Placement tips for Synergistic Research HTFs

Todd,

Those are some good lookin' resonators.  You could sell those ;^)  I'm becoming a specialist in resonators noone would want to look at.

Speaking of good looking - I love the look of your preamp. Sweet.

Looking at the preamp I see you have a pair of tube dampers on each tube.  Underneith the preamp I see some feet that look an aweful lot like Brent Jesse big, brass tube dampers.  Am I correct?  If so, did you not like them?

I should have my final resonator report out on Wednesday.

Toolbox

Tom - I have a couple mounted on the wall behind my speakers, pointing towards the listening position. I think, because my speakers are relatively close to my wall, the resonators work well on the speakers and rack pointing towards the wall. It seems to push the soundstage back. But I need to experiment more. Mostly with a​ SPL meter, as Geoff has suggested..

Toolbox - thanks! What the resonators sound like is definitely more important though​.
As for my pre, it sounds great too. :-) Under the pre are some feet I made from large copper pipe caps. I picked them up when buying caps for the resonators. I’m waiting on some brass tipped wooden cones to use instead, the copper legs were an experiment to see if solid feet would sound better than the stock rubber feet.. they do!

Speaking of SPL meters, having spent more time with resonators of various types and SPL meters than the average bear, I feel it’s only right to mention that resonators are not only effective in various locations on walls of the room -which is almost always where it’s suggested they be placed - but also ANYWHERE in the 3D space of the room where a sound pressure peak happens to be located. And which can be easily found with...you guessed it!  - an SPL meter and test tone. By dissipating the unwanted energy of standing waves, reflected waves, echoes, etc. the resonators are reducing the comb filter effects present in an untreated room, including comb filter effects produced by acoustic anomalies in the 3D space of the room. In fact the tiny bowl resonators and similar devices could be hung by string from the ceiling slightly out from the wall and not touching the wall - and be equally effective. In fact, Franck Tchang’s original acoustic resonators were not tightly coupled to the wall, but rested gently on a bracket, presumably so the metal bowls would be free to resonate.

I have found over the past 15 years or so that the geometry the material and its placement on surface boundaries are the 3 greatest influences of surface control.

If you have placed devices on flat surfaces or walls and you are pleased with the outcome you can take this whole thing to a higher level by removing adhesive damping materials and attaching your device right to the wall or other surface. You can do this with the aid of a threaded insert placed directly into the wall and your device also threaded screwed into the wall. You can now adjust the resonance point on the wall by ever so slightly adjusting the tension of your device to the wall or surface. 1/16 of a turn can be clearly discerned..or even much less depending on the surface.
Same method will also benefit all things internal and external to speakers and electronics. This method gives you more control over all things within your room boundary including the walls. All these devices and surfaces are passive radiators and all make their own sounds. While compressive waves are the largest wave component in any audio room the wave type and boundary area influenced by what Todd and others are reporting on and there greater benefit are not compressive. Tom

To briefly summarize this discussion of tiny little bowl resonators and similar devices:

A number of applications for these tiny little resonators and transducers have been identified, not only when used directly on objects and room surfaces but in the 3D space of the room, and even when used in other rooms.

1. Vibration of walls and other room surfaces
2. Vibration of component chassis
3. Vibration of speaker cabinets
4. Dissipation of acoustic wave anomalies such as reflected waves and standing waves
5. Dissipation of RFI/EMI energy

We also found that the material itself is important and that pure metals like good, silver and platinum and copper have their own unique sonic signatures. Of course we also know there are a lot of other techniques for calming vibrations on wall, components and speakers, constrained layer dampers like Marigo VTS dots, for example and the out of production Tekna Sonic dampers. You can also give vibrations a chance to escape the confinement of speakers or component simply by placing hard cone on top, point up. 

I count at least four manufacturers of these tiny little bowl resonators currently, including your humble scribe. The first of course and the person who should get most of the credit is Franck Tchang who introduced the whole idea around 15 years ago.