Re: Deaming Plug

[chrisw@miso.wwa.com (Chris Williams)]

>Greetings!! O.K.,I may be a complete idiot(also a newbie to the net), but I know I'm a complete diehard fan of Kate!!!
>Could someone let me know what this "Dream plug" is. We are quite isolated up here in the frozen north ;) !!!

   Ok, the "Dreaming Plug" is a Lovehounds name for an effect that Vickie
re-discovered by accident. She crushed her headphone cord under a chair
leg. This only broke one of the wires, the ground, and produced a very
surprising effect.

   See, speakers and headphones are usually hooked up like this:
(note, you will have to be reading in a proportional font for this to
make the slightest sense.)

Amplifier               Speaker        
  + --------------------o    /
L                        }|{|   Left Speaker
  - --------------------o    \


  + --------------------o    /
R                        }|{|   Right Speaker
  - --------------------o    \

   Speakers use two pair of wires to connect to the amplifier. Headphones, on 
the other hand only use three wires. The two ground wires (the minuses above)
are combined into one.

Amplifier               Speaker        
  + --------------------o    /
L                        }|{|   Left Earphone
  - ----------o---------o    \
              |
              |
  + ----------|---------o    /
R             |          }|{|   Right Earphone
              o---------o    \


   ...so, if the ground (minus) is broken, you get the left positive signal
into the left ear, the right positive signal going to the right ear. The
result is that *nothing* that appears in both the left and right channels
equally (like Kate's lead vocal) is heard. Things that are exclusively
in one channel or the other are heard very distinctly.

   This effect is used in inexpensive "surround sound" decoders.
The left goes to the left speaker and the right to the right speaker. The
left plus right goes to the center speaker, and the left minus right
goes to the rear speaker. If you have a surround sound system, and can
turn down the front channels without lowering the rear speakers, you
will get exactly the same effect.

   Another way is to rewire your speakers in the following way:

Amplifier               Speaker        
  + --------------------o    /
L                        }|{|   Left Speaker
  -           o---------o    \
              |
              |
  + ----------|---------o    /
R             |          }|{|   Right Speaker
  -           o---------o    \

   Just disconnect both minus wires from the amp. Usually the speaker
connectors are red for positive and black for negative. Unhook both
negative wires and twist them together. Cover the exposed wires with
tape. There you have it, a "Dreaming Speaker System".

>p.s. excuse the sig I'm also a diehard Annie fan!    Thanx in advance!!!!   Lisa

   No problem at all. Annie earned an eternal place in the hearts of
Lovehounds everywhere during an interview after one of the British
Phonographic Institute awards shows. She had won "Best Female Singer"
and told the interviewer ("..I was really hoping Kate Bush would win,
as she's fantastic!")

   Diva is a brilliant album. I can hardly wait for her next album
of originals. Covers are ok, but...

>"These are the words I never said,
>These are the dreams I'll dream instead,
>This is the joy thats seldom spread'
>These are the contents of my head."