I understand the negative comments and thoughts about the qol unit. Adding extra cable and another unit in my stereo seemed foolish, but the tout about the 30 trial and a talk with Larry Kay convinced me to try it. In my comments on another thread i talk about the positive effect the qol unit had in my system. The reason for this thread is to make comment about value of qol in the high-end vs mid to low-fi. I have an ARC LS-27 pre and an ARC DS-450 amp. An Esoteric SA-50 digital front end and Clear Audio TT and cartridge are sources and speakers are the Sophia III's. All cable is Transparent from the very upper levels of choice and 1 Cardas clear for the qol. All units are placed on the latest Stillpoints rack with Stillpoint Ultra footers between all units and rack. And Stillpoints also under speakers and sub woofers. I have 3 seperate 20amp dedicated lines for stereo, one for each JL-113 sub and 1 for the main units. I also have 2 quantum qx-4 to deal with RFI & EMI. All power cables are Shunyata's TOL or near. Shunyata,s V-ray II is plugged into a Shunyata outlet with all units plugged into it. My point is I feel my stereo is fairly high-end and I was very pleased and happy, now I am extremely pleased and happy since adding qol unit. Long live qol. Marc |
I just read Robert Harley's review of the qol unit in the new TAS issue. In his super high-end system he lusts and loves the qol unit also. Once you hear the obvious benefits you will be spoiled. Long live qol, I need it every night! |
Ozzy From my seat the unit sounded good fresh out and has slightly improved over time. The one thing of note was it takes about 20 minutes to warm completely up and this you will hear. Just as in an amp. |
I noticed much more difference between cables burning in than the qol unit. Also Larry Kay (president of BSGT) said the same about qol in his high-end system. You may have heard more of the cables burning in than the qol unit itself. It does work in the analog mode, but it can be placed before pre-amp or receiver or through tape loop if wanted. From my experience after pre-amp is the best and with balanced connections. Elsewhere a loss of air and excitement was noted in my system |
There is some warm up and like all equipment needs some burn in time. My point is there will only so much improvement. Not so much as to go from bad to good like in some units . From the off i have enjoyed all the excitement it brings. It is more important to maybe adjust your speakers and in my case i added a good bit extra bass from my 2 subs. Preale's comment about seeming bright was also my impression especially on some albums. This is due to the lost info in the signal now brought forward in playback. It is this added info that for me completes the signal just like they claim. There is an adjustment period, but for me it was all positive. You now have a huge sweet spot that you can move around without having to hold your head still. I could go on and on as it does so much the only way to believe is to hear it. |
Ozzy, If you do not mind, after you get used to unit, will you test standard fuse against the HiFi? Hifi supreme fuses made a surprisingly big difference in my ARC preamp and amp. Larry said he did not think it would help as it does not draw much current. But I was already thinking I would test myself. |
Ozzy, good to hear you solved your tweak issue. I have been listening to the qol unit for months and I can assure you some material will seem bright especially older recordings. It will be obvious. I usually like to hear what a tweak does so I plan to order a supreme and listen before and after as it only takes 5 minutes. Also glad Olivia is dishing out ear love to you as I know the feeling well. I am right there with you as the added info the qol unit uncovers brings out a big emotional response in me. |
Preale, 3AG 250v 1A slo-blo as per Larry Kay. |
Ozzy, glad you like your qol unit. My point about burn in was that the difference is small compared to the other factors such as speaker tow in and placement. I recently swapped a V-Ray II out and put in Shunyatas Triton. It right out of box seemed bright and non fluid. It took pretty much the recommended 200 hrs. to start singing and finally pass the V-RayII in sound quality. The qol right away was positve and only got better with time. That was my point and not to wait and start later. Marc |
Ozzy, forgot to say I have a 1amp Supreme fuse I will exchange for the one with unit. I will do a before and after and will report if any or much diference |
Preale, I agree about subs. I tried my JL-113s both ways, but preferred subs driven from preamp. This weekend I will test supreme fuse and give feedback to group. |
Ozzy, I will get to to it this weekend. I have a chance to compare my signal cables against the latest cables by Shunyata that unexpectedly came in Thursday on loan. I was told they need 4 or 5 days burn-in and I try not to change 2 things at once so I can be sure of effect. I am curious myself and will tell what I hear. Marc |
Ozzy, got to test fuse in qol last night and was pleased immediately with across the board improvement, especially at high volume. Just as in the ARC preamp and amp the highs are sweeter and music more fluid. Leading edge of instruments are easier to identify. These are not night and day, but a nice improvement over standard fuses. |
Preale, during testing of fuse I tried putting fuse in both ways and preferred the arrow pointing away from unit. This also was the way the arrow pointed in my ARC LS-27 and ARC D-450 amp after testing both ways. I would be curious to see if you concur. |
Preale, I agree, all equipment including qol need to burn in to get optimum sound reproduction. I just think the burn in is a small factor with the qol unit compared to speaker and system adjustment. Right out of the box the qol was positive and only got better. What has surprised me is how some units and cables absolutely make your ears hurt and can take 200 to 600+ hrs. to come on song. The Shunyata Triton and their cables take 200 hrs to sound good with more to come. The ARC preamp and amp took 200+hrs.to sound fair and 600+ to come on song. When listening to all these early, before burn in, hurt my ears and made me question my purchases. I almost traded amp as it took the longest, but time transformed the sound in ways I had never experienced or expected. That to me is burn in that is extremely relative and can effect whether you want to purchase something or not. With the qol I liked right away then started falling in love. |
