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I have had the ADD Powr Wizard in my system for a couple of weeks and I'm impressed

The audio writer's conundrum: How do you find the right words to describe sound? It's not easy. It's like trying to describe a color. You will get a sense of it but in order to really get it you have to hear it. We have all read many audio writer's attempts to do so with varying degrees of success. What does the writer wish to convey about how a particular component sounds? And more problematically, how does that get put into words?   Here is the bottom line for me- how strong is the emotional impact of the sound when I listen to the equipment? That is it. And of course that can not be separated from the companion question- How strong is the emotional impact of the music? One reason that this hobby is so amazing is that these questions are two sides of the same coin and complement each other beautifully. Collecting fine (and well recorded) music is a great hobby in and of itself. Couple it, however, with the equally enjoyable hobby of component swapping and tweeking and you have a match made in heaven. It's like what happened when John met Paul.
All of which brings me to this review of the ADD Powr Wizard. What I keep returning to over and over again with this thing plugged into a nearby outlet is how intense my emotional connection to the sound and the music is. To use a well worn audio writer cliche, It's like I'm listening to my collection for the first time and hearing things I never heard before. But it is so much more than that. It's not just that I am hearing more of what is on the record it is that I am hearing more of what the artists on the record are intending to create with their music. The ADD Wizard allows me to do this more completely than any other addition to my system over the last 10 years. It lets me fully relax into the music. With all my other tweeks, at least the good ones, the ones that work, I was able to get a better sense of space and detail each time I added one. The benefit of the Wizard is on a different plane than that. Yes it adds to the sense of space and detail in the sound, but it also creates a stronger impression about the music itself. It's a feeling of being one with the music. Hard to describe but very powerful!
You will have to read the literature to get a sense of what ADD Powr is doing with its algorithms and how they are being applied to the household electric circuit in order to filter out the audio nasties so that the music can come shining through in all its glory . That part of the review is way above my pay grade.  I would love to be able to understand that. But hey that's what makes tweeks so much fun. The fact that you may not understand the electronic or physics of it doesn't mean that you are not hearing amazing things from it. And in the case of the ADD Powr Wizard what I am hearing just makes me smile.
bradmorris1

Showing 13 responses by marc777

marc777's avatar
marc777
116 posts
 

@david_ten  @ozzy I have some exchange of info with Bill that i find quite interesting that others may find of interest too. 

    

Name
Marc Brown
Message
Hey Bill, reading about your I/O data input /output device. I use firewire so i wondered if due to my sorcer, the latest symphony pro and 2 qx-4 all within a foot of my digital source,would i be getting some of what you are getting from I/O device,thanks marc brown
   
Hello Marc,
 
Yes, that would certainly be the case.
 
Symphony I/O would offer perhaps greater levels of harmonic resonance more directly on the data (ethernet, USB) pathways.
This is because of the unit's high number of coil antennae and the resulting field strength.
 
The units that you have approach the SymI/O but without the various intensity settings.
 
Hope that this helps.
 
Best,
 
Bill
 
Coherence Systems / ADD-POWR™
  From: Marc Brown <marcbrown7777@yahoo.com>
To: Bill Stierhout <addpowr@aol.com>
Sent: Fri, Apr 1, 2022 8:51 am
Subject: Re: A message from your ADD-Powr contact form.
 
 
Thanks Bill, that is somewhat profound for me in that when i consolidated my multi-box stereo which consisted of an Esoteric DAC and SACD player with 10 MHz clock, Audio Research Pre-amp and Amp with TOL Transparent Loudspeaker cables and Inter-connects 1 step down, balanced of course. Shunyata's ,then TOL power cables all on stillpoints and a stillpoints rack. I loved it and thought this is it.
     But i had a friend bring a Devialet 200 to my home out of curiosity to see how they compared playing same Wilson Sophia 3 speakers and  two JL113 Audio subs. My shock was huge when the Devialet was equal or better without having optimized for the new unit yet. I sold the stillpoints rack, all stereo units, cables,ect.
          I then started to optimize for the new set-up. I had put 2 of your qx-4s at the digital end only because of having no other place at the time. I have 3 properly  done dedicated outlets for stereo. Since i had 2 qx-4s on the digital it made since to put 1 qx-4 in the outlet with the Devialet. It was NO CONTEST, i went right back to set-up i had thought was not right. It sounds so crazy to me,but my music's quantum improvements over previous set-ups has changed my thoughts.
        I have a qx-4 plugged into digital outlet. It has a big UPS plugged into it, this unit has the other qx-4  plugged in it and that feeds my digital stuff. I have so,so,so much more clarity without any negatives. The emotional intent ect of music pours out. The EMI,RFI, ect must be why is my thoughts and by getting all the boxes and many cables with all their noise out allowed all your units to fix issues that have floored me, due to dancing and singing induced by your units. Thanks Bill, marc brown
    
Hello Marc,
 
Thank you for your comments and sharing your thoughts.
Especially enjoyable to read were the last three sentences.
 
Bill
 
Coherence Systems / ADD-POWR
 
ey Bill, agreed with the 2 q-4s, one feeding and also sitting on top of the UPS and 10" from Devialet and the other on top of the Devialet. Your new Symphony Pro is directly below Dervialet about 3" away. Then the Sorcer is 3" away from front of Devialet. Since this unit has DAC,pre-amp and amp in one small area right next to the ifi digital units that filter and clean up power supply that are in the UPS.
    I had spent hours moving units to what i thought would make a better fit. Took no more that 2 days and i went back to the now current set-up that seems to emulate your I/U device on a bis scale.
 Especially confirmed my thoughts that set-up is more important that equipment. I just never suspected just how much!!
      Thanks again Bill, marc brown
  
Hey Bill, i will send a pic but at work and had meant to ask. When i burn cds for my car and pontoon (The Lemon Drop Yacht) the music seems to have improvements in harmonics and in general. Since i burn cds encompassed with all your units, it can and does improve the sound from my ears perspective. Have you or anyone else noticed this too? It is possible correct? Thanks marc brown
   Hi Marc,
 
Indeed, this is the result of the ADD-Powr technology. 
The harmonics that the products, esp. Sorcer, induce on the AC line, are present in the power supplies including the CD burn device.
These signals are too low in frequency to be filtered away by the power supply, and thereby are present on the DC supply reference.
 
This has been verified by spectrum analysis that shows increased s/n measurements.
 
So your observations affirm this.
 
Thanks for sharing,
 
Bill
 
Coherence Systems / ADD-POWR™

 
marc777's avatar
marc777
116 posts
 

@david_ten The real surprise to me is when  I re-rip a CD it now sounds better than before. I hear it on the pontoon and in car from the CDs newly burned with all of Bill's units. And re-ripping also makes stereo sound better Too!

marc777's avatar
marc777
116 posts
 

Hey people, i am loving the Sorcer and wizard in my stereo system. I had ordered a plastic top out of curiosity and a qsa fuse too. When i took metal top off to replace with plastic one my girlfriend and i noticed a marked improvement in stereo and also in electric keyboard she plays. Has anyone else tried or noticed this among yourselves yet? It is better by far without either top in my system. My Sorcer is right next to my stereo and also near electric keyboard. marc  

marc777's avatar
marc777
116 posts
 

david, that was me from an earlier post. i wondered if anyone else had done the same. i always play with top off and notice instantly when top is put on or taken off. The harmonics seem to bloom, beginning sooner and lasting longer. Addictive soul food. marc

marc777's avatar
marc777
116 posts
 

In my system the Sorcer is right next to stereo. I was just changing top to plastic in hopes i could watch how the lights operated when playing music. I did not know the plastic top was too dark and you cannot see through it. So, while music was playing and going back and forth we noticed a slight closing down of harmonics with top on. It is not as big a difference as the qsa fuse made but still noticeable and desirable. The keyboard takes longer to get the effect but came to the same conclusion there. Some things that may factor in are, a Symphony Pro directly underneath stereo, a Stein Music harmonizer system, 2 Nordost qx-4s , marc

marc777's avatar
marc777
116 posts
 

t_ramey, i have one of Bill's new Symphony Pros and a Sorcer x2, besides 2 of the qx-4s,a Qv2 and a QK1that Bill designed for Nordost. In another post i mistakenly called the Symphony Pro i have  a Wizard. Since my stereo has only 1 fuse and that is in the Sorcer i got a Red/Black from Mike at 30% off on one he had  returned to him. I know how Gollum felt with his precious!

marc777's avatar
marc777
116 posts
 

I looked back and saw where Bill had answered an email to me about the cover,it will follow for anyone interested, marc

 
Hello Marc,
 
The plastic cover will allow additional transparency and air to the high frequencies to the resonance process.
This is primarily in regard to the internal antenna coils and effective field propagation into the environment.
 
No, the dark color has only aesthetic significance.
 
Yes, Mike has shared this and his very favorable observations with the QSA fuses.
 
Bill
 
ADD-POWR /
Coherence Systems
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Marc Brown <marcbrown7777@yahoo.com>
To: cohsystms@aol.com <cohsystms@aol.com>
Sent: Fri, Jun 4, 2021 12:41 am
Subject: sorcer
 
 Hey Bill, Is there an advantage replacing metal cover with plastic one? Is there any reason it is dark instead of more clear, other than for looks? marc brown PS I mentioned to Mike at Tweek Geek had he tried a QSA fuse in his Sorcer? He then tried one and said it made the Sorcer multiple times better. I have one coming to see for myself.
 
marc777's avatar
marc777
116 posts
 

ozzy5, i got mine from Bill at Add Powr. When i go home i will check to see if holes are in plastic cover. I do not think they have any holes, except for screw holes, but since i normally leave mine off i am not sure. marc

marc777's avatar
marc777
116 posts
 

ozzy5, no holes except for screw holes, no heat to speak of it seems, marc

marc777's avatar
marc777
116 posts
 

@ozzy PS Just saw where i had added a 5 to your name. I had forgotten Bill had said the plastic cover vs metal helped also,so that seems to confirm what i hear with no top at all. PPS Bill said he felt leaving on was his suggestion so i do. But for the 1st time my circle of lights were not active recently. Once restarted no problem. Bill said that can happen and to just restart. marc brown

marc777's avatar
marc777
116 posts
 

@ozzy 

 Bill had said plastic and glass are good, so it ,most likely, must be the metal that makes things worse.

marc777's avatar
marc777
116 posts
 

@tweakmenow 

 Hey, when you refer to coating ribbon cables which unit are you using? marc PS Do you hear any difference with top on or off?

marc777's avatar
marc777
116 posts
 

@tweakmenow 

   Thanks, have you noticed any difference with top on or off?

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