This is a follow-up on the blog entry I posted a day ago on the little 'quantum tuning' black box from Happy Audio Visual.
A couple more days of listening to this 'quantum' box does not change my perception of its performance, it continues to be effective during night time at my place. I really love the way it freed my system from the effect of bad AC. A listening session each in the morning and in the afternoon also confirmed that its effect was not so pronounced at these time though there were still minor improvements, probably the Shunyata Hydra 8 could do the job appropriately and the AC quality wasn't so bad to start with.
As I am rather smitten by its performance, I made a call to the distributor, Mr. B.T. Gooi of Happy Audio Visual in Penang to find out more. Mr. Gooi turned out to be quite an affable guy. He confirmed that the unit is locally designed and made to his specifications by some electronics company in Penang (Penang has the reputation as the silicone valley of Malaysia). The price set is RM1,400/unit nett. Any out-of-towner who is interested may either call him (+60 4 2260179 or +60 12 4703365) or email him at btgooi@streamyx.com. You can also find the link to Happy Audio Video's website on the right hand side of this page.
He also offered a few tips on the unit's usage. He said that the unit should be placed on the floor and in front of your equipment, not on the equipment rack and not at the back. This way, it would give the best bass performance and the most balanced sound. These sounded rather tweaky to me but I did try it out, and I preferred the unit placed on the floor as he suggested, the sound was more solid and denser this way.
He also told me that to get the maximum effect, 4 units of the 'quantum tuning' device should be used (gulp!), the sound quality would be transformed, according to him. Naturally I would like to take him up on this. Let's see whether we can do a follow-up later when he has more units to spare.
I'd recommend anyone who suffers from bad AC to check this little black box out.
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26 comments:
Take the Hydra out of the picture, only then will you know how good it really is.
What's inside?
How about some pictures?
i agree with the 1st anonymous idea...compare with and without hydra...that would be good
Anonymous 1, shae,
Yes, you have a good idea. Unfortunately I can't do it with the 2 power outlets I have in my room.
Taking away the Hydra means I need to add a powerstripe for all the equipment but I do not have a quality one.
The fact that this little box could make a difference even with a Hydra already existing is more than good enough for me. :-)
Probably anyone else who has tried this unit alone can share their experience here.
Anonymous 2,
I do not know if the technology is proprietary so I rather not photo it. :-)
Anyone interested can call Mr. Gooi up, I assure you that he is a real nice chap to deal with.
Heard the unit this morning(11.00am, if you must know) at hifikaki's place. With the lil' black box in the system, it just sounded slightly cleaner in backgrounds and the mids gained a fuller density. It's a very subtle diference, but it's there.
It could be Enacom or Bybees, Happy audio likes to mod their gears with Enacoms. Anyhow I think the price is ridiculous. You can build a simple cap / CMC / choke filter for less than RM100 which can be equally or more effective.
If you really believe in this quantum thing, do yourself a favor and save yourself some $, go direct to the source and its a 5 min hack job to build it in your power conditioner, component, power cord etc etc..
http://www.bybeetech.com/DIYProducts.asp
I agree with anonymous,the sums of the parts might not be that much,BUT;
1]Not everybody is technically inclined-even they do a hobbyist job might give different resuls as compare to the pro.
2]What it is worth it or not depends on the individuals;for me I rarely get excited by what is inside,but always ask myself whether the sonic improvements are worth the money..YMMV
I am also like Kurien.
I used tu do quite a bit of DIY,especially acoustic treatment .while they do work I could never find the job to be qas good as the professionally done ones.
Eg of my fail project? bass traps ala Jon Rich;I borrowed my friends Asc bass traps and mine just vwasn'yt to the mark.in the end ,money wasted...
The point I am trying to make is that you can't recommend it without taking Shunyata out of the picture.
Anonymous,Why not.?
If you get further improvement using one of the best PC in existence,Why not??Imagine the improvementyou get in RG and the likes
Hifikaki,
I think Mr Gooi should explain the science behind the little black box (LBB).
His recommended placement of the LLB on the floor in front of the equipment appears to be odd to me as it is in the zone of greatest vibration and feedback.
If using 4 units of the LLB for optimum performance, how are the connections to the power grid?
Did you try different power cords to the LLB?
Lastly, the LLB reminded me of another locally made product - the Frank Acoustics M5Hz which also recommended parallel connection to the power grid.
I wonder whether they work similarly.
KM Ng,
Love the name you give the product,LBB
Anonymous of 10.38AM,
Though it'd be interesting, I'm not inclined to dismantle my power supply set up to carry out this test at the moment. If I do so at a later date, I'll definitely report it here.
Please take my recommendation in the context of my current system setup then. YMMV :-)
KM Ng,
I'd suggest that you call up Mr. Gooi to enquire about the technical details you are interested in. Get it straight from the horse's mouth lah, so to speak .
Ken also suggested that the LBB (you want to patent this name? :-)) be tried out with different powercords and plugged into the wall vs into the hydra 8. I can do these, I'll try them out later and report my observations.
KM,
No way someone would tell their secret and give away his rice bowl. Go and try ask those western companies and see what you would get.
Agree with above anonymous.
why do we have to be so defensive when one of us find something that works.When something comes from abroad we would be the first to embrace.Mr Gooi is really decent and knowledgeable and I am sure if Hifikaki says it works,it surely works..Will check out the Black thingy this weekend
Anon of 9:39PM and TB Loh,
You read me wrong.
I'm not doubting whether the LLB works for not.
And, certainly and definately not implying that since it is locally made, it is inferior to an imported one (where did I give you this impression?). FYI, I also have some locally made products.
Also, not asking Mr Gooi to reveal the LLB secrets.
But, merely asking some details on the LLB (sorry if the word science is too "big" a word).
Even "bizarre" accessories like Shun Mook and Acoustic Systems resonator cups have some science behind them which the designers did some explaining on how they work.
Send it to 6moons for a review, they frequently open up everything so that they can show the insides to let everyone check what's the science behind it. Over there, people have seen what's inside a Quantum Symphony Pro, an RR-77 and the likes. So far have not really seen a commercial clones of these products despite their secrets being reviewed. If there's nothing to hide, be open about it.
agree with above Anonymous. the seller should be able to explain the science behind it without having to divulge every single detail/secret behind the design. And he should not be afraid to show pictures of what is inside. Today we are living in the internet age, where shady marketeers and companies ripping off audiophiles have no where to hide. I can bet you, since Gooi is no designer (his main trade is selling gears and used hi end gears), this is just a repackaging of a commercial product that is worth much less than what it is. I am not dissing it for what it can do, but in all fairness, I hate to see fellow audiophiles pay more than what its worth.
I think in all fairness, if u want to try the device and understand the working principles behind just give Mr.Gooi a call. If u don't think it worth yr time to do it, just leave the gentlement alone.
I feel that the way the discussion is going seem like giving an impression that Mr.Gooi trying to 'cheat' us by selling a rip-off product. Our suspecious of him may not be true....
I would say if I have a chance to come across this device I will not hesitate to try it.
P.S: Thanks Hifikaki for highlighting this LBB.
Cheers,
Lim
well said, Lim.
I think we are being reasonable in the questions asked - for the manufacturer to shed some light on what this LBB is all about and how it works. I've just seen too many cases of how gullible audiophiles have been conned by manufacturers in this industry. In this case the recommendations provided by the manufacturer are not backed up by solid explanations - eg. 4 will perform better than 1 etc. I think all these challenges and rationalizing is good for us consumers.
Dear Anonymous 3:09pm, I know what you mean; the reality is our market work on "willing-buyer-willing-seller" kind of principle.
I must confess until today I cannot understand why Power Cord makes an audible difference in my system (serious), may be my limited intelligence is one of the factor here why I fail to fathom the working principle. You know what I am planning to get my 3rd PC!!! Every time I bought a PC I wonder what am I doing, but when I plug it in my system I just can’t remove it… shark..there I go again!!!
Anonymous your good intention is noted, I don’t deny I may belongs to the “gullible audiophiles” categories :)
Lim
Anon of 2.08am,
Since you saw the inside photo of a quantum symphony pro, can you explain its workings for us, please? do u think it worth the money they ask for? This is a genuine question, I'm not trying to act smart, thank you.
Hi Lim,
No need to thank me, just sharing the fun in our hobby. :-)
LMAO... are you guys the same person name Anonymous?
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