Audioprism Blacklight II CD Mat Others

Audioprism Blacklight II CD Mat Others 

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 10  
[Dec 01, 2005]
jaest13
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Improved sound

Weakness:

None

I was skeptical but tried it. I did think that I noticed an improvement. Bass seemed better and overall sound was more lively. Not disapponinted. I have no trouble with positioning or skipping.

Similar Products Used:

None

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
3
[Jun 16, 2000]
Ed S
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Subtle improvements in ambience, less harshness.

Weakness:

May move out of allignment on insertion. Doesn't seem to work with all players. Price is too high.

This product is a disc placed on top of a CD when it is placed into the tray. It is about 1/4 the thickness of a CD and for best results is supposed to be charged up before a light source. It then glows in the dark like my kids glow in the dark dinosaurs. I have tried this on 4 players with mixed results. I stoped using it on my best player a CEC 5100Z because it seemed to actually generate distortion. On the other hand it seems to benefit the bottom of the market Technics, which I keep in my office.
Some of the benefit may be the flywheel effect due to the increase in mass of the disc. Charging seems to make some slight additional benefit.
This is classic tweak/voodoo: Something which may work, on some equipment, for reasons that are unclear.
It may be worth looking into for your application although at about $40.00 you may not want to buy it on spec.
I have more recently tried the Aurex Mat (HCMAudio.com) a very thin, non-glowing mat, which seems somewhat more effective at improving sound and is also cheaper, especially when bought with the Auric polishing kit, which also works very well.
Generally I would say go with the Aurex, but since benefits seem to vary so much with equipment, the Blacklight may be worth trying.

Similar Products Used:

Aurex Mat

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
3
[Mar 19, 2000]
Mitch
Audiophile

Strength:

None

Weakness:

Only a marginal improvement in clarity

The Audioprism Blacklight II was a disappointing tweak. It caused my transport to miscue 50% of the time and usually mistracked about 50% of the time as well. I've tried other cd players, and I noticed similar problems. I sent the item back to Audioprism for an exchange, but the same problems occurred with the one they sent. Taking into consideration the very small improvement in sound quality, it now serves as a Frisbee when I go to the park. Ultimately, it did not work for me, but others may have better luck with the CD mat. If you can, try before buying.

Equipment List:

Theta Data Basic II Transport + Pro Basic IIIa DAC
Transparent Ultra, Reference Cables
Rowland 8T amp + Consummate Preamp
Von Scweikert VR4 Loudspeakers

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
2
[Sep 01, 2000]
Martin Leach
Audiophile

Strength:

if you have the clearance, a pair is very silent

Weakness:

that accursed luminescence, I think it emits the wrong frequencies like the stoplight pen. The sound is inappropriately enhanced dynamics (a musical equivalent of accenting the wrong syllable) similar to some directional cables installed backwards.

As long as one keeps this mat in the dark its a lovely device. However, I found that it was meerly a taste of what's available. So, I aerosol adhered a pair together with the carbon fibres facing eachother & left a stack of books on top overnight. Then, markered it completely black on one side & a dark forest green on the other. This created a de facto weave enhancing consistant rigidity & stability which aided tracking. Plus, the thicker visco-elastic medium absorbs remaining vibrations. If a thicker mat can fit in your player. This will make you discover your player's noise floor. Alone, it's OK for the price. The Marigo is better but at $80 it better be, & the similarly priced Aurex AV mat is a coaster!

Similar Products Used:

Aurex AV mat, Marigo Orpheus

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jan 09, 2001]
Bruno Clements
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Sound quality improves considerably on use, more bass, treble, but provides a very natural sound which is less fatiguing than an untreated disc. Every disc treated (50-60) has shown similar improvements - only pressure of work has prevented me going through my entire collection. Russ has a wide range of products, like DeoxIT, Wonder solder, etc which U.S. tweakers will be more familiar with. Try ReVeel - I'll be amazed if you're not delighted (and, no, I have no connection with RATA).

Weakness:

Washing/wiping CDs occasionally leaves slight scratches if care isn't taken that the disc is clean first but even when this happens there is still a clearly audible improvement.

More and better music from discs you already own with the use of a little water and a sachet of ReVeel... A difficult concept to better. I'll be buying more.
ReVeel is suitable for everyone that listens to CDs and wants a more natural, LP-like sound. It's difficult to believe that anyone who enjoys music of any type would not notice an improvement, even on the cheapest of equipment (mine includes a portable Philips AZ7482, Kenwood midi-system with pure-A amp, and I also use treated discs on my father's Nakamichi-based system).
I've given sachets to my brother, a professional musician, but he always claims he has been too busy to use them!

Similar Products Used:

Hunt P3 ReVeel even improves discs treated with this cleaner which I found gave benefits but was very fussy to use and I don't think is on the market any more.
Motor industry degreasing aerosol spray (alcohol-based) yeilded very slight improvements, again using ReVeel on a treated disc brings the usual benefits.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 23, 1999]
Sam
Audiophile

Strength:

None

Weakness:

waste of money

this product was a complete failure in my system, the mat often messed up playing of disc by spinning independent of
CD, no sound improvement IMO.......just think If the you bought all the crap that Stereophile says makes major improvement in sound, my system

Musical Fidelity X-Ray CDP
Musical Fidelity A3 Integrated
Spendor SP1 3-way monitor speakers

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[May 18, 2000]
ALAIN ARCHAMBAULT
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

IMPROVE SOUND IN AN AVERAGE 0F 15% TO 20%

Weakness:

HAVE TO BE PLACED CAREFULLY

YES, THIS LITTLE PIECE OF SUNLIGHT, WORK FINE ,
MORE DETAILS, CLEARER SOUND,SOUND SILLY BUT THE LITTLE
IMPROVEMENT IT ADD FOR 40$ IT'S NOT MARGINAL,
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO PAID 1000$ TO 2500$ TO HEARD A DIFFERENCE.

AUDIO GEAR

SIMAUDIO MOON I-5
CLASSE CDP.5
LITOSPHERE DOUBLE S (SPEAKERS)
VAN DEN HULL CABLES
CARDAS POWER CORD

Similar Products Used:

NONE

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 06, 2000]
Ruamlarp Anantasanta
Audiophile

This accessory really rocks. It never caused problem to my system. The effect is obvious. As the one I reviewed in CD Stop Light. Synthesizer, drub, snare are the easiest sound that are noticable for everyone, even you are a real beginner. This one I use with DVD system too. It really rocks!! For movie, the more detail you get, the more realistic you sense. Try it!! $40 is really worth for everyone. Especially for not an audiophile people. Don't go to buy a $200 racks, $200 interconnect,...etc. You hardly be able to sense it. But this one, you bet!!

Also, you can use it over and over...forever

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 16, 2000]
Chu
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

None Whatsoever

This mat made NO improvements at all in sound quality. It even induced skipping.

Deserves ZERO strars.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Jun 17, 2000]
Tyler
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

makes a good coaster

Anyone that believes that this improves sound quality is in need of serious counselling. The only thing this disc does is put more wear on the transport mechanism. Anyone who actually buys a product like this deserves to lose their $40.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
Showing 1-10 of 10  

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