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(Jolida) Black Ice Audio Foz SS-X Sound Enhancement

I could find only a few reviews of this device and a few forum entries here. They were all favorable. I sorely needed the bass enhancement circuit for my Maggie 3.7s. I have a Marchand X.26 crossover handling them and the sub but the integration was not ideal. The pre and amps are Cary Audio Class A mono blocs. The source is transparent and very revealing. I did not want anything to upset the glorious sound of the tubes. I also needed something to offset my small-ish listening room. The Maggies ’stand watch’ but I can’t get the distance I need for them to bloom. The SS-X seemed to fit the bill - tube driven, clean specs and a solid designer pedigree. I respect Jim Fosgate.

I ordered the SS-X on the strength of his engineering expertise, particularly in tubes, viz-a-viz Jolida. Not having heard the device it could be considered a leap of faith or a plunge into disappointment. I held my breath.

Straight to the chase: Maggies now have a sweet bottom end, the sub has been dialed back and has disappeared and the top to bottom synergy is spot on and very satisfying.

But wait, there’s more...

The spatial imaging adjustment: Well, I listened to several of my favorite studio recordings. Clean, thankfully. I then put on a nightclub recording of the late Ben Webster live in Amsterdam. I nearly fell out of my chair. The speakers disappeared and I was looking around for the cocktail waitress. The drum kit, the piano, the double bass were all present in the venue with all of its ambiance and Mr. Webster was doing what he did so incredibly well: swinging the audience ala Ellington with that big smooth sax. You could hear everyone present as if you were sitting there.

I’m still waiting for the cocktail server. Incredible device and worth every penny and the anticipation.





128x128keesue
sgordon1
413 posts
 
Jim Smith, from "Get Better Sound" on tonal balance:

p. 92 "We perceive warm or cool sound to some extent
by the amount of energy present in the lower
midrange/upper bass.  If we bring our speakers (or microphones)
a bit closer togeether, the reproduced sound "couples"
ever so slightly better, slightly shifting the balance to "warmer."

p. 94 The other extreme, "pinpoint stereo imaging," results from
"very wide separation, which thins out the tonal palette of
the music.  You can make an orchestra (or band, etc.) sound
bleached out, thin, and totally uninteresting by going too far in
your quest for pinpoint imaging." 

Enter SS-X!
keesue's avatar
keesue OP
42 posts
 
@sgordon1: Thank you for this citation, good sir. Your conclusion is spot on, "Enter the SS-X". Precisely what the SS-X is for!

In a cozy space, such as mine, you can adjust the imaging to your liking to make it more believable. I always bemoaned the artificial separation in studio recordings but no more. With live recordings, jeepers is all I have to say! "Oh, waitress!" :-).

To give life to this "Oh, waitress" schmaltz, lemme ’splain. I have a recording of John Coltrane live at the Village. It is a cozy club setting. Right in the middle of the drum solo, there is a percussive noise that is out of place. I always assumed it was an anomaly of some sort on the drum kit because it was buried down so deep - hardly noticeable - but there none-the-less. When I added a tweak I had been eyeing for some time, and played that cut, that noise became immediately obvious. It was a glass dropped out in the audience - and now heard clear as a bell! Needless to say that tweak has been in my system ever since.

With the addition of the SS-X, I can now tell exactly where in the club that person who dropped that glass was sitting relative to the stage! Incredible resolution. Put another way, it did not obscure that extraneous noise, a testament to its transparency, and brought out its spatial location in the live space. Hence, why I say, "Oh, waitress".

I suspect that even in the best of spaces, you can adjust the recording to your liking, particularly studio recordings. Indispensable.


namasteplenny
4 posts
 
Aloha - I posted this question in another thread, thought I’d pose it to this group as well.  I called Black Ice and spoke with Jerod, the CEO. He explained that the SSX bass is a peak/ dip at 20hz and that unless the music goes that low, one won’t hear the effects of the bass adjustment knob.  My sub only goes down to 24hz to begin with.
In your experience, how much effect does the bass adjustment knob have and how low do your speakers/ sub go?

Thanks
keesue's avatar
keesue OP
42 posts
 
I have Magnapan 3.6Rs which only go down to 34hz with a 3db roll off. I use a Marchand X-over with a 35 hz cutoff but it is a gradual slope downwards. I’ve not had a reason to use my sub anymore frankly, the SS-X brings in just enough bass energy in the music to make me happy if need be. One of the side effects of turning up the ’space’ is losing a bit of bass energy on some recordings, so even though the SS-X is centered at 20hz, that also means it extends upward from that center frequency. Put another way, there a sloping boost curve at the upper end of the center frequency which, depending on your speakers, you may hear the energy at the upper end of the curve and the lower end of your speakers before they roll off.

N.B.:  I previously stated I have 3.7s.  That was a typo.  


namasteplenny
4 posts
 
Cool, thanks. I have the LRS with a REL sub. Plan to order the SSX soon. 
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