These come up a lot, often with your involvement. See, e.g.,
Yes, and back then I was certainly wrong at the start in thinking it should be blocked - then came comments on the resonator devices and I had to realize itās of course beneficial to have it, and even amplify it.
Now, I think that holding a steady resonance in the listening room will still be affected by local changes in the Earthās Schumann resonances. If these devices monitored the local activity and compensated to keep it even in the room, might be even better. Possibly.
(Just noticed an abundance of āifā, ācouldā, āmightā, āpossiblyā, āmaybeā, etc, when perusing my writingā¦ It is certainly a possibility that I might possibly be an idealist, if thatās the right word, could be.)
One of these days I may have get a Whisper to try. it seems the ring works well with it (them). Right now I do not plan to increase my abundant cable collection though.
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Iām a user of the RR-888. Bought yo satisfy a curiosity, Iām now convinced of its merits. It has a very positive effect on bass texture and focus, as well as imparting a 3D realism to images. More tonal mass, as it were. Turning it off results in the image seeming hollow.
Trying to think of value in order to understand it, I think itās worth more than the difference between Cardas Clear Light and Clear interconnects, for example. I can say that I think it has an equally convincing positive impact as the IsoAcoustics GAIA speaker feet, for less money. Different areas, of course.
Itās good to know the same benefits are there with headphones, too. Easily heard differences switch the 888 on and off, with LCDi4s and cheap Bose Bluetooth in-ears.
Thereās an ease, elegance, depth, timbral richness and tonal intensity that is quite something. The easefulness in particular, the same kind of thing you get from moving from a MacBook to a proper streamer as source. Less hardness and āeffortā.
Itās been lovely rearranging the thinking of sceptical friends. 
It does well in depth of field. While my soundstage shows depth very well, the 888 shows that to be more the illusion of depth, as it gives better separation through maintaining spatial/ambient cues for instruments.
Iāve made a list of five tracks I use that easily demonstrate particular benefits of the 888. Some show depth, others denser images with better texture, still others more overtones to cymbals and trumpet.
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Reminds me of this.
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Thanks for the link ā I will check it out.
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Yep. Same general idea. However, my experiences with SR are slim to none, so I canāt speak to its efficacy. However, everything Iāve tried from Telos has been a winner.
Now that makes this even more interesting, that it affects the performance of even Bluetooth in-ears. Well, why not. All electronics are affected - but what you said shows that the benefit is not at all to do with the systemās complexity. Of course, the benefit would most likely stack up the more components and parts there are in a signal path to be affected.
It would be a great study to measurably demonstrate which types of passive components like the Schumann frequency the most. If it has an effect on conductance/signal transmission directly, that would make it equally effective for all componentsā¦
Anyway, for some reason I have a gut feeling that coils and inductors and transformers like it a lot. Came through the Schumann field perhaps?
So my Whisper arrived today and itās running from the wall. How long should I wait before I commit to impressions? Iāve made a lot of notes Iām happy to share, but should I wait until itās been in situ fir a few days?
Mick
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Impressions of the stages of burn-in are always interesting in their own right.
Yes, but Duncan did a burn in on it before he sent it to me. 
Weeelllā¦ What is left to change is that letting it be in place for a while might allow the grain tensions of the conductors to settle a bit.
Debatable.
But yes, someone noted on their silver cables, that moving them around always causes temporary changes in sound. Canāt see reasons other than grain tensions being altered.
Exactly! A cableās charge changes once itās left alone, but most of the change happens quickly, and increasingly slowly thereafter. Not debatable at all, as itās quite measurable and (more importantly) audible. Say it loud and proud!
I always laugh when a reviewer says something like, ācables are a topic of controversy in the audiophile worldā. No, theyāre not! Theyāre not even a topic of debate, because that would imply reasoned argument and some kind of yielding of ground between sides. Itās pig headed argument, not debate. And why? Because too many Internet forum types refuse to acknowledge any grey area whatsoever. it has to be black and white or nothing. You k ow the types. Life is lived in the nuance! In the grey areas is where we find joy and wonder!
Anyway, the first listen with the Whisper is a bit if a revelation, honestly. Yowza!
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Would this imply rather the dielectrics settling than grain tensions?
Most likely both.
Iāve absolutely no idea about grain tension. Is that related to electrical charge?
http://www.cardas.com/insights_break_in.php
And a quick Google led me to lots of results about conductivity and grain boundaries. Iāll start reading. And Iāll start here:
Cheers,
Mick
Itās a bit of a mystery to me why people commonly report that cryogenic treatment has a positive effect on sound quality. The grains are refined in the process - so essentially smaller grains, though more uniform. This does not increase conductivity, it seems to be decreased a bit.
It does make a metal more robust by how the grains are realigned and residual stresses are released, but itās unclear to me why this would lead to better signal transmission.
Thought to link that article because it makes the concept of grain tension quite clear and how it can be manipulated.
In terms of moving a cable, wiggling it around, then placing it in use again and how that affects the grains and the perceived sound quality, I think cryogenically treated conductors would be more immune to these changes. Then maybe cryogenically treated conductors are perceived to yield better sound because they donāt need to settle as much after being moved and bent, and maybe the residual stress in an untreated conductor could even lead to permanent āmicro-damageā during any handling.
Dunno.
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The one Duncan burned in prior was settled in a day though it sounded great out of box it still changed and smoothed out sooner. It all depends on dielectric of wires and new bends is my experience.
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Is this a 20a going to the regenerator?
Hey Paul
No, just into an Isotek Polaris board. One day a regenerator, but itās low on my priority list. Just the Innuos and M700 pair running of (Townshend Allegri+ passive preamp). Iām really isolated in country Victoria (Australia) and power is remarkably clean compared to when I lived in a big city.
Mick
Okay, I think Iāve got a handle on what the Whisper is doing. To keep a long story as short as possible, it does what it says it will do: reduces noise. However, it does so to a degree that is deeply impressive.
Have you had the experience of moving from a laptop (PC or Mac, it doesnāt matter) to a very good streamer? And everything is calmer to listen to because the electrical storm in a box has been removed from your system? I went from MacBook to Innuos Zen MK3 and the Whisper is in that ballpark of a change, lending credence to Duncan calling it a component.
What about the first time you got your kit properly sorted with isolation, removing a heap of vibration and hence the microphony that creates electrical fields inside your electronics which are dissonant with the job of those electronics? The Whisper is like that on a broader scale. My entire system can be floated on either Townshend Seismic equipment (Pods and Podiums) or IsoAcoustics equipment (Orea and GAIA 2) and the Whisper has an equally obvious effect for less money.
Iāve felt for some time now that failing to allocate enough budget to isolation and power is the biggest downfall of underperforming systems. Some hifi friends came over last week (pre-Whisper) and we disassembled my system, cleaning it out of everything that wasnāt the electronics and speakers. All cabling, power and signal, was free giveaway stuff. A printer usb cable, the cheapest Cat 5 blue patch cord, lamp cord and $3 RCA interconnects from the electronics store. We listened to some music and the system sounded like itself, but appeared less skilled. As rusty as a twenty-years-retired sports star; you recognise the way they move, but they have none of the power, finesse or pizzazz that made them great.
Next up we put my full cable loom back in. I run Cardas Clear USB, Ethernet, interconnects and speaker cables. Listened again. Took it all out again and put in the Townshend isolation products. Listened again. Took it all back out and put in the power products. Listened again. Took it all back out and listened again to the ānudeā system, then put EVERYTHING back in. Listened again.
We agreed that the most effective change was brought by the power products. The huge drop in noise meant a more dynamic system with better resolution of colour and texture, with a bigger soundstage (in all three dimensions) and less movement or resizing of images with volume.
In second place was the isolation gear. It brought a sense of calm and ease, much improved micro dynamics, clearer image outlines and separation.
And coming in third was the Cardas loom. What it brought was less obviously technical improvement. Instead, itās two key benefits were a luxurious beauty of colours and the kind of relaxation of the shoulders and forehead that we have come to recognise as being from less noise in the sound.
The Whisper did as much for the sound of my system (relaxation, soundstage, vivid colours, separation, definition and dynamics both large and small) as the cable loom, at a much lower cost.
Of course it has to be said that power, isolation and cable loom together really settles the system into glory territory. The combination of the ancillaries is what has elevated the system so far.
So if my system got stolen and I had to start again with the insurance money, the very first thing Iād buy is how ever many Whispers I needed for the system.
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