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From: wmartin@STL-06SIMA.ARMY.MIL (Will Martin)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end
Subject: Magic Clocks
Message-ID: <9943@uwm.edu>
Date: 5 Mar 91 13:59:00 GMT
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Well, does anyone out there have anything to say about this business of
digital clocks affecting the sound of a high-end system? In case this
elicits the same "huh?" response I gave when I began reading the March '91
Stereophile, let me elaborate. As I understand it, somebody began
marketing a Radio Shack digital clock (one with big digits, either the 63-766
or 63-808, not sure which but probably the former) at some hefty multiple
of the original R-S price, claiming that it had been altered to somehow
"smooth the electron flow" and that plugging this thing in would make your
system sound better, grow hair on bald heads, stave off falling meteors,
and produce world peace...

Anyway, Stereophile's "Industry Insider" column has mentions of this in
the May and October 1990 issues, and the March '91 issue has a review of the
Tice "T.P.T. Clock", a $350 modified Spartus digital alarm clock, and an
editorial discussing this phenomenon. Tom Graham here on this list alluded
to this subject in a posting "Worried about Stereophile" back on 1 Feb 91,
but I haven't seen any other discussion on the subject.

People at Stereophile took apart the Radio Shack rebranded/repriced clock
and reported that it was not modified physically. But then they stated
that an ordinary Radio Shack clock *also* had an effect of improving the
sound of the test system! At $25 it was a reasonable tweak, even if 
totally inexplicable -- it's an OK clock, after all...

The Tice clock seems to be "modified" in a non-physical way. Like the maker
waves his hands over it and chants incantations, or sprinkles it with holy
water, or takes it with him when his friends from the astral plane abduct
him in their saucer-shaped craft... (The process seems to be secret.)
Tice's comments in the "manufacturer replies" section explicitly state
that there is no relation between the cost of the "treatment" and the
price charged for the product.

Now, on the whole, I would ascribe the perceived changes to the placebo
effect, and dismiss the issue as further evidence that audiophilia =
insanity. But I would like to get the subject tied down a little more
firmly in the details. So I have some questions. Does anyone have answers?

1) These are not placed in the AC line between the mains source and the
system-power input, if there is a single one. So what is the method of
connection? Are they supposed to be plugged into the *same circuit* as
the hifi system? What if the system has its own dedicated circuit? Or
is it physical nearness that matters? That is, is the clock supposed to
be in the same room as the system? If so, same room as the speakers or
the electronics? (Mine are in separate rooms, and many others are also
so split.) How is "room" defined here?

2) Has anyone read the Tice "T.P.T." literature and could you summarize
its claims? What about claims from other vendors?

3) This sounds more like something from Auntie Enid at TAS than from
Stereophile. My TAS subscription is in a state of flux right now and
I'm waiting for some back issues to arrive in the mail. Has this stuff
been discussed in TAS, and can someone point me to issues and article
titles or page numbers? Or has TAS avoided this?

4) Have any of the other esoteric publications embraced this? I haven't
been seeing any except TAS, Stereophile, and $ensible Sound for some
years now. I thought Hi Fi Heretic was the only other high-end mag in
current production. Are there others still coming out?

Hmmm... If we can get the people who have the transcendant inner ability
to perform this process and impart these magic characteristics to
electronics to cooperate, we can have a parallel to the "blessing of the
animals" at hi-fi shows, as long lines of audiophiles lug their components
and household appliances into the sanctuary, dropping their offerrings into
the plate and passing their gear under the curtain into the presence of
the modifier, who will perform the ritual and pass the cured component
back out to the waiting arms of its owner... :-)

Regards, Will
wmartin@stl-06sima.army.mil