In my last post, I mentioned that I had one last thing that I intended to post about. This one goes back to the Catch-22 that I commented about some time ago. As I expected, my willingness to listen to the MP3 files that were offered as an example of what Belt devices can do was dismissed. I'd expected the reasoning for this dismissal to be due to some fault in my ability to listen, but it was instead because suddenly (after at least three references to the site as a way to hear what Belt devices can do) it was not a reliable demonstration. To top it off, we got the following claim not long after my post about my experiences with the MP3 files:
Sigh... And here I was under the impression (based both on delius's own posts and on the site in question itself ) that listening to those damned files over and over and over again (yes, I tried repeatedly over the course of several days) was supposed to serve as a means of trying one of these techniques. As further reminder of our Catch-22, a couple more attempts at courteous discourse (including one apology!) have been met with long-winded diatribes (along with a pleasant and brief flash of humanity, when the ranting 1600-word response to garcianc2003's apology ends with a two-line "apology accepted" and offer of some pineapple).

There's still one other site offered as an example of Belt devices that doesn't cost me any money, so I wandered over to that site again and this time downloaded the bitmap file (with its four copies of a curious reversed "L" shape with an arc at the corner). I was supposed to print the bitmap out, cut the L-shapes out of the paper, and stick one to the back of my CD player near the jacks. The printer did its job, out came the scissors, out came the tape, and off I went to stick one to my DVD player and one to my SoundBridge (the two sources most likely to get use). By applying one to each, I figured it would be a good, diverse test: both a high-fidelity (DVD/CD) source and a low-fidelity (MP3) source, as well as a video source for good measure. I left them on there for nearly a week (they went on last Tuesday evening), and then removed them (as directed by the site) early on Christmas morning to see if I could detect a change. Throughout the test, my wife was unaware of what I was doing, so her sensitive ear (which has spotted many minor changes in the system in the past) would serve as a blind check of the shapes.

So is my system now studded with taped-on images and shapes? Have I ordered any clever clocks, little or otherwise? Are there going to be various sized jars of rocks, pieces of foil, or thin layers of cream appearing around my house? No, no, and no. With an assortment of MP3 files, CD's, and DVD's (giving some consideration to picture quality from the DVD's as well as sound quality from all three formats), I was unable to find any difference using the L-shapes. There was no improvement when they were added, and no degradation when they were eliminated. At the end of the test, I remain unmoved by Peter Belt's concepts. Is that because I don't want to believe, or because I'm afraid to believe, or because I believe that I'm not supposed to believe? None of the above - I gave it an honest try, and found that it had no effect. Clearly others have made similar efforts and had different results. I can't say why that was, but the simple fact remains that neither of the sites offered in this thread as examples of Belt devices have done anything for me. I find myself agreeing very much with the words written 19 years ago by J. Gordon Holt in this editorial - not only because if my initial skeptical reaction to the concepts, but because of these attempts to actually give the concepts a chance in my home. If it works for you, congratulations, but I simply don't buy it.

At this point, I've jumped through enough hoops. I'm not buying any clocks, foils, or creams (not even with a money-back guarantee) - my last post offered an explanation of why I have no interest in giving Machina Dynamica my business, and my experiences with Delius's demonstrations leaves me just as uninterested in PWB's products as I was when this debate started. (Oh, and it's worth noting that MD and PWB are two separate entities - Delius pointed out a few posts back that PWB's been selling their products for 25 years or so, but MD was incorporated eight years ago and has only one current employee - Geoff Kait - listed on their site.) I'm not listening to any more MP3 files that may or may not prove someone else's point. I've done enough to honestly evaluate these concepts to my satisfaction. We are all entitled to our opinions, beliefs, and disbeliefs, and I've stated mine on this subject. If you don't like my opinions, beliefs, and disbeliefs, more power to you - but if you cannot accept that I hold those opinions, beliefs, and disbeliefs without feeling compelled to call me a brainless idiot, save us all the bandwidth and keep it to yourself. Or don't, if you feel so deeply driven to insult me, but remember as you type out your lengthy condemnations that each time you find it necessary to change your tune in order to declare individuals' mental incompetence you only erode what credibility you might have had with those quietly reading these posts. Each time you have to reject your own examples of Belt devices (such as the MP3 files that fell by the wayside as soon as someone made a serious effort to listen to them ) in order to further belittle and berate others, you lose. The choice is yours...