I'm sure that every "Beltist" wonders about the nature of this phenomenon. After having witnessed how everyday objects, be they specially 'treated' or 'non-treated', can have an effect on the quality of their hearing and/or other senses. With questions such as; "Where does this mysterious phenomenon come from?" "Why does it exist?" "And why am I one of the few people in the world who know about it, or can attest to it??".
Well... this article isn't meant to address all those questions! But how about we start with this basic one: "Where does it come from?" Peter Belt, who first discovered this revolutionary phenomenon, initially supposed it was probably caused by EMI activity. Well, of course. That's what a trained audio engineer would be expected to think! But further experiments in the realm, disproved that hypothesis.
That is when Peter evolved to believe that 'the phenomenon' is tied to the very beginnings of our species on earth. That, to put it simply, our senses are 'under tension' as a 'fight or flight' response to the dangers in our environment. A mechanism which allowed us to survive and progress, as a species.
Well, I'm not here to discount that. It could well be a part of the story. And it's a complex story, to be sure. But when it comes to ideologies, I tend to hang on to things I can prove. And the rest is noise. I don't mind saying 'I don't know', if I feel I don't know. And I can admit that I'm wrong, if I find I'm wrong about what I believe. So I'm not going to try to answer the question as to how The Belt Phenomenon came about, why it exists, and all that it encompasses. That'll have to wait for next month, when I finally figure this all out... 😏
What I can say, with confidence, is that there are (observable) 'energy patterns', all around us. I used to think they travel in certain directions, across objects, like the march of army ants. My experiments, such as those consisting of sticking countless little arrows and letters across the surfaces of loudspeakers, and listening to the results of these efforts, convinced me of that.
But when you look through a keyhole, you just see what's in the room... in front of the keyhole. You don't see what's above, below, to the sides, or beyond. I can remember when I used to think the energy patterns traveled directly on objects. That was... until I observed that their effect could be sensed from inches above the object.
Then I tried to see how far I can stand away from the object, and still sense the effect of these 'stickers', or whatnot? That distance grew into several feet, until.... I moved far back enough, that I was on the opposite end of the room! Yet still, the effect of what I had placed upon, ie. the loudspeaker, could be felt. And that's about as far as I can go! I'm not going to jump out the window, to see how far the effect holds!
Or am I?..... 🤔
Why not? I did actually try experimenting in the garden outside. Which consisted of pouring treated water (that is, water where the vessel was treated), into the plants. And lo and behold, it had a positive effect on my sound. So the effects of Beltism do not end at the front door, as I once believed. Not that I think that I can walk three blocks, treat a street pole, then come back home and expect my sound to improve! (Nor have I tried doing so... 🤔).
But I have done 'treatments' in the middle of nature (which I detail in another article), with similar success. This tells me that the effects aren't tied to the home. Successful 'treatments' affect your environment. But your 'environment' could be your car, your home, or the middle of a forest. So I'm also not here to report that I have worked out how far you can be to the treatment you install, for it to have an effect on your senses!
All I can say for now is, I tried an experiment this summer in an alley, at the base of a three-story building. It had no discernible effect, in a listening test on the third floor of said building. However, the same experiment on the inside ground floor of that building, did indeed have a beneficial effect. Which begs the question.... if the 'energy patterns' of this tweak installation are distributing themselves over the entirety of this three-story building.... why does it not seem to have the same effect if placed on the outside of the building?
Now you know why these days, I hesitate to say that the 'energy patterns' "travel directly on objects". In fact, I become more convinced that they're not really "on" anything, but "in" everything! I do mean everything. Everything from a ham sandwich, to the very words I am typing on this screen. That's no joke, either. Little known fact: When I created "The Advanced Audiophile" website, I used/hid 'special pictures' on the first page. The idea being that I would have the only blog in the free world, where simply landing on the front page, will in some small way, improve the sound of your audio system!
But why exactly do I call them 'energy patterns'? Because Peter Belt did? Not quite. Simply because I observed this phenomenon for myself, and don't know what else to call it. Just to use one example out of countless ones, ages ago, I followed Peter's footsteps and applied different colors (of the same object), to another object (ie. black wire). I could repeatedly hear the differences in the sound, that the different colors effected. Consistently so.
Hint: It's what you think! Broadly speaking, brighter colours brighten the sound, darker colours darken it. The different colours, like sound waves, can be compared to different "frequencies". It's the same for different materials, as well. Which is also what you might think. Broadly speaking again, harder materials 'harden' your sound. Softer materials 'soften' it. For this reason, I would judiciously avoid metal audio stands, with glass shelves! They're more likely to make a trumpet sound like it's made of glass, rather than brass.
That, I think, takes care of the 'energy' part. All objects, if I haven't made clear, have an inherent 'energy'. Which, to an audiophile like myself, could also be thought of as a "sonic signature". It's well known that audio components have a 'sonic signature'. But, to The Belt Phenomenon, they're "objects" too! This "energy" an object 'holds', isn't necessarily static. It can change.
For example, freeze the object, and you've changed its energy signature. It now won't have the very same effect on your senses. Shine a light on the object, and guess what. You've done the same. Turn the object over. You've definitely changed something there! Just move the object a little, why don't you.... that changed something, also! But they're probably changing in small ways on their own... just by way of changes in room temperature, or whether it's dark or light outside.
Myself, I can hear differences depending on which way a battery is facing. Or which side a piece of paper is facing. Or, as I shared once on an audio forum, which side the Rega turntable's glass platter is facing. One side was definitely better than the other. They all screamed that I was nuts, to think there would be a difference. Of course, no one bothered to actually try the experiment on their turntables, to see if there was anything to it. But hey, what else is new? 🙄
You can't, and I can't, hear all changes naturally occurring, in our environment. I'll bet they are happening on a molecular level, as well. Meaning, their 'energy' is probably moving or changing form, without any outside stimuli. But if so, if there are no perceptible changes to be had, that is of no concern to me. It's challenging enough to find every day things or ways to manipulate 'The Energy', to a degree that is perceptible on the sense of hearing. To say nothing of how challenging it is, to also ensure that changes brought about are of a quality that is truly beneficial to music reproduction. Keeping in mind that not all audio researchers agree on what those qualities are, either. So there's that.... 😒
Now as to the 'patterns' part, that's real interesting... remember those little arrow and letter stickers I was talking about sticking on loudspeakers? They helped show me how this 'energy' we speak of, can be manipulated. Not once or twice, but, consistently. There are six sides to a speaker, and four directions to an arrow. You do the math. But don't count just four arrows to a side. That's only how I started out... How's this for math?:
This player took over 125 of those little "stickers" I was talking about... And though it's been at least fifteen years since, I can still recall what a profound effect it had on my sound, at the end of the experiment. Without even having to play anything on the player itself!
Though it may look like I went crazy with the arrow stickers... there is actually a method to the madness. They are not just grouped in specific patterns... but in patterns within patterns. Each arrow drawn in a particular direction. All of which were drawn on a 'particular' side of the paper. Starting from a 'particular' end of that side of the paper. Then the scissors were held in a particular way, cutting the paper from a particular direction. Finally, the 'sellotape' used to affix the 'stickers' to the object, was carefully pulled from its dispenser, and applied in a particular way. (Hint: The way in which it came off the roll).
In case you're wondering... the paper wasn't 'treated' in any way. Nor were the scissors, the Sharpie, or the tape. It's all stock. Not that it wouldn't have improved things, to 'treat' the tools first, with some P.W.B. devices, for example. But my goal was just to observe the effect of the patterns. Also, to see whether the conventional wisdom of "one treatment per device" would hold, in the face of dogged determination.
I'm making the experiment publicly available, but... I don't expect anyone to be able to reproduce my experiment (as is). Even if they were crazy enough to try! Even I wouldn't, today! It took a good bit of time to work out a "workable" pattern structure (that might yield a good sound). This was helped greatly by the fact that by this time in my 'audiophile career', I had long since learned how to 'feel' changes in this 'energy' I speak of. This is how I was able to work out patterns that worked. I originally starting doing the patterns with letters of the alphabet. With comparable results. But try then figuring out which direction an "O" is facing!
So with 4 possible directions to point each arrow, it just takes seconds per tag to determine the right direction, by feel. Just out of curiosity, I did a brief calculation, to figure out how long this disc player cover would have taken to treat, if I had to do actual listening tests, to determine what effect each direction for each arrow, in each pattern, would have on the sound. If you're curious, the answer is: 217 years. That's without bathroom breaks. Give or take a millennium. Good thing I had the good sense to try this after "The Awakening"!
So I think that example makes clear; this all has to do with patterns. It's about the way energy naturally travels over objects. And not going against the flow of that energy. Everything in our world is imbued with these natural energy/patterns, that affect human senses, in different ways. Some are (naturally) not that bad, in their effect on our sense of sound, (etc). So they might have a beneficial effect, without any special treatment or modification. Most are not good, though. And some that are not so good, could become better. Just in the way they are positioned, in relation to the way we are. Generally speaking, the more adverse something may be, to our senses, the greater benefit it can bring, if treated properly.
I could take as one example, the old ballasts (from fluorescent light fixtures) I found, in my stockpile of junk. Just about to toss them, when I thought... "Is this something that could improve my sound? I should 'listen' to it!". The ballasts themselves all responded.... "You should! You might be surrprisssed!", in a sing-songy voice. Weird, huh? 🤔
Of course, they were right. 😉 They did improve my sound, quite nicely. Without me having to do anything to them, in any way. Other than how I chose to 'install' them. That is, with the back plates facing upward, and the writing on the label lettering (on the bottom), facing away from me. This is important, because if I were to get either of these two choices wrong, it would have the opposite effect, than that desired. Tension would increase, and the sound would deteriorate, rather than improve.
The other difficult, but important thing, was choosing the location of placement. One went under (the middle of) my sofa, the other under (the middle of) my bed. There's quite a bit of energy stored in these things, and while they may not be lighting up fluro tubes any longer, it's nice that this energy can be put to some good use! Everything I have that makes music, agrees.
Another thing I found to have an inherently good energy, without even 'treating' it in any way, is a motor. I noticed that when I was repairing a fan motor recently, just from holding it in my hand. Unfortunately, the 'good energy' is only with the spindle facing downward, and the side with the wire leads facing me. This makes it awkward to lay flat on the floor. And if it sits at an angle, due to the spindle, it won't sound quite right. Nevertheless, I stuffed it in the bottom drawer of a cabinet, and what it's contributing to my sound is quite something. With all sorts of details coming out of well known music, not heard before. And so... another dead motor avoids the dump!
Of course, the good folks at P.W.B. Electronics have their own ways of making all these energy patterns play nice. I say thank goodness, because even after decades of this phenomenon being known, pretty much no one else is trying! Which leads back to the question... where does it (the energy) come from? Among other things, I can recall back when I might speculate that it could very well be, the 'life force' energy that the Chinese call "Chi" (or "Qi", if you'd rather).
Many Westerners might scoff at this and brush it off, because it's nothing you can see. Well, you can't see 'air' either, really, and yet.... 😒. Expert healers learn to manipulate this energy, and the whole practice is sanctioned by their government. Because it's basically a cheap form of health care. I mention this because, the 'hands off' healing process they engage in, does not seem all that dissimilar to the way that I can place my hand near (and not necessarily on) an object, and determine its relative level of energy. Still, I don't know and can't say, if we are both dealing with the same 'energy'.
I have a friend who is a Tai Chi master. And one time, he was demonstrating two styles of Tai Chi, for me. Neither of which I knew anything about. One was the "Qi Gong" style. The other was called the "Chen" style, I think. All I knew, was that when he was demonstrating the two, I found that I could actually sense not only an energy' from this, but a difference in the 'energy signature' between each style. And this, while seated several feet away.
I was not expecting to experience this, as audio and Beltism was the last thing on my mind. Also, because it was the first time that I sensed this energy, from a visual perspective. Rather than a physical one. I rarely use this 'sixth sense', but I know now that I can. I can, for example, scan the corners of a room, visually, and determine the relative energy levels present. This sometimes helps me locate things, for best effect. The 'energy' that was sensed during the Tai Chi session, or if I'm 'scanning' a room, is the very same phenomenon that comes into play, when I do "Beltist" type audio experiments and tests. Though it has nothing to do with sound, audio, and the like. As for whether it's the same thing the practitioners of "Chi" are dealing with, well... that's for them to know, and me to find out!
Another thought I used to have, as to the origins of The Phenomenon, was.... what if it comes from outer space?? Maybe it dances on the back of cosmic rays? Like a hip surfer dude, clinging to a surfboard? {insert Dick Dale surf guitar music here}. We're all surrounded by that stuff all the time, aren't we? Cosmic rays or not, there was a time when I was more or less convinced, that it was part of the universe. It 'had' to be part of what makes up the fabric of our universe. Maybe something from the very beginnings of time. The "Big Bang".
But... does it? Now, I'm not so sure. In fact, I'm (almost) sure it's not. Even though I'd be the first to say...
"If you think you understand Beltism.... you don't understand Beltism".
I say that, because one time, while it wasn't looking, I secretly followed the energy home. And its home, "it appears", is in the very opposite direction of outer space. Did you guess it by now? Yup. It's the earth! Good ol' terra firma. I wouldn't say that, if I didn't have a good reason to. It isn't a conclusive observation, after a drunken bender, for example. It comes after years and years of 'accidental' observations. Meaning, I couldn't help but notice... the 'energy' of which I speak, is 'lower', the lower you go.
And when I speak of "lower" Beltist energy, I'm not necessarily speaking of its 'frequency'. But of its effect on a certain kind of human tension. If I can find a way to lower the energy, I can feel a bit of a release of tension. Therefore, to me, "lower energy" = lower tension. And to an audiophile, the more it lowers tension levels, the better your sound gets. But, and this should not be diminished, this has benefits even for non-audiophiles, who don't even care for music.
These observations include me ripping leaves off the tops of trees that were hundreds of feet high in the air. Then comparing said leaves, to the ones at the bottom of said tree. The bottom ones "sound better", to put it one way. This, I found, could be repeated every time, in every possible way. The bottom leaf of a house plant 'sounds' better than the top leaves. The soil, even better!
This observation is in no way limited to plant life! The P.W.B Electronics Christmas card, sounds better on the floor, than on a table! A P.W.B. foil, sounds better on the ground floor, than it does on the third floor. Better in the basement, still. A component plugged into an array of vertically oriented RCA phono inputs on the back of an amplifier, will likely sound better in the bottom inputs, than one of the top ones. Even on a horizontal plane, top and bottom matters. e.g. As I move my fingers from the top row to the bottom row of a computer keyboard sitting on a desk, guess which alphanumeric key on the keyboard has the best energy?
Wrong! It's the spacebar! ☹️
But that does not mean that if you add some spaces to your mp3 filename, the music will sound better. Because I find that actually hitting the key has the opposite effect. The energy 'rises' then, and feels worse. Of course, there are ways 'under Beltism' to make an mp3 file sound better. But that ain't it. To be clear, it isn't just "up and down" that matters, as the energy is still directional, in all senses. And that can change, depending on your position.
For example, if I have my left palm open toward me, and I touch the tips of the fingers on my left hand with the index finger on my right, the 'highest' energy is in my left hand pinky finger (on the utmost right). Then, with each finger that follows right to left, the energy gets lower. So that my left thumb has the 'lowest' energy.
However! If I flip my left hand so that the palm is facing away from me, the energy received when touching the same fingers with the same right hand index finger, changes. So that now, my left hand thumb has the 'highest' energy, and the left hand pinky, the lowest.
But... the 'energy scale' does not feel the same, as when the palm is facing me. When the palm is facing away from me, the energy feedback from touching all fingers shows an increase in tension. So it makes sense that, when I hold both my palms up facing away from me, more tension is created by that energy, than when I hold them up facing toward me.
But it may be interesting to note, that when I bring my palms together, in a 'prayer' gesture, there is even less tension than when they're facing me. So is there a 'spiritual component' to this? No! For when I release the palms and simply hold my hands by my side, tension is lowered further, thus the energy is better still. That seems consistent as well, because that gesture makes them lower to the ground.
But, enough about body parts, this is about audio, after all! Directionality comes into play in all aspects of sound (/senses), and as a subset, audio sound and equipment. As every room in a home, and every side of every room, has its own 'energy signature'. Therefore, there is always one room and one side of one room, that will make a better 'connection' with a hi-fi system.
That is, apart from the aspect of directional acoustic waves in a room. One thing that differentiates this 'Belt Effect', is that it will be heard on headphones, as well as acoustic loudspeakers. (Although, the reverse may be true as well.... ahem). When it comes to the stereo itself, say, an amplifier where all of its inputs are oriented horizontally, as most are, there is going to be a difference between the leftmost input, and the rightmost inputs. All else being equal.
I don't know if I've tested at some point to see which side of a component might be consistently better. But if I did, I don't recall. Perhaps I hesitate to give a definitive answer on this, because it could depend on which way the component itself is oriented (with respect to the listener - not just the room).
But because there are differences in sound qualities to be had, depending on where the input/output jacks are located on an audio component, I don't necessarily plug a device into an amplifier, according to its label. For example, if I find the rightmost input has a better 'energy' than the leftmost, then ie. the CD player will go into that one. Instead of the one marked "CD".
Might confuse things a bit at first, but for me, better sound is more important than getting all your ducks in a row. For similar reasons, the best audio stand out there?... is no audio stand! Having the components directly on the floor, is generally likely to yield the best overall sound. (By that I mean, where it counts...).
Not only because you're eliminating the negative (energy) impact of the stand itself. But because of the positioning, of the components. Of course.... this is not very practical, is it! You'd need a lot of room to have all your gear on the floor. Not to mention the difficulties of bending down, every time, to access it.
So, while I do have a number of treated objects that I keep on the floor of my place, to improve my sound (almost all of which are not audio devices), I still have to have much of my gear on stands. Nevertheless, it "stands" to reason that, your most beloved components, might do better on the lowest/lower tiers of your audio stand. As the further you go from earth, the worse it gets.
Now, I am not advocating that we all live on a pig farm, and then, our audio sound will be good. But... what if we could bring the pig farm to us? Sorry, I mean... "the farm"? For example... I have a friend who has a vegetable farm. I had her give me some of the soil, from her farm. I laid out the soil across a flat surface, then took a piece of packing tape, about 6" long, and lightly 'dusted' the tape, with the soil. Then, placed said tape, in a particular vertical fashion (two choices here), under my loudspeaker.
And there you go. "Farm fresh" sound! Yup. It did some good things to it. I wouldn't go crazy with this, but... it's an easy enough thing to experiment with. I suppose it could work with regular old house plant soil. I just didn't try that one. And by 'work', I don't mean "sound the same". I'm sure different soils 'sound' different.
So it's one thing to place audio components on the floor, in order to achieve a better sound. But what about the floor itself? Could that be used to improve our sound? You do know where I'm going with this already, don't you?.... Yup. Treating the floor. Gives a new meaning to the phrase "floor treatment". This floor treatment however, is an attempt to 'improve' the energy of the floor, and everything on it. You 'improve' that energy, by doing whatever it takes, to favour your body's relationship to it. aka "lowering tension".
For most, this means using a P.W.B. audio treatment device, on the floor itself. I suppose some things that could work here, might be... P.W.B. foils, creams, and the like. It might be best to choose "discreet locations". Where people would not walk on. Such as, under a fridge. A rug. A Barcalounger. That ugly statue no one ever moves. But that's relative to what objects are in your home.
Where is the best location relative to the way the energy travels? Well... I have long since found that Eastern locations in the home, have the best energy. That is... until this summer, when I did an experiment in front of a door... and that door was situated on the West side. At that time., I found it a better location than the East side.
So, is the West the best? Jury's still out, on that one! It could just have been because it was the exit door to the building. Speaking of which, doors themselves, have a particularly peculiar energy. So maybe, the floor, relative to the door, might be best. I say 'peculiar' because... I found the better energy spot on the outside of my front door, as opposed to the inside. But not directly near the door, as I would have expected! Rather, the better spot was about a foot away from the door. I noticed the same thing, with the kitchen door on the opposite end of the house.
Door handles have an even more particularly peculiar energy. It's like… a deeper energy? Well, let's just say it's not the same as the door itself. I'm not sure if they would make good locations, to do 'treatments' on. I haven't tried.
Fridges also have a very special 'energy'. I think that's something that's already well known, in the world of 'the Beltists'. It may be why I found a good spot in front of the fridge door, as well. Under the fridge is a good location too, for a Beltist 'energy tweak'. But I save my best treatments, for the back of the fridge (on the outside), or back of the freezer floor (on the inside). If a fridge is good, then you would think a stove is even better!
Doing something to improve the energy signature of a stove, should create a nice 'warm' sound, should it not?! Well... I don't know. Last fall, I 'scanned' my stove (while it was cold). That is, feeling around to see if I could 'spot' good locations that gave good energy feedback. I found none. Maybe that would have changed once it's heated up. But that gets a little tricky... I did however like the energy I was 'reading' from the floor, in front of the stove - if that's anything. We'll mark that one; "to be determined".
To be sure, I have a lot to learn about how directionality affects our senses. Both the direction of objects relative to us, and us relative to other objects. I'm training myself, by seeing how reliably I can tell the left earpiece from the right, when installing earphones, without the benefit of looking. ;) I'll take it a step further and say, I have a lot to learn about all this stuff, that dictates how our environment can and is constantly affecting our sense of hearing, and such. (In fact, I may not have enough of a lifetime, to learn about the "and such"!).
I think it's safe to say, most people don't ever notice those constant changes in both tension, and the quality of sound they're hearing, as it occurs quite naturally, and quite subtly. I don't blame them. It can take a long time before you can confidently identify those changes. Even so-called 'audiophiles' may not, because they're trained to hear other kinds of changes.
Even for me, a "so-called advanced audiophile" 😏, hearing non-audio changes in sound, does not come naturally. Or frequently. Because I'm not used to doing "listening tests" on everyday sounds. But yes, there are certainly times when I have improved my sound through some 'Beltist' means, enough that I can hear the specific changes (in my hearing) introduced by that sound. ie. I might notice the differences in the sound of water flowing from the bathroom tap.
For this reason, I have always argued against blind/AB/ABX/ABC/Double-blind/Triple-blind/Quadruple-blind etc. audio tests. Because that requires a different sort of self-training altogether. As it is an inherently different experience, than a normal sighted listening session. For those who don't have such training and experience with those controls, only gross changes may be recognized. Could this be the reason people think loudspeakers are the be-all and end-all of good sound??
When all is said and done, I like the fact that I still have a lot to learn about the wonderful world of Beltism. Whether it's through the use of audio accessories from P.W.B. Electronics, or whether it's through my own experimentation. I almost always find that when I embark on such experiments, I learn something new. Which tells me there's a lot to learn. Limited only by time. It must be that, which has held my interest in this pursuit for decades running....
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