Shakti On-Lines

 

Shakti On-Lines

SHAKTI On-Lines use a specially engineered circuit adapted from the larger SHAKTI Stabilizer. The On-Lines provide efficient EMI reduction in situations where limited space is a consideration. Placed near automotive CPU’s, the On-Lines have demonstrated the same horsepower improvements as the Stabilizer. In some applications even closer proximity to chips is realized. In audio systems the On-Lines are typically used on all system cables (interconnects, speaker wire, AC cords and video cables). Placement is near the approximate center and/or connection points. In addition many users who build or modify their own equipment are placing On-Lines on or near critical internal circuit parts such as DAC chips, capacitors and internal wiring. Placement in all situations is facilitated by self-adhering Velcro circles that are placed on the cable or component to be treated. The On-Lines have matching Velcro on them that allows easy attachment or removal. 3" L x 5/8" W x 3/8" H

EMI in audio components

In audio components these spurious fields radiate from several millimeters to several feet around the host component chassis. Left unattenuated, some undesirable portions of this EMF can transgress back into circuits, generating noise artifacts that get amplified along with the music waveform. The result is a noisier, grainier background during moments of inter transient silence and a reduction in dynamic contrasts as signal levels change. In contrast, by reducing these noise sources the overall reproduction of the music becomes more detailed, encompassing greater stage depth, width and clarity.

Origin and causes of EMI

Falling within the category of EMI are what are identified as parasitic oscillations. These extremely short, tiny bursts of energy are visible on high resolution waveform monitors at certain points along the cycle of a sine wave. Often originating in the RF region, they also have harmonics that reflect up and down into the audio bands and become amplified at high levels along with the music. Sometimes they are external in origin, the circuit stages and traces acting like a giant maze antenna. 

All metropolitan areas are teeming with RFI that has a spectrum ranging from 30 Hz to 7 gHz, though most often encountered at frequencies below 500 mgHz. Automotive ignition noise dominates, but can on occasion be superseded by power distribution lines. Other sources of RFI are appliances, electric motors, fluorescent lights, electric garage door openers, industrial equipment, microwave appliances and light dimmers. 

In audio components, self generated parasitic oscillations are well known to occur in switching power supplies. 120 Hz current spikes, caused by rectifier conduction, emanate in capacitive input design power supplies. Common rectifier diodes, used in a variety of equipment, produce high levels of RFI. Harmonics of these spikes and bursts can be observed in a wide spectrum up into the mgHz region. 

Radiation of these pulses are conducted to other circuit parts within the amplifier, increasing as a result of being amplified in combination with the music signal. In effect, there are a number of parasitic oscillation transmitters within amplifiers that can produce broad bandwidth, multiple harmonic pulses each second. 

Printed circuit boards are also sources of unwanted EMI. Several causes are common impedance coupling via power and ground traces, antenna loops formed by ICs and their bypass capacitors and cross-talk between adjoining signal traces of the individual boards or adjacent boards. There is also evidence that things as simple as poor or cold solder connections and dissimilar adjacent metals can be sources of EMI effects.

SHAKTI'S Unique Filter Designs

The mechanism that activates the absorption and dissipation circuits in SHAKTI has an electrical equivalent that is analogous to an RF transformer effect. This occurs when a tuned secondary coil (passive) is placed in proximity to an active primary coil. An absorption of energy will take place at predetermined frequencies, as long as the passive unit is properly resistively loaded or damped. The host component represents the active coil and SHAKTI parallels the secondary transformer or coil. The potential drainage of the host transformer is negligible in this application because SHAKTI's circuit design is tuned to absorb the ultra high frequencies of the spurious unwanted fields within the EMF.

SHAKTI differs from past efforts to reduce EMI in several distinct ways. First, there are three specific filter stages to cover a broader source of potential unwanted emanations. Second, new and unique types of absorption components are incorporated, that, even if used with other filter designs (e.g. ferrite types), will compliment rather than duplicate the action, thus producing additional benefits. SHAKTI allows for flexible placement near internal circuit stages that are most prone to self-generated EMI, as well as providing additional noise reduction from external sources. And finally, each stage has not only the inherent hysteresis effect that produces some dissipation, but also a specifically incorporated additional resistive element to enhance the filters' effectiveness.

Stage #1 Microwave Filter Circuit

Utilizing proven laws of wave guide designs, this circuit stage provides absorption and dissipation for frequencies from 1.5 gHz to over 100 gHz. Anyone who wonders if these regions can affect audio quality, should try running a set of preamplifier interconnects near a leaky microwave oven. The essential topology of this stage is comprised of tuned resonant chambers that couple with microwave frequencies. The resistive element is a special conductive internal coating on the chamber walls that dissipates the microwave energy as it moves within the chambers. Full details and mathematical calculations that outline this circuit are available in the SHAKTI patent # 5,814,761. This circuit stage is not in the SHAKTI On-Lines.

Stage #2 RFI Filter Circuit

Through a unique application of quartz oscillators, a broad spectrum of RFI is attenuated. Being a piezeo-electric material, quartz is capable of converting an electric field into mechanical energy. In situations where quartz is employed in active components, the desired goal is to accentuate one resonant frequency to the exclusion of all others. However, within this stage of SHAKTI, quartz is used in a manner to produce the broadest sampling of frequencies to better absorb the somewhat unpredictable EMI. One of the reasons quartz has never been used in this type of circuit is because, as effective as it is as a converter of electrical energy, its very high Q means that most of the conversion to mechanical energy swiftly changes back to electrical. To overcome this problem, careful experimentation produced the necessary resistive element that is incorporated to substantially lower the Q. The result is effective dissipation within the first 1/2 cycle. This stage provides absorption/dissipation benefits for both external and self -generated sources of RFI.

Stage #3 Electric and Magnetic Field Filter

This third stage provides filter action for that portion of the host components' EMF that is comprised of an electric or electrostatic field ranging from 50 Hz to 200 kHz. Any magnetic fields that might pass through the chassis would also be dissipated by this stage. The primary element in this stage is the magnetic field that is set up within SHAKTI. Following a fundamental law known as "the right hand rule", (which describes the interaction of electric and magnetic fields), this stage results in absorption/dissipation of the multiple odd harmonics of the ac line frequency (60 cycles), that are known to cause serious EMI problems. A unique part of this stage's circuitry is a component which acts like an antenna to attract some of the spurious field around the active transformer, resulting in greater coupling of unwanted energy into SHAKTI. This circuit stage is not in the SHAKTI On-Lines.

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Review Excerpts

"Just when I was getting to feel that I would not have to add any more tweaks to my system, in comes the tweak that has caused the greatest improvement in sound of any tweak that I have ever tried in my system. The noise floor was substantially improved. Tonality and timbre were improved. There was more sense of air between instruments. In short, recordings became more musical, and I found my enjoyment of that music substantially improved. SHAKTI is not only highly recommended, but I consider it utterly necessary if you wish to get the most out of your system." Clay Swartz, Positive Feedback, Vol 5 No 4, 1995

"Suddenly, something was very different. First of all, the background darkened. Whereas previously it was sort of grayish-black, so that some low-level detail had tended to merge with it, now it was completely black. The music was set off against this blackness, throwing almost everything into sharper relief. Resolution was heightened, and because I could hear greater detail, the music took on a more rhythmic, more emotionally charged quality. I didn't think that adding one more stone anywhere else would make any kind of difference. I put the stone on the center of my CD player, and played the same track. Lo and behold, I was transported to yet another dimension of resolution. I suppose the best way to summarize the most beneficial effects of the SHAKTI Stones is to say that they added smoothness to my system. All the brashness associated with digital equipment was taken away, making the end result very easy on the ear, and a generally much more relaxing experience." Stephen Yan, Audio Video Singapore, Nov 1995

"It seemed to sharpen the focus and quiet the background, heightening the sense of imaging...  Focus, transparency, clarity and speed were better, as was the sense of space and pace. It’s not that the SHAKTI improved the amps so much as, they allowed them to perform to their fullest. Used intelligently and in the right places, the SHAKTI offers a worthwhile and cost effective boost in sound quality." Jonathan Skull, Stereophile, April 1996, Vol. 19, No 4

"Leaving the volume control untouched, I took one of the SHAKTI Stones, placed it square on top of the JVCXLZ-11-TN CD player, and played "Famous Blue Raincoat" again. I’ll be damned if there wasn’t a whole new level of depth and clarity to the presentation. Pretty amazing. From the midrange on up, everything sounded cleaner, that cool-breeze-after-a-hard-rain kind of cleaner. The low level high frequency grunge to which I had adapted, "This is as good as this system is gonna sound in this room" was noticeably diminished. I repeated the experiment with "Revolution" and "Someday Soon" (and with plenty of other music since) and found that the effect was repeatable and verifiable. I’ve tried it on other folks and they’ve heard it too. Jonathan Scull’s endorsement in Stereophile February 96 (vol.19 No. 2, p. 177) was right on the mark. I give the SHAKTI Electromagnetic Stabilizer a big "thumbs up." Barry Willis, Stereophile, April 1996, Vol. 19, No 4

"Used sensibly, the SHAKTI Stones clarify inner details (particularly delicate harmonic and dynamic details), reduce inter transient noise components and grain, increase transparency, markedly improve focus, and simply produce a more realistic sound than non-SHAKTI'd components... On large orchestral recordings, this reduction of grain, increase in dimensionality, and tightening of focus markedly increase transparency, allowing a clearer view into the stage... The SHAKTIs make such a marked improvement that they should be considered an essential tweak." Jonathan Vallin, The Absolute Sound, Issue 106, 1996

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