With
All the Trimmings
The player arrived accompanied by an optional Isoclean gold-tipped
audiophile fuse, a Cardas Golden Ratio power cord, and three Golden Sound
Super Cones. Very golden indeed. The power cords are custom made for Aurum
Acoustics by Cardas, with different versions for the CDP and the power amp
($900 Canadian, $810 U.S. for a 2 meter cord).
After discussion with Derrick, I decided to stick with my reference Nordost
Valhalla power cables, which I'm accustomed to using to power all my
components. That way, I was changing only one variable: the source. I did,
however, agree to compare the Isoclean fuse to another audiophile-grade
ceramic fuse from HiFi Tuning, and to compare the Golden Sound Super Cones to my
reference Ganymede ball bearing supports.
I realize that some frequent posters to various forums are already shaking
their heads and preparing their retorts. Another review from Serinus, the
same guy who uses Shakti Stones and the Bedini UltraClarifier and the Marigo
Signature 3-D mat and swears by after market power cables. Oh well. Derrick
Moss hears differences between power cables and equipment supports and
audiophile grade fuses, and so do I.
Changes to My Review System
My reference system has gone through several significant upgrades since I
penned my last review for Secrets. These changes greatly affect my ability
to review equipment.
After Jim Weil of Sound Applications gave me a visit and evaluated my power
situation, I shifted to the ExactPower EP15A as my source of power
regeneration. I also changed outlets in the ExactPower and on my dedicated
line to the special high conductivity outlets that Jim supplies. Of utmost
importance, I made the switch from a fuse box to a circuit breaker.
Why all these changes? Jim insists that most outlets and plug terminations
contain metals with very low conductivity, and that fuse boxes limit
dynamics. Even though I have a 10 amp dedicated line for my system, it was
connected to an ancient fuse box. As I pondered the reality that I have
spent 17 years listening to music through wires that ran to fuse boxes, I
was especially eager to hear what the combined changes would bring.
At the same time I was making the above changes to my electrical system,
HiFi-Tuning audiophile-grade fuses arrived for the Jadis amp, Theta DAC/preamp,
and ExactPower. Furthermore, all this occurred just as I was concluding the
requisite 250 hours of break-in for the Bybee Quantum Noise Purifiers I had
installed on the positive and negative of every driver in my Talon Khorus X
Mk. II speakers (complete with the 2005 revision that includes a major
crossover change and replacement of the super-tweeter).
I am well aware that making all these changes at roughly the same time
violates the cardinal rule of upgrades: make one change at a time, so that
you can fully evaluate its effects before you change something else. But we
are living in the real world. When the electrician says now or never, Jim
says I'm free this weekend and I don't know when I'll next be free, and Kara
is only available to help install the Bybees in the Talons "now," it's time
to get on with the show.
While I can't pinpoint with certainty what's responsible for what, I am
reveling in the changes. The presentation is noticeably more dynamic,
vibrant and transparent, with more air around instruments and voices. That
ever-illusive "sound of the hall" that everyone talks about – the
reflections off walls of the recording venue, and the amount of resonance in
the space -- is far more realistically conveyed. Where before, sonic images
hung in space in a somewhat detached albeit arresting manner, they now sound
far more coherent and connected, as though generated by real instruments
played in an acoustic environment with a sound all its own.
I am far more able to hear differences in recordings, phase anomalies,
micro-dynamics and microtonal shading. I also hear LOTS more lower midrange
and bass. There's more heft to the midrange, which in turn translates into
more substantial and realistic images, combined with a seemingly limitless
extension on top. In short, there's far more there there. Not only am I
enjoying listening to music more, but I'm better equipped to accurately
evaluate equipment that arrives for review.
Cones and Fuses
Derrick expressed concern that because equipment can shift on ball bearing
supports, my reference Ganymede ball bearing supports might not provide as
coherent an image as the Golden Sound Super Cones. Au contraire. I found the
Ganymede ball bearing supports superior at vibration isolation, resulting in
tighter bass. They also provided more air around images.
As for the audiophile grade fuses, Derrick had originally told me to try
replacing the stock fuse in the Integris CDP with an optional Isoclean fuse
that came with the unit. He thought the fuse change made a major difference.
Since I had just encountered the HiFi-Tuning fuses at CES 2006, and was
considering trying them, the fact that Derrick heard a difference in sound
between fuses prompted me to act.
Derrick asked me to obtain a HiFi-Tuning fuse for the player, and to compare
it with the Isoclean fuse he had supplied. I promptly ordered enough HiFi-Tuning
fuses for both the player and the other components in my reference system.
I decided to try the HiFi-Tuning fuses first. Changing four little fuses
right after switching power regenerators, installing multiple outlets and a
big circuit breaker, and upgrading my speakers, I found it difficult to
isolate the changes the fuses made. So I did add the fuses one by one, doing
my best to observe any differences in sound. I thought I heard a bit more
clarity– a bit more life on top – but not much else. Wondering if audiophile
grade fuses were worth the investment, albeit small, I decided to hold off
on making a final judgment, and to instead focus on the player itself. Once
I finished evaluating the Integris CDP, I planned to go back and compare the
stock fuses to those from HiFi-Tuning and Isoclean.
A few weeks later, Derrick e-mailed to ask if I had yet performed the fuse
comparison. When I confessed that I hadn't, he told me that he had obtained
a HiFi-Tuning fuse on his own, and had found its sound markedly inferior to
the Isoclean's.
Derrick's preference for the Isoclean fuse was so great that I decided then
and there to perform a comparison. Sure enough, the Isoclean fuse produced
more air around images. It created the illusion of greater
three-dimensionality by freeing the treble to resound more in space, far and
above the plane of the speakers. The Isoclean's effect was far more
noticeable than the HiFi-Tuning's.
Before I was willing to conclude that Isoclean fuses are superior, I felt it
necessary to obtain three more for the ExactPower, main fuse of the Jadis,
and Theta Gen. VIII. (If my transport has a fuse, it is not accessible from
outside the unit). I needed to be sure that the Isoclean had the same
positive effect on other components as it did on the Integris CDP.
The answer: it does. I am marveling at how images leap out at me in a new
way, very much in the same way that the sound of a piccolo leaps ahead of
the sound of a timpani in a live orchestral setting. Though I never felt
that sound was trapped in the same plane as my speakers, or that it seemed
to come from them save in isolated cases of extremely poor microphone
placement, the Isoclean fuses enable my speakers to disappear that much
more. In addition to greater three-dimensionality, detail, and life to
sounds, there's even more air around images.
Just before writing this paragraph, I spent 20 jaw-dropping minute listening
to Sangam, the new ECM New Series recording of Charles Lloyd, Zakir Hussain,
and Eric Harland performing live in Santa Barbara in 2004. With Isoclean
fuses in the system, the drumming sounded so stupendous and alive that it
virtually sent me into another dimension. The drums were literally popping
all over the room, with the multi-miking creating exciting stereo effects.
Fabulous. You can be sure that I'm going back to listen to the rest of
Sangam as soon as I finish writing this review.
I intend to use
Isoclean fuses in my system from now on. I suggest you give them a try.
(I know that the majority of Secrets readers are hard core types who have
great disdain for these kinds of tweaks. There is no need to go to the forum
and make your scorn known. We have been through this many times before. I
respect your right to enjoy audio in your own way, believing and
disbelieving in what you will. Please respect my right to do the same.)
Click Here to Go to Part V.