[woodsyi]

Brian,

A lot of talk about Bybee purifiers in mods and cables.   Would the ribbons on RM40 benefit by having a purifier in the chain?  If so, would there be any warranty issue if I soldered small silver slipstream purifiers at the binding posts?  I have already decoupled the woofers which I don't think would be as sensitive to small noises and, thus, not benefit much from a purifier (it would have to be the larger ones on the woofers

[Tyson]

On my 40's the bybees at the speaker cable level were a dramatic improvement.

[hmen]

On my 40's the bybees at the speaker cable level were a dramatic improvement.

 How do you attach them?

[ctviggen]

And what are they?  What do they do?

[woodsyi]

Here you go.

http://www.bybeetech.com/ourtech.asp

[ctviggen]

As I'm an engineer, that sounds like total hogwash to me.  Count me as being extremely skeptical.

[dfolson]

I am an EE, and should also be marked as a doubter.  I believe Brian used Bolder cables with Bybees on the CES system...  There may indeed be somthing about them, but I need to learn more.

Caution:  I also understand there are different sizes with different amounts of current capacity.  Be certain you are within the MFGs specification for your application  (I think the small slipstreams have a 4.5 amp max rating)

If anyone can supply me with a data sheet or technical specifications, I would love to see that.

David

[jermmd]

Bob,

I thought you were a lawyer.

I too am skeptical.  The truth is in the hearing.

Joe M.

[RGordonpf]

I have two pair of the original Bybee speaker filters.  I used them on my FF-3s and now my RM30s.  They make a subtle, but clearly audible improvement - a blacker background and cleaner highs.  The new slipstream filters are supposed to be better than the original filters, but I have not done any A-B comparisons.   YMMV

[Wayne1]

The Silver Slipstreams will work fine inline with the ribbon tweeters. I would not use them on the midrange panels. You would need to use the Large Bybees there because of higher current requirements.

I have used Bybees on my 626Rs since I received my first pair.

Tyson uses a pair of Bybee Jumpers for his mids and tweets. Turk has Bybees built into his speaker cables. I used Bybee jumpers on the RM-30s at RMAF. They DO make a difference in the sound. You may like it or not.

[satfrat]

As I'm an engineer, that sounds like total hogwash to me.  Count me as being extremely skeptical.

Hey Bob, go ask Byteme what he thinks of Bybee's?? He too was a doubter and had even tried them w/o any luck. I sent him one of my Slipstream Inlines and he has since changed his mind about Bybee's. I have 23 Bybee's in my HT system from my BPT to my video thru to my speakers. Guess you culd say I LOVE THEM. Trust your ears and keep an open mind,  Regards, Robin

[woodsyi]

It looks like some of you have had sucess with using Bybee purifiers at the speaker cable level.  For cost reasons, I am thinking of soldering 4 large quantum purifiers -- 1 each at the posive binding posts.  The purified signal will then go to the woofers directly and through the passive crossover to the ribbons.  This would save money over buying inline cable filters (biamping) but I won't do it if it voids warranty.  Brian, can you PM me with the answer to my original question?

[woodsyi]

Actually,  I could put a larger purifier directly upstream of the mid ribbon panels and a small silver slipstream purifier upstream of of FST, both downstream of the TRT crossover network.  This way the "purified" signal will go directly to the drivers without being altered.

[ScottMayo]

Here you go.

http://www.bybeetech.com/ourtech.asp

Hogwash. That they do something, I don't doubt. That they operate on electrons at the quantum level, using carbon no less, is certainly nonsense.

Someone should do an A/B with a frequency analyzer. My guess is a 100K resistor, designed to get warm without doing anything measurable at all.

I am reminded of the gold plated, electrically balanced, maximum-contact area, time aligned *120V power wall outlet* I've seen for sale, so you'll have something shiny to plug that $1000 power cord into. For only $189! An audiophile's DREAM!  


C'mon, folk. Stick to short runs of good quality decent gauge copper with low inductance, between the amp and the speaker, and don't try to out-clever good speaker and amp manufacturers. The fortune you save can go into better speakers.

[SWG255]

I too was very skeptical of the merits of Bybees for my RM40s and I'm still not sure the improvement I got after buying a pair of Wayne's Nitro jumpers made for the RM-40s with Bybees is due to the Bybees, Wayne's excellent cable or both. What I can say is that after installing his jumpers, the sound became more natural, especially with high-frequency percussive sounds like cymbals, bells and brushes. Cymbals heard live are often warmer in their overall sound quality than what one hears from recordings. These cables restore much of that "warmth" in my system. I do not believe the high frequencies are being rolled off, but rather the high-frequency "hash" which mars the sound of reproduced cymbals is reduced. They don't make bad recordings sound great, but the sound is improved on all the recordings I've played since installing the jumpers back at the end of June, beginning of July.

As for how the Bybees work, it sounds like mumbo-jumbo to me too, but as a sanity check, I took my jumpers to a friend's system which is different than mine in some ways, inclduing his speakers, JBL LSR-32 monitors and a Bryston 4B amplifier. His system is in his home studio where he has a drum kit at the back of the room. We recorded some drumming with lots of cymbal crashes and softer cymbal sounds and played them back through his system with and without the Nitro jumpers with the Bybees. We compared the sound through the system with the live cymbal sound right there in the room We both agreed that the reproduced sound of the cymbals was more "true to life" with the Nitro jumpers and Bybees in place. Sorry, I didn't (and won't) compare the Nitro jumpers with and without the Bybees, I don't want to take them apart after Wayne did such a nice job of reconditioning them. So, was it the Bybees, the Nitro cable or both? I don't know, but I can say that for my RM-40s and for my friend's JBLs, the jumpers were an audible and worthwhile improvement for both of us.

[woodsyi]

I have done a little research and with my educational background in physical chemistry, take a shot at how a  Bybee purifier might work.  I could be totally wrong,  partially right (partially wrong) or dead on right.  I don't know.   But, here it is.

1.   Quantum shot (Schottky) noise is real and measurable (in mesoscopic level).  
1a.  What can be measure in mesoscopic level must exist in macro level as well.
2.   This is frequency dependent by 1/f correlation unlike thermal white noise.  
3.   Discrete charge e propagates through metal lattice in a "degenerate but quantum-coherent Fermi sea of charges."  As charge travels from hole to hole,  the discrete quantum nature (probability of being in different states) of a charge produces shot noise.  
4.  Superconductivity reduces the dwell time of discrete charge in the quantum chaotic state (The Wire) and, in turn, reduce shot noise.  

I am guessing that a Bybee purifier is probably a high temperature granular superconductor (rare earth ceramic oxide) -- this can by DIY with a little specialized tools.    I don't know if signal passes through a copper wire surrounded by the purifier which acts as a inducer of supercondutivity, or the signal propagates through the purifier (superconductor) itself.  Either way, the signal coming out is rid of shot noise.  

I assume that "cleaned" signal will be subjected  to further noise as it travels through more wires.  This is why it is best to install Bybees as close to the signal destination as possible (so they claim).

This model also explains why a longer cable in anything would have correspondingly  "worse" sound than a shorter one even if the cable is of sufficient guage.  

What do you think?

[satfrat]

I assume that "cleaned" signal will be subjected to further noise as it travels through more wires.

Maybe this is why Jack Bybee wraps each Bybee with ERS?  AND why I have had so much good luck using both Bybee's and Z-Sleeves in all my applications.    Regards, Robin

[woodsyi]

Well,

I am going to try to out-clever a very good set of speakers.  A lot of what Bybee claims make sense to me.  At one time in my career I was on track to get a PhD in inorganic chemistry, but events in my life necessitated a few changes.  I now run a small business that has nothing to to with chemistry, but it allows me to indulge in a small way in music -- both live and reproduced.  

If all charges going through a conduit produce quantum noise (if they are measurable in mesoscopic level, they surely exist in micro and macro level) why not get rid of them?  Bybee claims that his purifier enhances formation of Cooper pairs (acting agent in superconductivity) to bypass the formation of quantum noise.  One way to test this would be to A/B an actual superconductor (chilly! )  and a known cable to see if there is a difference! .  But super chilling my cables will cost more than the cost of Bybee purifiers and my K88 tubes would work against keeping cold.  

So plunged into the abyss of apparently "snake oilish" audio enhancements and ordered 3 pairs of Bybee purifiers.  They will get here right after Thannksgiving.  I will put them in (Brian is graciously lettting me do this with warranty still intact for the sake of scientific experiment) my RM40s.  I will post my findings.  I will not be afraid to admit that I am a sucker if no improvement can be heard!  Or for worse, if sound deteriorates!  

[ctviggen]

Robin,

I'm not saying that Bybees don't work (although I'd like to hear the results for myself), I'm just saying that I doubt his explanation is right.  Search on the internet for Quantum Noise -- it's almost always related to semiconductors.  Anyone near CT that has two of the exact same items, one with Bybees and without, that can be switched back and forth (preferably by having two sources, one with bybees and one without)?  I'd be more than happy to do a double blind test.  Any less than that, and I don't think the test is valid.  (There has to be a very striking difference for me, which might not be true in this case.)

[woodsyi]

Bob,

Since I have committed to this "upgrade," I will do one speaker first and compare it with other one.   I can play a mono LP to make sure they are both getting the same signal.