I may have missed it but what is the theoretical explanation for crystals? I.e. what is it supposed to be doing. Is it damping, like sortbothane?
I dont know and i am truly not a physicist !....I only think, because it is my impression that, one way or another, by some way, crystals, or rocks minerals, act on the electrical magnetic fields around all gear, and clean it in some way, each rocks or crystals acting on their corresponding resonant frequencies, hence it is better to mix them ( i put each one of them in a separate bag and place them
together on the choosen location)...
To answer your second question,
the crystals and rocks can also act like damping products, i see some company from japan with a great reputation and many positive reviews that sell them with a big price for damping speakers or an amp, sitting them on a box filled with crystals...For now i use them not for damping but for these mysterious capacity to clean the field from EMI... The results are there and complementary on par with the sorb. effect,for the audiophile pleasure of my ears... With these 2 mods. i enjoy my system truly without thinking with no more insatisfaction and no more the urge to upgrade it with a massive investment of money...
For the moment i am more interest to the possiblities given by crystals and rocks to clean EMI and transforming the listening space itself than by the damping possibilities in each audio gear(sorb. sandwich are great for that now) but i give to you this link about
crystals damping to read and some "explanation"... I dont want to pay this price for a wood box with crystals, hence i prefer to develop that myself in the future and compare them to my sorb. sandwich ( this future is in the next 2 months i have ordered today pure natural quartz disc much less costly than the revive acoustic one and i will test damping capacity of quartz at this moment) :
https://www.acoustic-revive.com/english/rst38/rst38_01.html
https://www.acoustic-revive.com/english/underboard/tb-38h.html
https://www.acoustic-revive.com/english/pdf/afaRIQ-5010.pdf
My conviction is all audio gear vibrate, creating indesirable resonance effect that pollute the sound, but now i know that electromagnetical interferences pollutes also the sound and the listening space room, interferences coming from everywhere in the house and not only from all your audio gear, and the crystals and some rocks help greatly to clean that...
Experimenting is the crux of the matter... I think that the truly scientific explanation is not for me to say, i am no scientist...I only touch the subject here to help with a mods, that save people money, or make people more happy with their products like you do for me with this thread in the first place, if i had not stumble here, i am certain i will have spend too much more money to correct my insatisfaction with my actual audio gear...Now i listen music and bought some rocks but it is not thousands of dollars cost so-call upgrade ...
In one word sorbothane and crystals help me to realize that the audio gear i have, are already very good product if not HI-FI almost HI-FI, and it is absolutely not necessary to upgrade them at all cost...Music when it is there is music...(diminushing returns law)... The fact is, almost all people have never listen to the optimal potential sound quality level of their own gear, because some other factors inhibit this potential audiophile sound and these factors are essentially
vibrations and EMI... It is all i can say...
By the way the method for verification of these affirmation of mine, is the simple purchase for a few bucks of 3 different crystals specimens to begins with(
colored quartz,
amethyst and
tourmaline for example) and more simply than with sorb,(because they are no duro choosing,no thickness choosing, no gluing process of which one must be concerned with, and the cost is lighter for 3 samples than for a sheet of sorb) placing them with a tape on the breaker corresponding to your audio room on the central electrical panel of your house, on the head of the electrical cable coming from your amp to the wall, and on the electrical strip that connect your system, at the end, simple, easy, and great upgrade! After that experiment, studying many physical science books will help for the explanations and who knows, a Nobel prize together...
I remember when i bought my first quality headphone, my first dac and amp, in the beginning i was happy, but in a short time i was critical of my own gear because, they were defect in the imaging, in the artificial sounding, harshness, etc, the timbre of the instrument was not natural; and many other people, experiencing that like me solved this problem by more money purchase of a new hype product, in a series of expense spiralling without end... If you have the money that is not a problem...But for me it was necessary to explore other way to upgrade my system than buying without end the new hype fad toward the ultimate system...Sorb. and crystals complementary mods.are the key for me, they make a difference, and i now hear music, not resonant negative frequencies that i must correct at all cost...I thank you Ed for your helping thread and i apologize because i cannot give answer to the scientific aspect of your question...Perhaps someone will...
last experimental note:
i just experiment something truly marvellous with crystals that transform the sound in a way that the sound
float around me or toward me and does not come only from the speakers now... This is testimony to the power of using crystals and minerals to elevate the audio level...I will communicate that only after someone here at least confirm my experience by trying himself the little experiment with the 3 specimens i described in the middle part of my post ... After this first external confirmation by one of you, i will describe my last experiment with sound room, without risking then too much sarcasm...