[Steve Eddy]

Steve Eddy your analysis regarding the compound is false. The compound as found in HOT is man-made and not naturally occurring. Since you have chosen to conduct a campaign to libel my company on a public forum I will give you only one chance to publish a full retraction.

The compound found inside the HOT was silicon dioxide. Silicon dioxide is indeed a naturally occurring compound. Sure, you can synthesize it, but at the end of the day, you still end up with silicon dioxide, which is a naturally occurring compound.

se

 

[spook76]

Synergistic Research posted this on their Facebook page:

"Greg like all transducers HOT converts one type of energy to another. In this case, electrical to mechanical energy but that's probably not what your asking, correct? The details, mechanism and composition of HOT are a trade secret, at least until the patents are granted."

Ted,

If in fact you have filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent Trademark Office, then it is a publically available document as is the information contained therein. Please provide a hyperlink to patent application filed with the PTO you reference for the HOT.

 

[Roly1650]

Good job Steve, very well done.

 

[Dark_wizzie]

 
Oh man! Let's see a picture of the sand manufacturing machine!
 

LOL, how are you not banned on Headfi yet?! 

 

[Steve Eddy]

If in fact you have filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent Trademark Office, then it is a publically available document as is the information contained therein. Please provide a hyperlink to patent application filed with the PTO you reference for the HOT.

I believe there is a delay from the time the application is filed and it becoming available to the public. He currently has two patents issued, but I see no applications for this device.

se

 

[spook76]

I believe there is a delay from the time the application is filed and it becoming available to the public. He currently has two patents issued, but I see no applications for this device.

se

That is true but it would be highly unusual to go to market with a product without having already filed a patent application long before hand.

To analogize, I remember, when I purchased the SE846 in August of 2013, I found the patent applications from Shure already available on the PTO's website.

 

[Mel Famie]

That is true but it would be highly unusual to go to market with a product without having already filed a patent application long before hand.

To analogize, I remember, when I purchased the SE846 in August of 2013, I found the patent applications from Shure already available on the PTO's website.

 
When you file a non-provisional, there's an 18 month delay before publication.

 

[Steve Eddy]

That is true but it would be highly unusual to go to market with a product without having already filed a patent application long before hand.

To analogize, I remember, when I purchased the SE846 in August of 2013, I found the patent applications from Shure already available on the PTO's website.

Yeah, that makes sense when you're a large company like Shure and your pockets are pretty deep. Remember, a patent is only as good as your ability to defend it. Otherwise, it's little more than a marketing tool.

se

 

[bigshot]

  LOL, how are you not banned on Headfi yet?! 

Because this one has passed from blatantly obvious to self evident to totally absurd.
 
Also I am one adorable mother- of a fella!

 

[spook76]

Yeah, that makes sense when you're a large company like Shure and your pockets are pretty deep. Remember, a patent is only as good as your ability to defend it. Otherwise, it's little more than a marketing tool.

se

All true as is the 18 month delay however the question is if the company has already filed with the PTO, there is no reason to continue to claim they will not tell us their "trade secrets". If they have filed it is only a matter of time until it becomes public knowledge and such disclosure will not effect their application.

 

[Steve Eddy]

All true as is the 18 month delay however the question is if the company has already filed with the PTO, there is no reason to continue to claim they will not tell us their "trade secrets". If they have filed it is only a matter of time until it becomes public knowledge and such disclosure will not effect their application.

Well, patents don't necessarily preclude trade secrets. At least not up to a point.

se

 

[spook76]

Well, patents don't necessarily preclude trade secrets. At least not up to a point.

se

Unfortunately patents, a creation of US Federal law, preclude "trade secrets" which is a common law protection under Stare law. One of the requirements of trade secret protection is non disclosure where as patent protection requires full disclosure. One must choose trade secret (like the formula for Coke) or patent protection but once someone files for a patent they have voluntarily surrendered trade secret protection.

Patents have a limited duration whereas a properly protected trade secret can be forever. That is why Coke has never patented the formula but relies on trade secret protection.

 

[mikeaj]

In lieu of any technical response from the company...
 
From the Facebook page:

"What is this product supposed to do, exactly?" HOT dramatically improves the sense that you are listening to an actual sound stage as opposed to music played in-between your ears. Question: Have you ever heard of a negative expectation bias Joel [previous poster]? SR users are among the most discerning and experienced audio consumers in the market. When they don't like what they hear, they don't buy. Period. [emphasis added]

Good to know.
 
 
Well, we got some nice spectrographs out of this adventure, anyhow (and by "we" I mean we're totally a team of other people spending money, other people using their time, other people using lab equipment, and me and the rest of us doing nothing, right?). But what with the upcoming electrical measurements, I believe their claims would be that you wouldn't see anything (much) different there if they want to be consistent with themselves. Then again,

  On their website,  Syn Res calls it a "filter"; in another post they call it a "passive conditioner"; in another place they call it a "transducer".  Is there anything in the world that is all 3 of those?

they aren't really being consistent.
 
But the whole transducer claim about converting "in this case, electrical to mechanical energy" should be clear enough. I mean, that's been mentioned multiple places, and "transducer" is in the name of the product. I think the main thing to check would be loss of electrical energy to the device. You can't produce any mechanical energy unless you're using some of the electrical energy from the amp, clearly.

 

[bigshot]

Let's all call a spade a spade. This company is full of hogwash. Anyone who gives them a penny is a sucker.
 
They created a $300 product that is two jacks wired directly together. If that doesn't tell you something, all the scanning electron microscopes in the world won't tell you anything.
 
The defenders have run for the hills. Stick a fork in it.

 

[Steve Eddy]

Unfortunately patents, a creation of US Federal law, preclude "trade secrets" which is a common law protection under Stare law. One of the requirements of trade secret protection is non disclosure where as patent protection requires full disclosure. One must choose trade secret (like the formula for Coke) or patent protection but once someone files for a patent they have voluntarily surrendered trade secret protection.

Patents have a limited duration whereas a properly protected trade secret can be forever. That is why Coke has never patented the formula but relies on trade secret protection.

Sure. Which is why I qualified it with "up to a point." By that I meant that trade secrets could be used for some functioning portion of the patent. For example with the HOT, you could say that the crystals are to be some sort of piezoelectric material, which would be fine for the purposes of the patent, but the exact formulation of the particular material you use could be kept a trade secret.

se