Review: Acoustic Revive RR-77 Tweak


Category: Accessories

I consider myself a relatively sane and skeptical audiophile when it comes to devices that offer a higher level of performance with magical explanations of how they work. Well, I had read on Six Moons website a very postive review regarding the Acoustic Revive RR-77 room conditioner, yes room conditioner, but took it with a big grain of salt. Then my good friend and fellow GON member Ted Brady in a conversation tells me that he has not lost his mind, but the damn device worked wonders in his high end system. So, what the heck, it costs $400.00 and I can get one from Music Direct with a 30 day home audition and send it back if it does not work.

It's a very small box that you put behind your speakers at the height of five feet off the ground. It is a type of wave generater that puts into the room a subsonic frequency that either effects how you hear the system in the room or somehow effects the acoustic of the room it self. For alot more information regarding the theory regarding how it works you can go to Six Moons website for alot more details.

Well, I have no real idea how it produces the effects it does, but the damn thing works magic in the following areas:

1)A greater liquidity and oozyness in my system without a loss of PRAT or macrodynamics.

2)More dense images with greater air around each player in the soundstage.

3)A deeper/wider soundstage.

4)Everything sounds more relaxed and natural.

My girlfriend, who is a musician, heard it instantly when she walked in and asked me what did I do this time regarding a new piece of gear. So, I have no rational explanation how it works, but boy does it work in a significant postive way. So, if I have not lost my mind, I recommend you try one in your room. What the heck, you get a 30 day trial from Music Direct. Highly recommended!

Associated gear
Click to view my Virtual System
teajay
Forgot to mention one more use of the RR-77. You may have heard of demagnetising the CD with an Acoustic Revive RD-3 demagnetiser, or even de-ioninizing the CD with their RIO-5 De-ionizer, or de-stating the CD/LP with a Furutech/ORB De-Stat gun. (Never mind, if you have not). Well, the RR-77 has an unpublished effect on improving the playback performance of a CD too. Place a CD on the shiny face up on the top of an RR-77 for at least 10 secs (see attached pic)
How to "Schumanise" the CD
You will notice a bigger soundstage/depth to the music and more organic fluidity and even deeper resolution when you listen to such a treated CD. I can confirm that this effect is complementary to demagnetising/deionizing/de-stating the CD as I have all 3 mentioned tweaks personally. I am quite hooked to this treatment now, and rarely listen to any CD without treating it with the RR-77 ;-)
Second evening of listening: the cd of Bob Dylan Oh Mercy on the song Man in the long black coat was really transformed with the RR-77 more floating and space out with more silence and delicacy.You should try this one !
For the other listenings in my system i feel i miss a bit of PRAT and bite, it seem the sound was getting a bit leaner.
My impression was like looking into binoculars by the reverse side.Don't get confuse with deeper sound stage and laid back sound.In my system i was listening to a live event but few rows in the back. Also i think i miss some micro details.
So funny to tell you that after a good night of sleep i feel the benefic effect of the RR-77 when i awake in the morning: i am more in shape
To follow ....
I have been looking for more warmth in my system and had a Stealth nanofiber on demo to try to accomplish this. The Acoustic 77 did everything the nano did and more. More detail, transparency, and better imaging of the soundstage, especially with vocals. Absolutely worth every penny! You ain't crazy, Teajay! This product initially had a low WAF, but even she hears the difference in sound image and APPROVES!
I have had more fun the last few days taking this little amazing box to other locations to see the response of other listeners to the sonic differences, that so far our only totally postive, and everyone just laughs and can hear the differences instantly.

I went and visited a highly regarded Audio store in the Chi-town area were the owner is a dear friend. Then I took it over to a fellow audiophile with a great sounding system. In the store's reference system what I reported in my review was heard by the owner, great improvement in 3D imaging, greater location in the sound stage, voices became more natural, etc. At the home of my audiophile friend the same results, he could not just stop laughing. He came up with a great expression for what it did to vocals in his system, they just become more "human" and real sounding. All this could be a placebo or hawthrone effect, but I don't think so, it really does significantly effect the sonics of the systems that is put in the same room as. Great fun!
I ordered an RR-77 from Music Direct yesterday and received it today at lunch (one advantage of living in Indianapolis).

I have it in my office right now while I'm at work and have a, hopefully not dumb, question.

How do you know if it's working properly? Is there some tell-tale sign?