We are facing the wide, chaotic and criticized world of the audio hi-end accessories. It is a world populated by futile and unnecessary objects, as any human being not fond of quality Hi-Fi might say.
And what about the exorbitant amounts of money, he/she can add, that the poor audiophile is eager to pay just to own those insignificant objects? How can the enthusiast explain to the rest of the world the advantages of rare and precious spikes and cones to put under the audio components?
How is it possible to make clear the difference among teflon, cotton, nylon and rubber in the turntable belt-drivers? Or the differentiation you can appreciate by using a very expensive main cable or any speaker or signal cable? How come, to put in plain words, that a loudspeaker stand or a table for electronics “plays” in a different way depending on the material? All those tubes of various dimension scattered around the room, what are they for?
In a word, we can say that our wives and partners are right when they consider us as psychologically unstable people with acoustic perceptual hallucinations. I must also add that, in some brief and rare lucid moments, I find myself looking sad and wretched at my listening room and my system realizing that my madness is a serious matter.
Luckily, these moments are very short and I recover quickly. I think about the unavoidability of sound absorbing panels on the walls, I think of the huge number of cables I own, of record players with the weight of hundred kilos lying down on wood, lead and talc small tables...
That being stated, I would say that if I am here reviewing the Acoustic Revive RD-3 demagnetizer, is because I tested its performances and usefulness at Audiokit's in Aprilia. The owner is Mauro Zeppilli who is well known and recognised in Lazio, by every DIY, as the "pusher" for quick and sure supply of electric and electronic components, as well as speakers and cables of every sort and brands.
Mauro plays a five-inch disc before and after the treatment with the RD-3. I become immediately convinced.
The next step was asking the gear to Audio Azimuth by e-mail, and they sent it to me in less than twenty-four hours, via carrier.
Now has come the time to tell you that the Acoustic Revive RD-3 is a demagnetizer for optical supports.
You just have to connect the RD-3 to the mains and switch it on. Then put the disc label face down onto it and press the red button. A few seconds later, the green led switches off and the treatment is finished. Now let us do the same to with the other side of the disc.
Even if made of plastic, the support for digital signals has some sensitive elements to direct and induced magnetic events, as the colour inks for label printings, which contain iron, cobalt or nickel and that can easily become magnetized. Besides, the aluminium is not magnetic, but the aluminium alloy plate that supports the recording of the binary signal is, because magnetic are the metals used for the alloys.
I cannot really explain in any adequate and reliable technical terms which is the negative influence of a disc with too many magnetic charges and how it becomes magnetized. I can imagine that the proximity to the common magnetic flows induced by the passages of energy, as usually happens in the transformers inside the audio equipment, or the nearness to magnetic locking systems, can certainly influence, from a magnetic point of view, all the metallic substances of the disc. I can just speculate that those magnetic fields can somehow annoy the system of the optical tracking group. In fact, a French audio magazine has tested the RD-3 pointing out the difference of the logarithmic corrective intervention on the same disc before and after the antimagnetic treatment. The result has been a lower number of corrective interventions after the treatment.
Aware of my partial knowledge in this specific technical field, I get on with the listening test of the RD-3 demagnetizer. I started with a short piece of music recorded on a normal disc, which only later has been demagnetized and replayed. Same thing with several other discs. Well, I made the most of it, and I have demagnetized lots of them. Then I have made my tests with five different systems. The range of outcomes goes from the simple appreciable, through the striking, to get to the sensational.
The sensorial analysis concerns an increase in the dynamic contrast, which, therefore, affects the resolution of the detail, probably thanks to an improved tracking of the digital source from the optical laser group, and with the strong feeling of more musical information in the musical message. The soundstage too has improved in terms of enlargement of the three-dimensional space, clearness and focus of the image. It is like changing the normal signal or power or main cable with one of higher quality, capable of giving the sound results that I have just described.
I cannot obviously resist testing also video DVD and bluray discs. This is because I have recently found out that the full-HD high resolution is very fascinating. As lector bluray I have chosen a Play Station 3 using its optical output to connect it to the digital converter, rigorously with two channels. As monitor, a forty inches LCD Full HD Sony Bravia.
Well, believe it or not, also with the video discs the demagnetized effect of the RD-3 are evident. In a higher rate with the DVDs, which have revealed more precise outlines and a more limpid imagine together with a soundtrack more convincing in terms of general audio quality. I have listened/seen for the umpteenth time “Across The Universe” a film that, strangely, has not got the success it deserves.
Hence, it is useful to make the treatment to every kind of support like CD, HDCD, SACD, CD-R, MD (except the magnetic supports like compact cassettes, VHS or Mini VHS C). The results are also excellent with a previous treatment of the recordable discs before making the digital copies. But there’s something else, though.
As suggested by Acoustic Revive itself, I have tried to demagnetize also the signal cables and the connectors of the power cables, obtaining the same positive results I have got with the discs.
Briefly, treating the components with the RD-3 could be a good practice for the hi-end enthusiast who, notoriously, can appreciate not only the slight sound improvements but can also recognize the economic law of the Marginal Utility, so to accept an exponential increase of the budget in order to get also the small improvements along the way.
In conclusion, with a small cost, if compared to what normally we pay for many hi-end components, you can get great results with the RD-3.
Official technical specifications:
Input voltage:100V
Size:160x56x198mm (WxHxD)
Weight: 650g
Patent Japan:No.2942760, USA:No.6058078, Taiwan:No.110354
Official Italian dealer: to Audio Azimuth website
Official current price in Italy: 430.00 EUR
Associated equipment: to Roberto “The Rock” Rocchi's system
RIGHT OF REPLY | MANUFACTURER'S FEEDBACK
Dear Sirs,
Thank you very much for the nice test and review of Acoustic Revive RD-3 disc demagnetizer.
We think your review and comments are poking splendidly the place which the product designer is just aiming.
Thank you very much.
The exporter of Acoustic Revive:
Yoshi Hontani, Managing Director
22/09/2011
