Price Paid:  $70.00 from ebay

Summary:
I bought this unit because of the reviews I read here and other websites. Everyone that has heard cd's before and after has heard a difference, some cd's seem to need treating more than others. For the price I paid this is the best investment I have made in my stereo.
I was playing my stereo for a novice friend and not treating the discs because I didn't think he would be able to hear the difference, he asked to hear a selection that I only had on a compilation burned disc. I played the selection and it sounded ok but not what I expected. I then announced that I was going to try some "snake oil" on the disc and would he please tell me if he heard any difference. I treated the disc on both sides as is suggested and popped it in the player. The difference was, I hate to use the word dramatic, but in this case it fits. Every aspect of the music improved: bass,depth of image and an added sense of realism.

I will not play a cd in my high end system again without treating it first.

Strengths:
It works, don't ask me how.

Weaknesses:
The cheeziest construction I have ever seen. However, it got bumped around in shipping to me quite a lot, as the packaging was beat up, and it still works fine.

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Borrowed from Store

Summary:
To answer the "bits is bits" crowd I have to say that they are right. They are right, that is, until you have to convert back to analog and you factor in real-world power supplies and analog circuitry. I did some experiments with cd's to determine what the heck was happening. Turns out that no magic is involved. What is happening is that the disc takes on a static charge,either through spinning in dry air or just from handling. A spinning, statically charged disc is the definition of an electrostatic generator. This hash-like voltage is impressed on the laser-pickup circuitry. Of course the digital circuit ignores this noise (Well,not entirely. It does effect the jitter rather badly because of power supply noise.), but the noise is now impressed on the power supply and you can see the hash presented to the power-supply rails feeding the analog amplifier, and the cheap chips in most cd-players cannot reject this hash/noise. The better the power-supply and analog cicuitry the less effect this hash/noise and the clarifier has. No power supply built by man can completely eliminate this hash-voltage. It is best to stop it at its source. Hence the Clarifier. This tweak is actually an ANALOG tweak; the clarifier removes the static charge from the disc reducing the noise impressed on the power supply. Most all cd tweaks affect the player in the analog domain. Remember, the CD itself is indeed a digital storage medium, but the player is essentially an analog device right after conversion. (Hell, even before conversion. Its accuracy of conversion is dependent on a clean voltage from the power supply.) For an experiment, take your favorite cd and play it. Notice where in the image the high frequency stuff is (bells etc). Now take your disc and place it against a color tv picture tube when on (about 30,000 volts static charge while running). Now play it again. You will notice an enourmous degradation of sound. Now use the Clarifier (or a bulk tape eraser;start the erasor from about 1 foot,bring close to disc,hold near disc for about 20 secs,then move out to 2 foot before turning off,it works the same just not as convienient as the Clarifier). Now listen again. There should be a readily noticable difference in percieved noise floor and clarity on the highs. Tweaks like vibration damping, green ink, etc all work because the PLAYER is mostly an analog device; it just gets its initial data from a digital source.

Strengths:
It works. So does a bulk-tape eraser. The Clarifier is safer to use though; the magnetic field surrounding a bulk-tape eraser is thought to be a contributor to certain cancers if used daily for years. The Clarifier works on a different principle.

Weaknesses:
Expensive. Ugly. (So what?) Audio is an obsessive hobby anyway.

Similar Products Used:
Radio-shack Bulk-tape eraser. Earlier model Clarifier

Price Paid:  $250.00

Summary:
I am really stunned that so many people feel called upon to write a review on this product, despite the fact that they are apparently deaf or at least hearing impaired. To me it is easy to hear the difference between a treated CD and a virgin CD even while only casually listening. There are some CDs where the effect is less clearly but always easy to hear.

Strengths:
Makes many CDs more pleasant to listen to and should be part of every serious system.

Weaknesses:
- Ugly - Cumbersome to use - probably too expensive

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This is absolutely shocking to see so many people believing in this scam, and no single person pointing out a simple and trivial fact. Data on a CD is stored digitally, as zeros and ones, with checksums. It is either perfect reproduction (that may be affected only by the D/A conversion and amplifier, but not by the medium itself) or no sound at all. There's nothing in between. There are no better or worse zeros and ones. This is not an analog medium. For as long as reading is possible - i.e. there are no scratches or other damage - the reproduction is always identical, no matter how many magnets or other magic tricks you use. When there is any damage or dirt on the surface, some data cannot be read correctly, and the player just skips whole sector - something you'd hear clearly, not as a worse quality, but as, well, skipping. That's it. If you hear the music, you hear it exactly as it was recorded, you get a PERFECT copy. Same way, if you save a document on a floppy disk, as long as you can read it, it will be perfectly the same, letters won't change, move, "b" won't become "a". When the smallest piece of information, a single bit, becomes unreadable, you can't read a whole sector, you can't access your file anymore. It really does not hurt to think before paying some serious money.

Price Paid:  $139.00 from Music Direct

Summary:
Audio hype and mythology at its finest! Under blind conditions, I have yet to find the person that can hear a difference between a treated and untreated CD. The odd thing (or not so odd) is that many believe they hear a diff after they see a disc being treated! The mind and ear can definitely play tricks on a listener which is what Bedini is banking on with this product. No disrespect to the folks below who seem to truly believe this product is worth the money, but the world of audio is full of products who prey on people who become victims of the Barnum and Placebo Effects. I am having an enjoyable time testing the value of this product to people who don''t know if a disc is treated or untreated. I''m convinced that the person does NOT exist that can discern any differences if they are blindfolded. Don''t waste your money. If you''re looking for a way to improve the sound of CD, look into upsampling or SACD.

Strengths:
Not a one unless you include the marketing!

Weaknesses:
Cheap plastic - an insult at the price.