[SteveFord]

More for static electricity than anything else, I'd think.
I did own a Bedini CD Ultra Clarifier and for the short period of time that it did work, the results were audible on my system.

John Bedini's "Scalar Beam" device
Here's a suggestion for "scalar" experiments from a conversation with John Bedini.
Mr. Bedini encourages everyone to try this experiment, but warns us that this device
is patent applied for, so you should only build a single unit for your own use.
     - Bill Beaty, 1/21/95


LINKS:
Reproducing this experiment
Magnet Spec
J. Bedini's pages
****************************************************************************
                      EXPERIMENTING WITH SCALAR FIELDS
****************************************************************************

        _______
      |\        \
      |  \        \
      |\   \        \
      |  \   \ _______\ S
       \   \  |       |      Obtain two Radio Shack ceramic magnets and
         \   \|_______| N    glue their north pole faces together.
           \  |       | N
             \|_______|
                        S
 

            _______          Wind the magnets with about 50 turns
          |\   \\\  \        of #30 magnet wire.  Wire gauge is not
          |  \  \\\\  \      critical.
          |\   \  \\\\  \
          |  \   \ _\\\\__\
           \   \  |  |||| |
             \   \|__||||_|
               \  |  |||| |
                 \|__||||_|
                     \  |      ________
                     |  |     [ small, ]
                     |   -----[ noisy  ]----------o
                     |        [_motor__]           6v to 12v power supply
                     |
                     |____________________________o

The brush noise from the DC motor provides a pulse signal to the coil,
which modulates the 'colliding' field pattern of the magnets and creates
interesting scalar effects within a narrow pencil-beam pattern which extends
from each face of the magnet out to a few inches.

            _______
          |\   \\\  \
          |  \  \\\\  \
          |\   \  \\\\  \
  <<<<<<<<<<<\   \ _\\\\__\>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> scalar effect comes from the
  <<<<<<<<<<<<<\  |  |||| |>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> joint between magnet faces
             \   \|__||||_|
               \  |  |||| |
                 \|__||||_|
                     \  |
                     |  |
                     |  |
                     |  |


Mr. Bedini suggests these experiments:

    Purchase two identical music CDs.  Listen to both to verify that
    they are identical.  Now let the "scalar beam" play all over the
    surface of one of the CDs for about one minute.  You may want
    to build a simple rotating platform to make this process more
    convenient.  Now play the two CDs and compare them again.  Hear
    any difference?   (Note, this process is patent pending, so do not
    use it for any other purpose except to demonstrate the reality
    of the effect)

[jneutron]

Very odd.

Define "scalar effect" please.

The magnets are glued into a configuration we call "skew quad".

The coil is wound in what we call "skew dipole".

The brush "hash" will for the most part, be ignored because of the inductance of the windings.

The dc component of the current will cause a very slight offset of the skew quad field.  This offset will be along the direction of the glue joint, and will be extemely small, on the order of microns.  Most good ceramic magnets can produce a tesla or two  at their surface, but the coil will produce gauss level fields, roughly 4 orders of magnitude below the magnets.

So, other than the creation of a skew quadrupole field, and a very slight bit of solenoidal field with noise, what is this thing supposed to do?

Cheers, John

[SteveFord]

I believe that this is what's inside of the Bedini Clarifiers.  I can't say for sure as they're glued shut and I think that Bedini has gone out of business.
I'm going to give one of these a shot, though.  Worst comes to worst, I waste about 30 bucks and a few hours of my time.

[NagysAudio]

Complete and utter nonsense. I've tried the Bedinis' before and none of them made any difference whatsoever. CDs are made out of plastic and aluminum, there's nothing magnetic in them to begin with. And there's nothing rubbing on them like on a record, so there's no static either.

[jtwrace]

Complete and utter nonsense. I've tried the Bedinis' before and none of them made any difference whatsoever. CDs are made out of plastic and aluminum, there's nothing magnetic in them to begin with. And there's nothing rubbing on them like on a record, so there's no static either.

How do you really feel?  Ya' know, some say the same about cables...

I'm just sayin'.

[srb]

I recently received a "cutout" CD, and tiny plastic fragments from the punched out notch in the spine were stuck to the CD surface by static electricity.
 
I was curious, so I took a paper-thin sheet of packing foam and cut off some small bits.  I took a CD from my collection and held it above the bits, and they jumped to the surface of the CD like magic.  Or like static.
 
I suspect that the spinning of the CD might accumulate a small amount of static.  Now whether static electricity can affect CD laser playback, I have no idea, and I'm one of the last people to believe in this "horse hockey".
 
But static does exist on plastic optical discs.  I'm just sayin'.

[turkey]

Complete and utter nonsense. I've tried the Bedinis' before and none of them made any difference whatsoever. CDs are made out of plastic and aluminum, there's nothing magnetic in them to begin with.

+1

[NagysAudio]

If cables were all properly made for the specific intended use, they would all sound fairly similar, but... Many expensive audiophile cables are made wrong and they actually sound worse than $10 Best Buy cables. Hanging shields, battery powered shields, small gauge speaker wire, braided cables, cables without shields, 2 conductor interconnects with hanging shields, RCA connectors that only have a single metal contact on the shield connector (poor RFI and EMI shielding), cables made out of poorly conductive metals like tin, gold, rhodium, aluminum, etc., improperly terminated high frequency cables like digital and video, speaker wire with the conductors spaced far apart, directional AC cables (let me repeat that again, DIRECTIONAL "ALTERNATING CURRENT" CABLES!!!!!) etc., etc., etc.

[SteveFord]

I thought the whole idea was ridiculous as well until I tried one that was out on loan on a road show.
To make sure that I wasn't imagining things I enlisted the ears of my better half and then a local audiophile fellow as well who was purchasing a spare set of Maggies from me. 
All of us heard an improvement in the sound.
Be that as it may, I believe that this is what Bedini was using so I posted it here if anyone wishes to give it a go.  Perhaps a ZeroStat gun or bulk tape eraser would work equally well if not better.

[turkey]

I thought the whole idea was ridiculous as well until I tried one that was out on loan on a road show.
To make sure that I wasn't imagining things I enlisted the ears of my better half and then a local audiophile fellow as well who was purchasing a spare set of Maggies from me. 
All of us heard an improvement in the sound.

People see UFOs too...

[SteveFord]

Nice site.

[turkey]

Nice site.

I was just pointing out that a person's (or a group of people's) seeing a UFO is exactly like your having heard an improvement in the sound at that road show. They're both interesting, but not of value without some supporting evidence.

[nathanm]

I would like to offer to waste anyone's time for $29.  Please specify how much time you would like wasted (1 second to 5 minutes) and send in your payment.  I will do whatever I can to waste your time.   Such services may include but are not limited to:

1) Telling you your stereo sounds awesome.
2) Closing my eyes, slowly smiling and gently tapping my foot while listening to your favorite song.
3) Concentrating very hard on problematic bass frequencies until they go away
4) Removing static cling from your laundry and\or CDs by means of a Jedi mind trick

Time wasting usually occurs over the phone or by e-mail, but if additional travel expenses are provided I can waste your time in person.

Thank you!

[art]

If cables were all properly made for the specific intended use,

snip..............

improperly terminated high frequency cables like digital and video,  etc., etc., etc.

You mean like folks who claim their RCAs are 75 ohms? Spare us the marketing think-speak, ok?

Pat

[steve k]

I thought the whole idea was ridiculous as well until I tried one that was out on loan on a road show.
To make sure that I wasn't imagining things I enlisted the ears of my better half and then a local audiophile fellow as well who was purchasing a spare set of Maggies from me. 
All of us heard an improvement in the sound.
Be that as it may, I believe that this is what Bedini was using so I posted it here if anyone wishes to give it a go.  Perhaps a ZeroStat gun or bulk tape eraser would work equally well if not better.

I use a Bedini Ultra Clarifier that a friend gave me when he moved up to the Acoustic Revive which has been positivitely reviewed. While it works much faster than my Bedini, which is on its last legs, the difference both make in the sound of CD's is quite noticeable on his and my systems. The discs sound clearer and quieter after demagging.

The theory put forth by Acoustic Revive is there are ferric compounds used in many colors of the inks used for the disc artwork. Also the aluminum used in the disc itself is not 100% pure and has some ferric elements in it from processing. These are what carry a charge and tend to magnetize the disc after many playings.

I trust my ears and I here the difference.
steve

[NagysAudio]

Pat, there are no true 75 ohm RCA connectors, but I can properly terminate any RCA connector and any cable, i.e. 50 ohm, 75 ohm, 110 ohm, etc., and make it work in a 75 ohm interface. And that's just because I know how to do it

[srb]

I trust my ears and I here the difference.

But did you hear the difference?
 
I had a Bedini Ultra Clarifier in my possession for awhile, and though, I too, trust my ears, it did nothing that I could discern.  And now I don't spin CD's anymore anyway.
 
Steve

[steve k]

I stand corrected. I did "hear" the difference. I thought it was more noticeable with some CD's than others but it was noticeable enough for me to use the Bedini all the time now.
steve

[srb]

I did "hear" the difference.

Yes, some people hear a difference and others don't.
 
Do you have a DVD player?  If so, did you notice a difference on video?  The literature claims "When used on video, the Quadri-Beam creates a picture that is brighter, sharper, crisper and cleaner."
 
Steve

[steve k]

Yes, some people hear a difference and others don't.

Exactlly. That's why I felt compelled to come to SteveFord's defense after he was so quickly dismissed by the experts.

No, I've never used it on a DVD. I don't watch enough video to bother with it.
steve