The Acoustic Revive RR-77 ($595), which its manufacturer describes as a pulse generator intended to restore and reinforce the natural Schumann Resonance (fundamental frequency: 7.83Hz) that exists in the cavity between Earth and its ionosphere, and in the presence of which all life on Earth has evolved and adapted over the eons. In so doing, Acoustic Revive hopes that the RR-77 will enhance the experience of listening to music, recorded or not. The RR-77 is powered with a detachable 12V wall wart, and its single circuit board, the traces on which appear to have been inspired by the maze inside the gatefold sleeve of the Rolling Stones'
Their Satanic Majesties Request, contains two zener diodes, seven capacitors, twelve resistors, one variable resistor, and an eight-legged integrated circuit painted flat black.
That's not all. The inner surfaces of its plastic case, as well as the case's base, have been painted—with gum Arabic, I think, or something very like it—in various apparently purposeful designs. On the inside of the case is a star of David and a Japanese character of meaning unknown (to me). On the inner surface of the base is a mandala-like wheel, and four identical characters that resemble the
K in the Kellogg's logo.
A few years ago, I purchased on eBay a pre-owned Gallagher guitar, the headplate of which was decorated, in pearl inlay, with a crescent moon and a silhouette of a polar bear. Not only was the headplate inlay
not my reason for buying the guitar—I bought it because it was a 12-fret mahogany dreadnought with a Florentine cutaway, which seemed like a good idea at the time—but I came to dislike it rather intensely, and I left the instrument in its case for a number of months before selling it myself, also on eBay. (I made a small profit, as one often does with such things.) In the auction listing I described the decoration as merely "a picture of a bear," and was chastised by a few other eBay-ers for not being sensitive to the fact that the design was, indeed, a Native American fetish. I was still glad to be rid of it.
The point being: I'm happy for you if you recognize the designs inside the RM-77 or if you understand their significance, singly or in combination. But please don't feel obligated to share.
The Acoustic Revive RR-77 was sent to me by Yoshi Hontani of MuSon Project of Osaka, Japan, at the behest of a good audio friend here in the US. I've used it on and off for several months, and didn't look inside the thing until the day before I returned it to its owners. I'm not sure whether or how that knowledge might have colored my findings—I was a bit put off by the discovery of the symbols, and by my subsequent involuntary musings about whether there's an intended significance to the choice of
twelve resistors—but during every day I used it, there wasn't the slightest question in my mind that the RR-77 had an effect, whether on the sound in my room or on my perception of that sound (footnote 1). The effect was slight, noncumulative (it didn't increase over time), and immediate: The instant I worked its switch, I heard the music in my room appear bigger—especially in terms of height—and altogether more spacious. Turning off the RR-77's switch made the music shrink in on itself a little. Every time. (I should add that the friend who recommended it to me in the first place swears that the effect is more pronounced when the RR-77 is used with a higher-quality power supply than the one it's shipped with.
I tried a sort of half-blind test (joke intended) here at home, doing all the wrong things and a few of the right ones. I sat my 13-year-old daughter down in my listening seat while an LP of simple acoustic guitar music was playing, and told her: "Occasionally, during the next 15 minutes, I'm going to do something that may or may not make the music sound bigger or smaller. I won't tell you when it happens, but I want you to raise your hand if you hear the music change in that manner." Then I stepped to the side of the room, slipped the RR-77 inside my shirt so that Julia could neither hear the switch work nor see its pale blue pilot light (ah, science!), and went to it. She heard the change almost every time I worked the switch. But, as irony would have it, she described the sound as "smaller" when the switch was on, "bigger" when it was off. What are these schools
teaching our kids?
Some of you will be interested in the Acoustic Revive RR-77 and some of you will relegate it—and anyone who recommends it—to La-La Land. Nothing I say is likely to change that one iota. Thus I can say only that I'm confident that this product does
something.
If you're at all curious, and if you can find a dealer who will offer it with a money-back guarantee, you really ought to try one for yourself.
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