[Patrick82]

This time I went to bed with the window closed, there is still some cold air coming through the gap though.

It is -3.5 degrees Celcius outside and 20.0 degrees inside. Half degree higher inside temperature than yesterday, my thermometer is very slow though. My body is still little cold but I'm hearing WARM sound! I can't believe the night and day difference temperature makes for the audio system!
I'm hearing the same detail but in a different flavor, the detail doesn't draw attention to itself anymore, everything is very smooth. Sibilance is gone, whiteness and fake blackness is gone. It sounds kind of dull compared to yesterday. I'm hearing too much bass again! I liked the sound of 19.5 C inside temperature instead.

I need to build a temperature controlled box for my audio system.



I'm still hearing the extra detail. I have excluded most of my list and these are left:

1. Extra rubber bands for isolation feet needed a couple days to break in.
   
2. I moved all music to a dedicated harddrive. I changed my RAID0 setup from 2 drives to 4 drives (my 2 drive array was 50+% fragmented, my 4 drive array is 5% fragmented). Before I was using 3 drives in my computer, now I'm using 5 drives. It increased the wattage with about 25watts which gave more internal power supply switching noise. The current draw of Valhalla cables to the wall has increased as well so the whole audio system is affected.
   
3. Turned off computer without turning off audio system (different combination of burn-in).

 

[Patrick82]

I opened up the window and spread the drapes and cold air came flowing inside really fast, I left the room for 15 minutes and the inside temperature had dropped from 20.0° to 19.5° C. After 5 minutes my bed cover was cold and my arms were freezing. My bed is beside the window and my body and K1000 earspeakers are affected first.

My body is shaking and I'm still hearing warm sound, it sounds like the audio system hasn't been affected yet. I'm hearing edginess + muddiness from the K1000 drivers which is hard to hear if it wasn't for the slight lack of detail. Warm system + cold speaker drivers is the worst combination. The drivers need to be warm and the audio system needs to be cold, but everything needs to be burned in 24/7.

The best sound comes from leaving the window open while sleeping and then close it when you wake up. The temperature affects the audio system slower than the body. It sounds like it has a delayed effect. I have heard this for over half a year.

Edit: 30 mins after opening window it's 17° C inside now! Still warm sound. It affects the system very slowly.
I'm hearing edgy + warm sound, it comes from K1000 drivers which was affected fast by the cold air, there is lack of detail as well. Drivers need to be kept warm!! Sauna for headphones and freezer for audio system is the way to go!

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm still hearing the extra detail. I have excluded most of my list and these are left:

I forgot something in my list!

1. The Valhalla power cord for computer was touching water cooling tubes and I could feel the vibrations of the Valhalla cable. When I changed the harddrives I adjusted the Valhalla a few cm so it wasn't touching.

A year ago I heard a subtle improvement when I did the same thing, but the difference was so small that I ignored it like I do with all subtle differences, I only care about night and day improvements.

 

[Patrick82]

I remember something else I did. A few days earlier I changed the AC connector for Cary transport from Marinco to Wattgate, I didn't hear a difference when I listened. Then I didn't listen to Cary anymore for a few days, I listen mostly to my computer. That could be another reason why Cary and computer sound so different now, but I think it's mostly because of modding the Valhalla thinner for my computer.

Cary still had too much bass when its Valhalla power cord was using Marinco connector, I don't know what the Wattgate improved. It is weird that people spend so much money on connectors that give subtle differences. The only time I heard a difference was when I hardwired the AC cables, but even then it was a very small improvement. When I think about it, 2 years ago when I replaced the old AC outlet in the wall I didn't hear a difference, I thought I would, I cut a hole in the wall for nothing. Another time I was experimenting with power cord sizes (for my old Krell power amp) I tried Marinco and Wattgate and didn't hear a difference, if there was a difference there might have been a little bit more bass, but I wasn't sure.

The conductor makes a huge difference, 78 vs 60 microns silver plating is a night and day difference. Conductor burn-in over 3-4 days made the biggest difference I ever heard.
But connector burn-in just lasted 5 hours. Why do people waste their money on connectors? They should spend it on Harvester instead! Harvester is one of the best values at its price point. The difference it makes is HUGE!

Edit: I have heard huge differences when pasting the connectors with QuickSilver Contact Enhancer, it made it sound too warm and smooth so I stopped using it. I like the edgy sound better.

 

[The Monkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Noise Harvester made bass so heavy I will puke soon. I don't like it. Synergy is all messed up, I worked so hard to get it good and now it's all gone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why do people waste their money on connectors? They should spend it on Harvester instead! Harvester is one of the best values at its price point. The difference it makes is HUGE!

I guess that clears that up.

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess that clears that up.

No kidding:

i also did some powercord tests and this is what i found out...it also concurs with patricks findings of stacking quality powercables troughout the system!

I made a high end powercord myself with furutech rhodium plugs and high end cables and this was a huge improvement...somebody sent me some cables to test and i replaced the cheap PC powercord for that higher end cable: The grainyness is totally gone and transparency has also increased! IT WAS THE CHEAP PC POWERCORD!

The findings Patrick did with adding more valhalla cables to the setup is also the same i did when i added more high(er) end cables to the total system!!!

In other words, it really is a good investment to at least change the cheap PC cords for better cables! make sure you have at least descent cables in all components to max out performance...it is worth it and quite audible!!!

 

[Patrick82]

I slept with window open and woke up a couple hours earlier to close the window, then I went back to bed. I woke up and it said 18.5° C, half an hour later it said 19.0° C. I listened and it sounded colder and edgier but detail was worse! Colder air makes detail worse but also more emphasized.
Then I turned on my Cary transport (I leave it in stand-by) and OMG it was crazy black compared to computer, I couldn't believe it! I switched back to computer and it was very dull. Then I turned off computer for half an hour and continued listening to Cary, I heard that it got smoother after I turned off the computer, I didn't like it. When I turned on my computer the edginess of Cary was back, it gave the illusion of a blacker background. The computer is infecting the P300 Power Plant with the switching noise, I like it.

Ok, so the computer was cooled down 31 minutes, I turned it on and switched from Cary to computer and OMG it sounded blacker! It sounded almost as black as Cary!

Detail and transparency was better than ever!

I found the magic combination. Transports need to be started up from cold and the rest of the system needs to be turned on 24/7 with music running. This gives the blackest background.
You could turn off the music for half an hour to let the transport cool down before listening... But the optimal way is to use another transport to keep it constantly burning in.

1. When unplugging the whole system the bass is gone and it sounds very thin and open. There isn't any blackness. There is emphasized midrange and surface transient speed. But after 2-3 days it sounds too warm.
   
2. When cooling down only the transport it sounds edgier and blacker, it compensates for the warmer system!

The longer the transport is turned on the muddier it sounds like, this explains why the difference between my transports increased over time. I leave Cary in stand-by and computer running 24/7. After a few days my computer sounded very dull and it forced me to find what the problem was with it. Problem was fixed after I let it cool down half an hour.

A few months ago I left Cary running for a day and it sounded warmer but detail wasn't improved so I didn't try it again. Everytime I turn on Cary it sounds crazy black but after a few minutes it starts sounding warmer and warmer. But detail doesn't improve like it does when warming up the rest of the system. So the best way to compensate for the system is with the transport. Keep the transport cold!



I have a couple variables on my list that are confirmed now.

1. Turned off computer without turning off audio system (different combination of burn-in). [size=small]CONFIRMED[/size]
2. Ambient temperature. [size=small]CONFIRMED[/size]

I ate another loaf of bread within 18 hours and it DID NOT make the background blacker.

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I ate another loaf of bread within 18 hours and it DID NOT make the background blacker.

No kidding...it also didn't still your hunger completely huh?

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I ate another loaf of bread within 18 hours and it DID NOT make the background blacker.

No kidding...it also didn't satisfy your hunger completely huh?

 

[Patrick82]

I'm getting problems now. It is hard to turn off music now. I'm reaching over with the finger to press pause, but then I change my mind and keep listening longer. After a while I try it again, I finally press pause and it freaks me out, wow what happened to real life. Someone removed the sounds from real life! My audio system sounds more real life than real life itself, it is confusing to listen. I don't know when I'm listening to my audio system. The sounds come from real life and when I press pause the sounds are gone, it's like putting ear plugs on. What is going on?

 

[Patrick82]

It is hard to read Internet now. I have tried to read whole day but never got anywhere, it is hard to take my focus off from the music, I might as well turn off my display completely.

With the Harvester plugged into the wall I'm able to listen to music properly instead of keeping it as background music.

It seems like synergy is back, but only at a certain ambient temperature. It sounds much warmer but it doesn't bother me because detail is better, it's more relaxing to listen to smoother sound. It is addicting now, it's a problem when needing to go to toilet, I don't want my floor to get sticky.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess that clears that up.

Noise Harvester doesn't have any weaknesses because it isn't in the signal path, it just removes the noise from the power line. The Harvester showed problems in my system and that's why I didn't like it at first, after I found the problems and fixed them I like the Harvester again.
Usually I underestimate the improvement tweaks make, I mentally block it like skeptics, but after a couple of weeks I can't ignore the truth anymore.

 

[jbloudg20]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Noise Harvester doesn't have any weaknesses because it isn't in the signal path, it just removes the noise from the power line. The Harvester showed problems in my system and that's why I didn't like it at first, after I found the problems and fixed them I like the Harvester again. Usually I underestimate the improvement tweaks make, I mentally block it like skeptics, but after a couple of weeks I can't ignore the truth anymore.

Sweet, time to cover your walls with them!

 

[philodox]

Not that I am convinced the Noise Harvester does anything, but I think that an interesting product would be a replacement wall outlet with noise harvistration built in. That could be cool.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbloudg20 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sweet, time to cover your walls with them!

First I need to stack up my room with diapers before I plug in the rest of the Harvesters.