"Water is everywhere in our environment. It comes in several forms. In the air we express it as relative humidity and temperature. It also shows up in hygroscopic materials such as wood (natural or transformed into the MDF of our speakers), textile fibers, the inner walls of our houses etc. Then there's water on surfaces of waterproof materials such as metals, ceramics and glasses. In this case we speak of adsorbed water. Adsorbtion is a well-known phenomenon which makes molecules stick to materials. If you take any sort of material in a room, you'll have molecules stuck to it. That includes water molecules. What I discovered is that all of these water molecules connect because water loves water. It forms hydrogen bonds with its neighbours. One good example is with an astronaut aboard the space station.
"What happens to water molecules in our listening room? They all connect and present in/on each component by way of chassis, cables, electronic parts, PCB, speaker cabs, drivers and racks. We've known for years how these parts impact the sound quality. For me water links up these observations. Most audiophiles experience sound quality changes from day to day, even during the same day. At night the sound seems better for example. Is there an explanation via pollution on the AC or is this really an atmospheric effect? What makes some class A or tubes amplifiers sound good? Part of the answer could be dryness because they run hot. We all know the famous warm-up time of hifi systems. If we return to our water molecules in the listening room, what happens? Music is sound which is air in motion. More precisely, sound expresses itself as mechanical waves in a gaseous medium. No other forces are involved. What about our 1% water-based humidity? Does it follow the crowd of nitrogen and oxygen molecules or move in a more complicated scheme? My guess is that there's a problem with the acoustic emissions of our drivers perturbated by the presence of water molecules in the environment. Some kind of 'surface noise' presents at the interface of diaphragms and air and their coupling isn't as good as it could be. The more quiet the water molecules, the better the sound.
"My Origine B2 acts as a damper on those vibrations. This is particularly evident when we place it atop speakers. You feel that you hear less of the box and more of the drivers. But it also works in other places like the AC distributor, racks, floor and walls. Remember, all water molecules link up so interactions happen at some distance. I'm an electronic engineer. When I started what in 1998 became Neodio, I was convinced that good sound results from good electronic and mechanical engineering alone. It took me years and thousands of experiences to change my view. There are still phenomena we don't fully understand which nonetheless impact the sonic emissions of our loudspeakers. I'm sure of it. That's good news because perhaps one day, we can all enjoy fantastic sound each and every day; and not for a fortune. So the science of high-quality playback can still make a lot of progress." Even without any B2 on hand, we can now wear Stéphane's glasses, inspect our hifi's performance fluctuations relative to humidity and temperature and see whether we can establish a correlation between warmer or colder and moister or drier days.
A few extra words from Stéphane: "After transit, it is common that the B2's efficiency is decreased. The water molecules inside it are in a different state that those of your room. They must first link up. This of course is true for most other hifi products like cables and electronics. Before you use the B2, get them out of their Kraft boxes and let them settle in for 1-2 hours. Another point for with/without comparisons is that the B2 can already exert decent influence when left in their boxes. Those can be seen like 'coupling antennae' with the room. I once did a demo with a big carton full of B2 in the room. The sound was already good without unpacking them. To make such comparisons more efficient, I usually put unused B2 either on a polypropylene carpet or leather armchair. In all cases I put them so the M6 thread faces up to 'disconnect' them from the room." This just told us that the B2 is directional. The slightly protruding 'head' with the central thread must be in contact with whatever is to be treated. When placed atop speakers, shelves or racks, the 'body' side is up. When placed beneath speakers or components, the body faces the floor or support surface. We also have an unusual suggestion for what its break-in consists of: establishing connections between water molecules which the device can then 'disrupt' more effectively to minimize what Stéphane calls parasitic noise.
In our first Irish rental above, I reviewed the Julieta speaker from then Kroma Audio, today Kroma Atelier. Original principals Javier Milan and Miguel Castro had flown in to insure happiness with my setup. They were happy except for its noise. When they first complained, I hadn't an inkling what they could possibly mean. Javier's English was non-existent, Miguel's marginal. Eventually I grasped that they were critical of the HF reflections coming off the big bay windows facing Westport Bay. This confirmed when I closed their heavy light-proof curtains. My Spanish guests smiled, I frowned. Didn't they hear how this damped the sound and chocked off some of its energy? It was their turn to be puzzled. After a few curtain calls, they understood and agreed. For a happy median, I instead closed the curtains on the sidewall windows behind the speakers. They approved. Having been to Spain for Julieta's private launch party, I'd been to Miguel's home. His upstairs system had a solid treated wall behind the speakers and just one window way off to the side. He was used to a far more damped acoustic. What I heard as essential treble reflections which bestowed life and excitement on my tunes, he and Javier called noise. So people can share precise observations yet their reactions to them widely differ.
Two B2 on sub, one B2 fronting the Raidho X2t, none on sloping tops.
I was reminded of the Kroma tale when I tried B2 on Qualio Audio's IQ, Raidho's X2t then Zu's Soul VI in our media room. Stéphane's hockey pucks definitely did something. Ivette suffers mild tinnitus. That quickly magnified with the B2 in place. I had to remove them for good from the TV system we use together. My own experience was of an energetic damper. As with my bygone Julieta setup, I didn't fancy the effect. I simply reminded myself how what the B2 toned down someone else might just call parasitic noise? I also remembered my far more recent review of LessLoss' BlackGround. This mystery box was undeniably effective. I just didn't cotton to it. I subsequently reviewed the similarly mysterious Corelli Corundum by Akiko Audio. Just as potent but of a flavor shifted 180°, I bought my Corelli sample for my upstairs system. How did these boxes disagree with each other? The BlackGround softened leading edges then drew out decays so shifted the gestalt of music's progression through time from front to rear foot. Corelli energized the transients. My ear/brain perceived the LessLoss action as energetic brake on music's forward momentum so underminer of its PRaT, Akiko's effect as an accelerator. As I had with the Spaniards—open front-wall curtains, closed side-wall curtains—would I chance upon a B2 placement that split the difference to more appeal to my personal listening preferences? It was time to wear my beginner's cap again and get busy learning. Where was the 'do not disturb' sign for my listening room door?
