Bybee Quantum Purifier

[Negotiableterms]

In a thread in the McIntosh forum on "upgrades" for McIntosh gear, in a post by Victor, there's a reference to the "Bybee Quantum Purifier":

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1510280&postcount=54

I'd never heard of them before, so I took a look around to see what they were. Here's their website and another thread in the McIntosh forum:

http://www.bybeetech.com/DIYProducts.asp
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1101573#post1101573

Here's a review from 2002, which has some explanation of the tech, but not much:

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1202/bybee.htm

1. Has anyone ever heard them in a system?

2. Does anyone know anything about the technology itself?

Note: the usual TOL rules apply, meaning that if you haven't heard them, or don't know a lot about the physics that's said to be involved, shaddup.

 

[Fred Longworth]

The argument for the purifiers is based on the difference between correlated and non-correlated noise, and on the fact that certain materials absorb 1/f noise, which happens to be a pseudo-correlated noise in the crucial frequency domain up to approximately 2kHz.

If they work, they work; but I would think that to take advantage of them you would need for the rest of your system to be highly superior.

Fred

 

[Negotiableterms]

I wasn't actually thinking of adding them; rather, I just want to understand what they're supposed to do, and get opinions from folk who have actually heard them.

I'm still not sure I understand 1/f noise, but are there other materials that absorb it?

 

[RichPA]

I have not heard the devices, so I'm commenting only on the technical issue. 1/f noise is just pink noise, and it is often the case that up to some frequency (as Fred notes) the noise in electronic devices is 1/f, and above that is white noise. DC current through a device can generate 1/f noise (this is known as "flicker noise."). It would be interesting to know how noise with this spectrum can be selectively targeted - by blocking DC?

 

[stuartk]

(this is known as "flicker noise."). It would be interesting to know how noise with this spectrum can be selectively targeted - by blocking DC?

I wouldn't think so, since the noise is not actually DC.

Flicker noise evidently occurs in almost all electronic devices as a consequence of DC current being passed.

Since you can look at an AC current as a continuous spectrum of DC varying in voltage cyclically, I don't see how you would avoid the generation of flicker noise.

 

[Victor]

In a thread in the McIntosh forum on "upgrades" for McIntosh gear, in a post by Victor, there's a reference to the "Bybee Quantum Purifier":

While I was at David's house (The Upgrade Company) we listened to my McIntosh MDA1000 DAC with Bybees used on the XLR output. We both thought the MDA1000 sounded better without the Bybees. With the Bybees on the output the sound was a little veiled on the high frequencies. I decided not to use the Bybees on my equipment which saved me a little money.

David did say that the Bybees made improvements on much of the equipment he put them on but you just never know, some sounds better and some sounds worse with them.

Victor