Thanks George for confirming that what I was hearing wasn't my imagination.
I've been on a "power first" approach to this hobby for the last few years,so it doesn't surprise me that the quality of the wall wart could affect the sound.
I hope to explore some alternatives,some of which
are twice the cost of the Lightspeed, but I'm no stranger to using ancilliaries that cost more than the components they are plugged into.
I feel your product is more than deserving of the best power they can get.
Perhaps something from you in the future?
From a weight perspective, the heavier one, the one with the ability to switch plugs of different sizes and switch values is the heavier,but it has the zingy sound.
But I'll try it again and see if I change my opinion now that the LPS has aged somemore.
What I really find interesting is how we ,audiophiles,seem to have a preference for colourations.
We all seem to want to find the special poridge that is just right,but that means something different to everyone.
Tube vs solid state,it's all colourations, trade-offs and preferences.Over the years we tend to find gear that is a comfortable fit,like a nice pair of well fitting shoes that we've grown accustomed to.
New shoes seldom feel the same as the old ones did,until they too are near their expiry date or fall out of fashion.
Audio gear is much the same.
What's new is either embraced or scorned,it's a revelation or it's snake oil.
It's just a re-badged version of something that came before it, or it's just not as good as they used to make back in the good old days.
But sometimes something does come along that seems to be out of step with what's been going on in audio over the last few years.
A product that sounds way better than it's price would lead you to believe.
A product that really doesn't fit into either the tube or solid state camp, and one that doesn't have as many sonic colourations as some of the best of each.
This I find is the most impressive characteristic of the LPS.
It just gets out of the way and lets you hear more of the cd and less of what the pre-amp is adding to the sound of the cd.
It's like a pre amp - not.
I'm not a newbie,here's a few of the pre amps I've owned,in different systems however.
Dynaco,RGR,Mark Levinson, CJ Premier 2,Audio Valve Eklipse,
Sonic Frontiers, Blue Circle Galatea,and I know I'm leaving some out,but perhaps there's a reason why I've forgotten those.
Everyone of those preamps were good, at least to my ears, and so is my present pre, the Manley Steelhead,which replaced a Sutherland PHD, which was no slouch either, but only a phono stage.
But they all had a "sound" which they imparted on the music.
I never really knew how much of a sound most highly regarded preamps have until I heard the LSP.
I'll have to rehash the old war horse terminology of "hearing things for the forst time in my cds", but that's an apt description of what the Lightspeed Attenuator does for me.
If you have assembled a decent system and you want to hear what those components really sound like, as oppossed to how they sound with added colourations, then I think you would be as pleased as I am with the Lightspeed.
