Thanks for the nice review on the Omega + mats Ozzy. You've helped me decide my next upgrade path without a doubt.
Cheers
Another ozzy Review
Another ozzy Review
I must say that I have been a long time tweaker, and I have tried most of the raved about tweaks, including cables, footers, and power products. So, so many…
If you look up ozzy on Audiogon you can see my long history, and you can also find some of my negative reviews and comments. And yes, I have posted some negative comments of the Perfect Path products. Some of my posts got deleted. Yes, I was a skeptic, very much so. The claims of its performance seemed highly exaggerated. With no technical explanation provided? What the heck can this thin mat possibly do?
Well, I now have tried the new Omega + mats and I must say that I am now a totally Perfect Path Technologies convert.
I placed 2 of the Omega + mats in my circuit breaker box and sure enough within hours the picture quality of all of my TV’s in the house started looking better. That is, better color, sharpness, and contrast. In my audio system the sound stage became much deeper and vibrant in tonality. There is a “realness” to the music. Other than equipment upgrades this has been the single biggest improvement in my audio system. Awesome! Congratulations Krissy!
The only place where the Omega mats did not work well was under my tube amps. The soundstage narrowed. Interesting, was it the tubes? Or the fact that the amps are handwired with little if any modern electronics inside? Perhaps it is just my amps? I dunno…
I have read claims that the Omega Mats can reduce electric bills and when I heard that, I thought what a crock…
But now I think, if it can clean up the picture and audio throughout the house (as it does), it doesn’t take much more to imagine that it is cleaning up the AC. Perhaps eliminating the distortion in the AC that I was paying for. I actually now do expect that my next electric bills to show a reduction in Kilowatt used. But only if I play my audio system about the same amount of time as before. The way I am going now with such improved / increased sound quality that may not happen, its on all the time!
Along with my order for the mats, I also received a few of the Alpha cards as well. I then placed these cards in areas that I had Bybee Signal Enhancers and the Bybee IQSE enhancers. And wow again, I could instantly hear the benefit of these small cards over the Bybee’s. I just sold off the Bybee’s which included the Signal Enhancers and the IQSE versions. They were pretty easy to sell, but I don’t regret it. It should give me more money to buy more of the Perfect Path products! I also previously sold off all of my High Fidelity MC-0.5’s, they didn’t cohabitate with the PPP well. That is; there was a rough sharpness to the sound quality with the MC-05’s in the system.
The claims for these products do seem to be outlandish, and at first, they seem a little pricey but the improvement obtained would cost so much more in equipment upgrades. I’m still not sure what sort of technology is being used but boy I am highly impressed; you will be too!
ozzy
52 responses
Very nice review Ozzy and about in line with mine and I think everybodies finding on the new plus mats. I have those ecards everywhere too on smaller items where a plus mat would not fit and at someones suggestion( might have been Krissy?) I tried laying them directly over the cables just as they go into my amp. Score as the differences were clearly audible imho. |
Ozzy ... One of the nicest feelings is "vindication." :-) Thank you for the great review. I may have sounded like the barker at the circus from time to time, but now you know, and as others are finding out very quickly, the value of these products. Guys, if you can swing it financially, you have to progress with these new Omega + mats. After placing them in the circuit breaker box and under the equipment, you must try them on the sides and rear of your speakers in line with the drivers. As Ozzy said ... you won't want to turn the system off. I need sleep. Frank |
Exact same experience here. The mats are in my breaker box, under my BPT conditioner and under my streamer and preamp. My system never sounded so good. Stage has swelled in size and I am hearing layers of sound that is more effortless than I have ever experienced before in my room. I placed the cards in my speaker crossovers and inside my gear near the transformers. Just be careful inside gear as the cards are conductive on one side. I used double sided tape and was very careful in placement. Certainly the best sounding tweak I have had experience with. |
I use NASAFES fabric . 10sq ft for 30 bucks amazon. Blocks emf. You can put pieces in your clothes or wallet to stop thieves from compromising your accounts. Sorta like MU metal. I use it between my tube amp and my wifi or i get interference. Are these sheets magnetically applied to tin surfaces? Wouldnt that create problems i side the unit ? |
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Ozzy... I've yet to try an Omega mat under my tube preamp. Knowing how effective the mats are "on" or "in" the panel box, I figured the mats probably work best on components with a large power supply. I've seen a lot of comments in these forums that tend to support that theory. I've also got similar feedback from a friend who has a huge amount of PPT products in his system.. I may try it there eventually, but I've still got a lot of listening to do to evaluate my current setup. Plus, I'm also still on the fence about adding mats to my speakers. |
Do these mats function similar to Shakti stones? With the Shakti stone I found the image increase in size but lose focus and texture. I liken it to moving from watching a live play on a stage to a huge screen in a theatre. The effect was able to be repeated with the stone moved from my power conditioner, DAC, transformers on amp and breaker box in the basement. Do the Omega mats properly scale up everything without the negatives I mentioned? Thanks. |
flashhog ... The Omega + E-Mats will put you right into the play. The more + Mats you add to your system, the more "they are here" clarity there is. Not only is the "scale" of the presentation improved, but there is an added bonus with the "Plus" mats. They seem to expose a more accurate tonal balance in instruments and voices. The original E-Mats are no slouches, however, the "Plus mats bring things to a whole different level. ___________________________________________________ On the tube amps and preamps ... I have both, and they have the mats under them. It was a more than worthwhile improvement there also. Frank |
flashhog... I added 2 Shakti Stones to my system shortly before adding the PPT products. The improvement with the stones was subtle at best. Those underwhelming results led me to try the PPT products; and, the improvement with the PPT products was dramatic. I must concede that adding 7 Omega mats and 8 E - cards should yield a greater result; but, I was not expecting such a substantial improvement. And, there does not seem to be a compatibility issue with having both of those products in my system. If you are going to start slowly (like I did), I'd recommend getting 2 Omega mats and put at least one of them on the door of your electrical panel box and see where that takes you. Good luck and enjoy the music! |
flashhog, I have never tried the Shakti stones, but the effects of the Omega + mats are not subtle. mitchagain, I totally agree, placing the mats at the circuit breaker box is the best place. I have found that the second best place is under my Audioquest Niagara 7000. I think the mats like attacking the grunge at the power source. oregonpapa, Its good to know that you think the mats work good under your tube equipment. Perhaps it is just mine. I have the new Bob Carver 350 mono blocks. Merry Christmas everyone! ozzy |
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I recently installed 4 of the Omega Plus mats in my system. I put 3 on my electric panels . I have a main and a sub panel. Each panel has a dedicated 20 amp circuit for my system. Prior to the plus mats ,I had installed 2 of the original mats on my main panel. Subsequent to installing any mats, I had installed a Gate in my main panel. The Gate took awhile before I was able to notice an improvement which was effective but it didn’t wow me. Timothy Mrock emailed me a few weeks after I installed the Gate to ask how I was enjoying it. When I told him I was a little underwhelmed he made a few suggestions two of which I implemented. This improved the performance further and then placement of 2 of the original mats in the main panel put the improvement of my stereo system in the happy and I am going to keep everything range. When I installed the plus mats ,I was flabbergasted by the immediate improvement. I was expecting to wait several days for the installation of the Plus mats to do their thing . Maybe since I already had a couple of the original mats in the system it shortened the break in time or maybe the pairing with the Gate supercharged everything, I dunno. I placed the additional plus mat under my Synergistic Research UEF power conditioner. The original mats were placed under my Modwright Oppo DVD player and the power supply for my Cary SLP 05 preamp. Now getting to what I am hearing or not. First Frank hit the nail on the head by mentioning tonality. Pianos especially the high notes have that tinkling sound that is very close to being in the same room with the piano. Bass might at first seem weaker but that is only because it is more accurate. I found that I am playing music at lower volume levels because there is an improvement in the amount of information.Closing my eyes and listening to Melody Gardot it is like she is in the room with me. My wife wouldn’t be happy about that ! All the instruments have better placement in the soundstage which is wider and deeper as Ozzy has already mentioned. To use an analogy the sound improvement is like a sharpened pencil. The lines are cleaner and there is no smearing. The entire presentation is clearer. In summation, the Omega Plus mats are a game changer. They are more than a step up from the original mats. As a plus,I am hoping to get a further reduction in my electric usage since I installed the Gate. Except for my gas stove and my garage heater my house is all electric and at almost 4000 square feet it takes a fair amount of energy to heat it especially in northern New England winters. |
Iwin, Thanks for your post. That’s a big house to be heated by electric! I also now have 4 of the Omega + mats. I have 2 on my main breaker panel and one under my Audioquest Niagara 7000 and another on my Ayre Preamp. I placed one of the original mats on my GEO Thermal panel box. I have the Gate on my radar for the future. ozzy |
Well another place I just discovered that works great with the Alpha cards is on top of my Synergistic Research FEQ's. I have 2 of them, one on each end of the room in the middle. Wow! it really extends out there effect.The soundstage widens and deepens even more! Probably would work great with other Synergistic products. ozzy |
And... to continue info from my review about energy efficiency with the Omega Mat +. During the holidays I pressed the ice cube maker on the fridge and the cube of ice broke my glass! The ice that was being made was super hard! I then turned down the setting on both the fridge and freezer section. ozzy |
I own a Tascam HR recorder. This unit uses SD cards that records HR files from Qoboz. Once on the SD card I then transfer the file to my external hard drive. Nice way to build up a HR collection. Anyway, since shoulder surgery I have been limited in my activities. Yesterday, I tried using the Tascam which also has a Omega Mat underneath and I found that the Tascam kept giving error messages about device error. After I removed the Omega mat it performs fine. So, is it the magnetism of the mat or the mat itself that effected the Tascam? ozzy |
Since I started this review, I have tried to update the effects so that others thinking of trying the mats would have a reference point. These updates are with my equipment and my ears, and as they say, “YMMV”. Frank had previously suggested using the mats on the back of speakers. Not wanting to affix anything that would mar the finish on my hi gloss speaker cabinets, I was reluctant. So, I placed a couple of the mats stacked on top of my Focal Sopra 2 speakers. It was a minor improvement to me in sound quality but nothing to get excited about. So, yesterday I decided it was time to fully experiment. I moved the Omega mats that were on top of my speakers to the back of the cabinets. I used electrical tape to secure them. One mat was adhered to the top back behind the mid and tweeter section and the other was placed behind the woofers. Well first opinions can sometimes be dangerous and whereas this was the case, the soundstage collapsed and the music lost its upper end frequencies and the soundstage was pushed way back sounding sort of mono. I wanted to remove them immediately. I turned off my stereo and then went to bed to deal with this another time. About 20 hours later, I was really surprised as to the transformation that took place. The once collapsed, center sounding, mono sound now sounded glorious with a much clearer soundstage. And even better dynamics than before the experiment began! Much more detail, that is; in the sound of instruments and vocals. Now this is with using the original E mats, the + versions may be even better. It’s funny though, some places these mats work right away, but in this case the sound quality actually degraded before going full circle and beyond. Krissy, you should try to market these mats to loudspeaker manufacturers. Or put me on your payroll and I will. LOL. ozzy |
Ozzy .,. I have a pretty impressive bedroom system for what it is. Just a desktop PC with a pair of powered Audioengine A2+ speakers. Considering that I have a Gate installed in the circuit breaker box, that largely contributes to the good sound that comes from this system. However, I do have 20 Alpha-E Cards magnetically attached to the outside surfaces of the PC and a few more rests on the modem. To date, no problems with the hard drive on the PC. By the way, Ozzy, I want to share this with you... A friend of mine, a well-known cable builder, put together two rather elaborate filtering systems that plugged into my power conditioner. At the time we installed them years ago, it was a definite improvement and took care of system problems that existed at that point. Two days ago, I decided to try the system with the filters removed. Well, to say there was an improvement would be understating the situation. It was like a wall of smeared glass was removed from the sound-field. I have two audiophile friends coming over for a listening session today. They are very familiar with the system, so they are going to be shocked. The point is, if anyone has PPT products in their system and is using plug-in filters of any kind, try removing them and see what happens. Frank |
