Author Topic: Bybee's on speakers  (Read 3566 times)

Offline Carlman

  • Audio Neurotic
  • *****
  • Posts: 3037
Bybee's on speakers
« on: March 23, 2009, 06:32:49 AM »
I'm buying caps for a preamp upgrade (Sol Sammet is doing the mods) and scrolled through Percy Audio's last couple of pages where he sells the tweaky stuff.  One of the tweaks is Bybee filters.  They were a big craze a couple of years ago and they pop up from time to time.  Are these still used on speakers?  Do you put one on the positive lead only?  Or, do you put them on the crossover in the signal path for each driver... The latter seems to be the way I remember it being done in the past.. .but I can't remember.

Anyone using them today?  Are they worth $92/ea?

-C
I really enjoy listening to music.

Offline richidoo

  • Out Of My Speaker Cabinet
  • ******
  • Posts: 11144
Re: Bybee's on speakers
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2009, 08:21:03 AM »
You put them wherever you have naughty electrons. It supposedly makes them behave better.  I have seen them used in powersupplies and PCs but not on speakers yet.

mgalusha

  • Guest
Re: Bybee's on speakers
« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2009, 10:44:03 AM »
If being installed in speakers it's suggested they be installed right at the terminals of the driver, assuming one per driver otherwise right at the binding posts. I've heard them make the sound anywhere from a little better to much better to somewhat worse, at least for my tastes, depending on the Bybee type and where they are installed. That is my "problem" with them, they might work out great but they might not and then you have a couple of hundred dollars worth of doodads. :(

Offline _Scotty_

  • Obsessively Audiophilic
  • ****
  • Posts: 676
  • “Sic transit gloria mundi”
Re: Bybee's on speakers
« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2009, 10:44:03 AM »
They are a component used in series with the signal. Every time I have placed another part between a driver and the signal I have heard the sound take a hit. I guess it depends on whether you like something subtracted from what you are hearing. In the case of a loudspeaker which does not respond to RF signals,we are left with the audible bandwidth that the speaker responds to and I would rather not tinker with it using a series component. If there is a problem with "noise" in the chain I would prefer to deal with it before it got into the signal stream and not after the fact. They appear to be a solution in search of a problem in my opinion.
If you could get some used for almost nothing to experiment with then an investigation might be worth while.
Loaners would be another approach. They might be of some use in treating long term listening fatigue.
There's my two cents.
Scotty


mgalusha

  • Guest
Re: Bybee's on speakers
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2009, 10:46:28 AM »
Somehow _Scotty_ and I managed simultaneous posts. :) Along the lines of what he said, I don't usually care for them in the signal path, they seem best suited for use in power circuits.

Offline Carlman

  • Audio Neurotic
  • *****
  • Posts: 3037
Re: Bybee's on speakers
« Reply #5 on: March 23, 2009, 11:29:48 AM »
I really appreciate you both sharing your experience... They sound so scientifically viable.. yet I haven't really heard of people using them after the initial love affair when they came out...
-C
I really enjoy listening to music.