Akiko Audio tuning sticks

Does anyone have any experience of these devices?
Saw then on HiFi Pig latest news and read some of the reviews
Looks interesting and reasonably low price.

Sounds like snake oil:
“The tuning stick’s contents are stabilized with black resin, a material which sufficiently suppresses microphony effects. This is an important condition for a calm and pleasant rendering of the music. On top of that the fine metal foil sticker is energetically treated which causes it to contribute on a sub molecular level. This is comparable to the WA Quantum products also available in our web shop. Because of all this Akiko Audio Tuning Sticks are excellent value for the money. Furthermore each tuning stick is designed and made by hand in our studio in Maastricht, so no import from China. Handmade in Holland”
All the magic is there - quantum, sub-molecular, fine metal, energetically treated.

Yes I read that on their website.
however several reviews say that there is a noticeable difference when using these and the sound is more “analogue”
Just wondered if anyone has any experience of them
At approx 130 euros it might be worth trying

The reviews that I have read seem to be in the more outer-reaches of the audio review world.
Rather amused by https://www.audioholics.com/gadget-reviews/akiko-audio-tuning-stick.

And:
The tuning sticks are filled with a mixture of crystal gemstones that Marc claims have a natural ordering effect on electromagnetic radiation around speaker cables and power cords. The content are then stabilized using black resin, which suppress microphone effects. Marc explained that the crystal lattices of these naturally occurring stones are points of intersection between straight lines in a three-dimensional network.

But no, I have had no experience with them.

Tell me you’re joking - please?!!

Do they make feet for network switches or Ethernet cables?

Who knows though … never tried them at home & doubt I ever will. I must admit I don’t understand why where they are made is important as long as they are identical.

The initial thought is ‘well, that’s bollocks’ but as the Hifi Pig review says, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I can’t helping thinking though that really well sorted dedicated mains with good earthing arrangements is the key, otherwise all you are doing is applying a sticking plaster but not stopping the bleeding.

I know it sounds like snake oil, but I guess so did different “wires” sounding different when it was first “discovered”.
That was the reason for my original question which was:
Has anyone heard these devices in action ?

I have found that having a bowl of rice pudding at 28 Centigrade in the room makes a huge difference.
Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it :slightly_smiling_face:
And if you try it and it doesn’t work, that doesn’t negate my findings. Maybe it only works in my room, or maybe your hearing isn’t good enough to detect the difference.
I would be fascinated to know how many arrangements of how many crystals these guys tried. And then I’d love to know the physics that are involved - because I don’t see anything that would work in what they describe. One of them you simply place next to the speaker cables at one or other, or both ends of the speaker cables. So no electrical connection. Presumably at best these will act as rather weak ferrite rings in the same position.
The others plug into various things (mains, input/output) but as far as I can work out there is no actual electrical connection inside (how do you connect to crystals (and what crystals are they)? And if they are connected to unused input/output sockets - there is no electrical connection to the circuit in the pre-amplifier.

I don’t think that the early (1970s to 1980s) “discovery” of different wires sounding different as seen as snake oil - but in those days it was things like 79-strand cable as opposed to bell wire (which is what was often supplied with music systems and loud speakers). The difference even between 6-amp mains cable and 79-strand cable were quite easy to hear.
As for more recent wires sounding different - I’m not convinced that there is consensus on that. Years ago I tried various ‘exotic’ cables for the loudspeakers - Oxygen Free Linear Crystal for instance. Could not detect any difference.

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Seriously?

I’ve got some Peckham Spring water you might wish to buy - only €130 a bottle…:wink:

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Just tried it and you are right.
I used Ambrosia, but should I try other brands?
My other question: is rice pudding directional?

I think the sound absorbing properties of rice pudding are not well understood and simply quoting its specific gravity is insufficient. What we need is an audiophile group to test rice puddings, I’m up for it.

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It doesn’t work if you are lactose intolerant though :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Well that was an amusing 10 minutes spent perusing that site…

The Power Tuning Chip 3D is made from an aluminium plate with a fine engraving. It has a powerful effect and is meant to be placed on the casing of your power strip, conditioner or distributor, or on a separate linear or switched power supply for your device.

Life is too short for this sort of crap.

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Ambrosia is OK, but there are better ones out there. What kind of bowl did you have it in, though?

True - but have you tried popcorn? I’ve heard good things said of that. It’s why it is so popular at the cinema. Doesn’t taste of anything other than cardboard, of course, but it is reputed to improve the bass, stereo separation and also improves the colours of the movie.

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Absolutely rice pudding is directional. If you try sticking it up your arse you’ll have big problems.

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I tried a plastic one I bought in Woolworth many years ago, but found I preferred a Lakeland Retro Desert Serving Bowl. I might try Granny’s recipe tomorrow, but I don’t think she would have approved of a three day burn-in period.

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Have you tried this? I must admit I’d never thought of it.
Won’t it spoil my new blue jeans?

You have to be careful with plastic ones - they can resonate, through any nearby crystals, to their future existence as microplastic in the oceans. This makes the sound seem desultory and sad.

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