room dependent - though I have a lot of satisfied customers who have the bottles, there is some variation in both where they found the bottles to be effective and the degree of effectiveness. In some cases, maybe many cases, the bottles can be very powerful. In other cases, the bottles can be, say, moderately effective in terms of sound quality improvement. And In a few, but not too many cases, maybe 5% or so, there is no effect reported. And I have been in some rooms myself where I could only find one corner where the effect of a Large bottle was audible (but that case the effect was rather dramatic).

I usually use the Large bottles in room corners on the floor. Some people report that the best locations in their system/room are on top of the amp's output transformers - one bottle each transformer. I like that locations a lot myself. For unusual speakers, like dipoles but perhaps horns as well, the radiation patterns can be quite different from conventioanl speakers, so that in many cases the Large bottles work best slightly away from the corners or even directly behind the speakers, all depends on where the Wave peak or standing wave is located.

Another (usually) good place to try a Large bottle in on a CD player on top of the chassis on the spot above the spinning disc. Another place that might be effective is on a Turntable armboard.

The scientific way I think to determine the proper locations in the room for the Large bottles is to use a sound pressure meter. Map out the room with the SPM finding the "hot spots" anywhere in the room where the sound pressure level is 6 dB or higher above the average sound pressure level in the room. These "hot spots" is usually where a Large Bottle should be placed. The corners of the room, incl. upper corners almost always exhibit these very high sound pressure levels. So it's as if you had 4 or 8 or more other speakers playing and competing with your primary speakers. Without a SPL meter, listening and playing around with locations is a good way to find these hot spots as well, just takes a while sometimes.

Hope this helps

It did....

The rack in my listening room didn’t allow placement on top of a player, so, armed with my sound meter, music and test cd’s I set out on the hunt for the best place for the little bottles.

As I explained to Geoff, I didn’t want to do and A/B bunch of tests, are they there, aren’t they. I wanted to put them in place and listen to music as I would anyway.

When my time was done, I remove them to see if anything seems missing.

I did do some A/B-ing anyway. Just me listening once. The second time with my sound meter.

A sound meter can be influenced by it’s proximity to you or objects around them. They are best used, held away from you or on a tripod or such stand.

Enter the mock me.....

See the pictures.

I have a home made wooden stand for my sound meter that sits in my chair with the mic element placed almost exactly where my ears are when sitting. I’ve used the mock me for years when setting up speakers or the times when I have used an equalizer to find the best results with system changes. This allows me to take measurements from the listening advantage of where my ears would be.

Plus the other advantages of being able to see and read the meter and take notes.

I A/B’ed the pebbles upon their arrival. I had placed them where I could see them. I liked having them where I could see them. As I stated above, the are pleasant to look at.

When I could see them, at times, thought I heard something different. Nothing definite, maybe, maybe not.

But roaming with my test meter indicated that the best place for the pebbles was on the far corner of my loudspeakers, behind “the can” (see the pictures) out of sight.

For those of you not familiar with them, the drivers in Ohm loudspeakers are in a cylinder on top of the cabinet.

So there they sat for most of the two weeks, out of sight, out of mind. I was reminded of their being there daily, but only when I went behind my right speaker to plug in my McIntosh light.

In my time with the Brilliant Pebbles I listened to a stack of lp’s, three cd’s and a bunch of Minnesota Public Radio’s classical format.

What happened?

A series of odd things on Friday night.

The right channel of my system disappeared almost immediately and my tuner suddenly got terrible reception.

The rocks?

Hmmm....

A dirty spot on the output pot on my amps was to blame for the right channel loss, a plastic strap that holds my antenna wire in place on my outdoor antenna broke, the wind must have then ripped the wire off.

The amp pot was cleaned on Saturday, the antenna had to wait a day due to the first rain in this area in weeks. I spent Sunday morning with one foot on top of my chimney, the other on the point of my roof with a wrench, loosening my antenna mast so I could reattach the wire.

How the heck did I ever get that thing up there to begin with? My wife and duaghter stood outside and waited for my death.

The rain had stopped, but there were suddenly swarms of wasps. Not the rock group of white Anglo-Saxon protestants, stingy damn bugs.

I managed to re hook the wire and replace the plastic strap with a metal wire guide.

Of to listen after my hard work? Nope. My wife wanted to go for a horse ride on Sunday afternoon. The wasp’s went after my horse several times, the things would fly with the Mahler (my horse) and really upset him.

He’s a very good horse and takes great care of his rider and didn’t dump me. It was on me to help him.

I’d put him in a lope (that’s riding fast for you non-horse folk, at 30 to 40 mph) to out run them. It worked fine the first two times, the third time I found some potholes and while trying to out run the wasps, my horse tripped, sending me flying off head first at 30 to 40 miles per hour.

Listening tests had to wait a couple days for me to get out of the hospital.

I don’t believe in luck, there is only random chance but........

Brilliant Pebbles are not Lucky Rocks!

Listening tests did continue, with and without pain killers, but without being able to see the pebbles, I did forget they were there.

Nothing seemed different. I was reminded that they were there when I plugged the light in, but forgot when I listened.

And I did do some critical listening during my time.

I’ve been collecting old (70’s) Lyrita recordings of favorite English composers like Bax and Rubbra. Got some great near mint recordings, they sounded wonderful, but nothing out of the ordinary.

I played a couple favorite lp’s, and the same result. Sounded fantastic, but not more than normal.

I then removed the Pebbles and listened for two days.

No change.

Enter the mock me meter stand.

I played tones and sweeps and took notes, with and without the pebbles in place. I also moved them to a totally different spot in the room once.

No change with any placement.

Geoff said in one pm as quoted above, five percent found no change, I would be in that five percent.

I would like to thank AK for the chance to take part in this test.

I would also like to give a big Thank You to Geoff Katt for allowing these tests, and for being so patent and helpful.

[john_w]

The rain had stopped, but there were suddenly swarms of wasps. Not the rock group of white Anglo-Saxon protestants, stingy damn bugs.

I managed to re hook the wire and replace the plastic strap with a metal wire guide.

Of to listen after my hard work? Nope. My wife wanted to go for a horse ride on Sunday afternoon. The wasp’s went after my horse several times, the things would fly with the Mahler (my horse) and really upset him.

He’s a very good horse and takes great care of his rider and didn’t dump me. It was on me to help him.

I’d put him in a lope (that’s riding fast for you non-horse folk, at 30 to 40 mph) to out run them. It worked fine the first two times, the third time I found some potholes and while trying to out run the wasps, my horse tripped, sending me flying off head first at 30 to 40 miles per hour.

Listening tests had to wait a couple days for me to get out of the hospital.

I don’t believe in luck, there is only random chance but........

Brilliant Pebbles are not Lucky Rocks!


I guess not! Do I really want to do this?? I suppose I'll still take my chances.

Great review - thanks Holst! Sorry you had to put yourself through so much pain to generate such an interesting read! I actually feel very guilty about the fact that I was so intrigued by the whole thing.

I would like to know more about your room set-up and what perceived problems, unusual angles, room size issues, under/over dampening factors you may have. Also, besides the Ohm speakers, what do you have in your system?

The "mock you" is a cool idea. The meter seems kind of small to observe when you're out of the way though. I wonder if you would have to get your "real you" too close to get accurate readings. (The old "test fouled by the presence of the observer" problem.) Of course, one could always use low power binoculars!

I just hope you're healing well, and there was no lasting damage!

- John

[Holst]

Do I really want to do this?? I suppose I'll still take my chances.


Do take your chances, these test programs are a fantastic idea, your mileage may vary. You get to find things out for yourself.

I would like to know more about your room set-up and what perceived problems, unusual angles, room size issues, under/over dampening factors you may have. Also, besides the Ohm speakers, what do you have in your system?

My main system is listed below. I also have a Luxman based system upstairs that I an listening to right now, but hasn't been used in these tests.

The distance between my speakers is roughly the same as the distance from each speaker to my chair. With the mock me I determines the best distance from them to the wall. There is another seven feet from the chair to the rear wall which is covered by an amore'/cd racks and pictures which acts as a sort of room defuser.

The room is rectangular, no odd angles, the entry way is to the rear of the room.

It does have three notable bumps centered around 135 hz, between 57hz and 65hz and a lesser one between 30 hz and 35 hz, which I used to tune out with a graphic eq but decided to stop.


The room is naturally slightly warm sonically, I measure my in room response with the speakers where they are as about 4 db louder at 20 hz from a reference of 1,000hz, not counting the bumps.

1,000hz to 6,000 hz varies less than 3db from octave to octave, not enough to require correction. A very slow roll off from there, down about 6 db at 16,000hz.

I spent about two weeks mapping my room and moving speakers with the "mock me" and a lot of test tones and use of ear plugs in 2001.

The "mock you" is a cool idea. The meter seems kind of small to observe when you're out of the way though. I wonder if you would have to get your "real you" too close to get accurate readings.

It's easliy read from a spot, sitting on the floor by my audio rack where the natural sonic deadening property's of my pasty white backside are out of the way.

I just hope you're healing well, and there was no lasting damage!

I'm just sore.

[john_w]

Thanks for the extra info!

- jw

[Bigerik]

Awesome review. Sorry you went through so much grief for it!
Erik

[GaryP]

Gary, thanks.... it's not that the metal clasp was "stretched" - the white seal provides a bit of a spacer so the clasp closes tightly, w/o the white seal the clasp sort just hangs there .

Ooops - yes, that's a better way of saying that! Sorry! :yes:

As long as testers remove the white seal and cotton before listening I'll be a happy camper....Geoff

Worth repeating!

[Holst]

Originally Posted by geoffkait
As long as testers remove the white seal and cotton before listening I'll be a happy camper....Geoff

Yep, I did that, I saved it and returned it to the bottles before shipping to Tedrick, and I found some extra bubble wrap to pack the bottles.

Awesome review. Sorry you went through so much grief for it!
Erik

It only hurts when I listen to adult contemporary radio. :D

Thanks again to everyone involved in setting this program up!

[Tedrick]

The Large Brilliant Pebbles will soon be on their merry way to Sansui Louie, so it's time I post some thoughts and impression about my time with these tweaks.

First off, I'd like to extend a huge "Thanks" to Geoff of Machina Dynamica for agreeing to allow the members of this forum to try out several of his company's tweaks. This is an awesome privilege usually reserved for those in the audio press, and we should all be grateful for this rare opportunity. I also think it says a lot about Geoff and his company that they are willing to allow a bunch of amatuer reviewers the chance to test and report on their gear, especially some of the more 'controversial' items.

The Pebbles arrived about 2 1/2 weeks ago in a small box. Interestingly, the first thing I observed was that the box didn't seem to weigh all that much. Inside were two small jars containing small, shiny multicolored pebbles that looked like something I made some 30+ years ago when I got a rock tumbler for Christmas. I removed the rubber gaskets and cotton stuffing and pulled out my electronic scale to weigh the jars: one was 246 grams, the other 249 grams. Given some of the suggested placements for the Pebbles, I guess I was expecting something a little more substantial.

The system I used for my testing was held constant throughout the test sessions and consisted of the following gear:

Sources:
VPI HW-19 Mk III, AQ PT-6 arm, Clearaudio Aurum Beta Mk II feeding a Musical Fidelity X-LPS V3 phono pre-amp
Music Hall Maverick SACDP

Pre-amp:
Adcom SLC-505

Amplification:
Dared VP-300B monoblocks

Speakers:
Infinity Primus 360
Infinity CSW-10 subwoofer

Cables:
Audioquest Diamondback ICs
White Zombie El Chupacabra silver ICs
Audioquest Rockefeller speaker cables

I selected music with which I was very familiar and which I had both CD and LP versions:
Robert Plant - Principle of Moments
Bob James/David Sanborn - Double Vision
Steely Dan - Gold
Dvorak - Serenade in E major - Camereta Bern (Novalis)

In order to keep from going too crazy, I limited my testing to the following placements for the Pebbles:
On top of the transformers of the Dared amps
On the VPI's armboard
On top of the Primus 360 cabinets
I did most of my testing with the Pebbles centered on top of the amp transformers or on the TT armboard, as I felt these placements had the best chance of producing some changes I could hear; only one session was spent trying out the top-of-speaker placement. I tried a variety of placements on the TT armboard using first one, then both jars.

Now, having laid out all this groundwork, here's what I heard:




Nothing.




I could detect no difference whatsoever with the Pebbles in any of the placements I tried. I really wanted to hear something, but in all honesty I never did. I did most of the moving and placing myself, but for one brief session, I enlisted the help of my 8-year old to alternately lift and replace the pebbles on the amp transformers while I had my eyes closed, and still could hear no changes in sound level, timber, imaging, soundstage, clarity, or anything else. Admittedly, my system in it's current configuration may not be the most revealing, and my listening area (in the bedroom) is certainly not an ideal situation, but for my particular set of conditions and equipment, unfortunately the Pebbles made no discernible difference to my listening experience.

Thanks again to Geoff and Machina Dynamica for this opportunity, and I look forward to trying the other tweaks.

[skippy_ps]

Great review, Holst. I was imagining something a little more dramatic for the "mock me," lol, than what you're actually using. Still pretty cool though.

I use a small tripod and just place it on the couch but your mount gets it back a little further than mine.

Well written review from Tedrick, too.

Murray

[geoffkait]

For those in line to test the 2 Large BP: Customers are reporting very good results with the 2 Large bottles in locations that haven't been discussed on this forum - this location is out in front of each speaker about 2 feet and to the outside of the speaker near or at the side wall. This location can be more reliable, so to speak, and more powerful than room corners, definitely worth a shot.

Many thanks to all testers of all products.


Geoff at Machina Dynamica

[geoffkait]

To testers of Large Brilliant Pebbles: A new location to try the Large Brilliant Pebbles is on the floor midway between the speakers on the plane formed by the front faces of the speakers. A very strong sound pressure peak is produced at this location by conventional speakers; a bottle in this location has been producing exceptional results of late.

Regards, Geoff, machina dynamica

[GaryP]

Geoff, are you saying that the pebble location is affected by the brand of speakers themselves?

Would the room also affect the test?

[geoffkait]

Gary, the pebbles are room and system dependent, so there are no hard and fast rules; however, most brands of conventional speakers (as opposed to dipoles) produce very high sound pressure peaks off axis - notably midway between the speakers on the floor and off to either side of each speaker. Ditto for room corners. These sound pressure peaks interfere with the pure signal of the primary speakers. These sound pressure peaks can usually, but not always, be dealt with to a large degree by placing a Large Brilliant Pebbles at their approximate locations.

While one or more room corners have usually (but not always) been effective locations for the Large bottles, the new locations (1) slightly in front of and to the outside of each speaker and (2) on the floor midway between the speakers seem to produce even more significant results. If one only has two bottles to play with, placing both bottles on the floor midway between the speakers might be the best way to use two bottles.

Geoff

[geoffkait]

Interesting how much misinformation there is floating around cyberspace. :-)

Geoff Kait, machina dynamica

[hytiger]

I'm always up for trying new things, & have come into contact with "brilliant pebbles" through a neighbour, who is a Quad & Naim junkie, & bought some from Peter Belt.

His experience was the same as that of Tedrick.

Incidentally, the layout for his listening room was done by a Feng-Shui consultant! (& yes, it sounds much better than when it was in an identical room on the opposite side of the house)

[geoffkait]

hytiger - that's very interesting and all, as I am the inventor of Brilliant Pebbles and their sole manufacturer. Peter Belt doesn't make or sell them and may not have ever heard of them, for all I know. Perhaps you are confusing my product with something else.

Cheers, Geoff Kait

[RichPA]

Please remember the ground rules here: http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=84859
The post above that I deleted will be reviewed by the forum moderator to determine whether the deletion is permanent.

[warnerwhf]

Would someone please explain to me how these pebbles can affect the sound? Thank You

[bentpencil]

Would someone please explain to me how these pebbles can affect the sound? Thank You
No more likely than a magician will tell you how he does his tricks. The question at hand is whether or not they work, not how or why.

This does give me the opportunity to ask a question along the same lines. Geoff, you stated earlier that you invented the Brilliant Pebbles. Since my impaired hearing doesn't afford me the capability of discerning the likely change the pebbles can effect, I look at the mechanics more than the actual results. Are the pebbles "manufactured", or is it your processing that creates the phenomenon? (or is that none of my business?) .

Larry

[geoffkait]

Warnerwhf and Bentpencil - please refer to my paper, "Power to the Pebble," in which I lay out the explanation for how the device works. The "pebbles" are actually natural crystals (stones) of various types.

www.machinadynamica.com/machina17.htm

Regards, Geoff

[bentpencil]

Thanks.

[john_w]

Either I'm going crazy, or this actually makes a little more logical sense than I originally thought it did. At least in theory. I can see why Tedrick may not have seen a difference. Bedrooms tend to be acoustically over-dampened to begin with. I would guess that the pebbles would show the most dramatic change in rooms that have more obvious problems in specific areas with reflective interferance, saturation and related standing waves. If something that compact and visually attractive can be a reasonably effective absorber of nasty sound wave patterns, compared to the more gaudy wall and ceiling treatments we tend to use, this could be a worth-while investment.

All this to say that I hope some future reviewers have more "live" room problems to compensate for so they might really see a difference. Since I have a cathedral ceiling, a big couch and a large wool area rug, I've been pretty happy with my room's acoustics as well, so I may not be the best candidate for these either. Regardless, it will be interesting to see if there's a "happy spot" for them in my place, given the added suggestions.

[Fast_Eddie]

John, I have a listening room that is far from ideal. It's very "live" and quite noticably so. Maybe we should get together and listen together.

Take care,

Ed

[john_w]

That sounds like a good idea, Ed. It would be interesting to compare both places.

[Fast_Eddie]

It would give us a chance to try them in several situations. I have two listening areas in my house (well, six really, but that's a different story). We could try both rooms there and then head to your place.

Any of the other Denver guys would be welcome too. Seems like that would give us a better chance of a fair test.

Take care,

Ed

[geoffkait]

Further ramblings on room placement: The Large size bottle can be quite effective in room corners; however, I've found that placing the Large bottle in a room corner doesn't always produce the desired results. This is rather puzzling since the corners should be a "no-brainer" for energy dissipation devices such as Brilliant Pebbles since the room corners are areas where standing waves often occur.

As it turns out, there's a perfectly good explanation why the actual room corner itself may not be an ideal location for Brilliant Pebbles - or, for that matter Tube Traps, Room Lenses or other resonator type devices.

The location of standing waves in the room and unusually high pressure acoustic waves radiated by the speakers are not particularly predictable (for a given room/system). But they are easy to find (in a particular room) using a Test Tone and either a Sound Pressure Meter or an empty box. The standing waves and other sound pressure peaks in the room will show up on the meter as a sudden deflection of the meter by at least + 3-4 dB (depending how loud the test tone is played). Some peaks in the room can be as much as + 6 dB or higher. The SPL meter allows one to locate, with precision, sound pressure peaks in the vicinity of room corners - and it often turns out the real peak is 12-18 inches or more away from the corner!

If one doesn't have a SPL meter, an empty narrow box will vibrate slightly (due to the turbulance of the air) when held with one hand in the location of a standing wave or other sound pressure peak. Where the box vibrates the most intensely in the vicinity of a room corner is where the Large bottle should be placed; that location can be some distance from the actual corner. Furthermore, Large Brilliant Pebbles can be placed at any point of very high sound pressure along the side walls, where peaks also occur.


Geoff at Machina Dynamica

[Grainger49]

Forget it!

[Grainger49]

Forget it!

[Grainger49]

Ok, something has happened. Sansui Louie hasn't posted since 12/20. That is unusual. I wonder if he is OK.

I sent2 PMs (he doesn't accept e-mail) and no answers. Both after the date of his last posts.

Is there anyone near him that knows him who can check up? We may have a member down!

[tentoze]

He's been known to disappear for a month or 3 every now and then.

[Holst]

He's been known to disappear for a month or 3 every now and then.
I think he has reviewed them but it's under the mini pebble thread. At last contact he had a bad hand injury.