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My Snubway and Main Stream Master Class Combo Review

I must admit I am a sucker for tweaks.

I have owned and tried so many. I have always admired those who think outside the “box”. Some of these items were great, some maybe? And then some were just a “swing and a miss”.

I have communicated with Mark through the years and have used several of his products. So, I ventured into the Vera-fi Audio filters that many of you have expressed that you have liked. That is specifically; the Snubway and the Main Stream filters. I’m not sure if that is the appropriate category but I think that is what they do.

When I first received them, I tried them on my Audio dedicated AC line. First listen, the music sounded louder and more in my face. I was concerned that perhaps they were too much for my already “clean” audio system.

I then moved them to my dedicated Video AC line. On this line, I have an AudioQuest 1200 conditioner, an 85” Samsung TV/LED, Oppo 205, Satellite Dish, Apple TV and a 7 channel Outlaw amp. And I also had a Puron filter. When I first viewed this Video system with the filter combo now in use, boy, was I impressed! I watched a few pre-season NFL live games and the image was fantastic! So clean, immersive, with deep contrast, and deep colors. I knew these units would be a permanent part of this system.

So today, again, I tried that combo on my Audio Dedicated line. On this line is my AudioQuest 7000, Lumin X1, and 2 Michi 8 power amps. But now this time I did not get the image overload, perhaps these take some time to burn/break in. I will let these units percolate for a few days before I pass additional comments. But… I did order another set of them.

ozzy

128x128ozzy
gladmo's avatar
gladmo
364 posts
 

I’ll do a report: I bought the Main Stream + Snubway combo from Mark and have had it in the system for 6 days now. I liked MS right away when plugged into the first outlet of my main power conditioner, but SW was a degradation of quality during the first day. Sounded harsh and less nuanced. So, I plugged the SW in an outlet in another room and left it there for three days. I’ve now had both the MS and SW plugged into the first outlet of my main conditioner using a splitter/adapter for another three days and the system is singing with higher resolution. Sounds awesome, no more issues with the Snubway unit, no additional tweaking was necessary for me to have the freq response that I want. I don’t even want to try positioning them somewhere else in the power chain. That initial issue with the Snubway degrading my sound was, and still is, confusing to me, but it’s totally absent now. 🙏

ozzy's avatar
ozzy OP
7,461 posts
 

gladmo,

Your experience sorta mirrors my first reaction as in my original review. I think... they take time to breakin or maybe the word is adjust?

ozzy

gladmo's avatar
gladmo
364 posts
 

Yeah, I don’t know. That’d why I said confused. Wasn’t the typical phases of cable and electronics burn-in that I’m so familiar with. At first with the Snubway, I was just thinking "Ummm, no". I even texted a friend that I would probably return it for another Main Stream unit. But then the wiser, more patient part of myself realized that I hadn’t given it any time to settle or whatever. Happy I gave it a chance. And they were both sounding pretty good after 4 days, but 5 or 6 days seems to be revealing the sweet spot with whatever had been occurring.

I also a have a handful of strategically placed Purons in my system, but I have modified them all to my satisfaction, so I decided to leave that info aside for the report. Altogether, the whole system is so complex, that I can only merely share my observations. I don’t have an explanation for the warm-up period...

ozzy's avatar
ozzy OP
7,461 posts
 

I now have 3 sets of the Snubway/Main Stream. One set per dedicated line.Very nice, quality improvement.

Anyone else feed the beast?

ozzy

tommyu
41 posts
 
Received my Main Stream yesterday.. Kinda funny story here I didn't think it was going to show up till Monday since tracking showed in transit from UPS to USPS yesterday.
 
Trying to make a long story short ;-) I sold my Puron earlier in the week listening to my system Friday night you could notice the difference with out it... just a SnubWay in the line still sounded good but kinda flat and missing that little bit of emotion it had brought to my rig.
 
So my friend here in town had a second Puron not in use, he offered it for me to use, so drove across town only 20 minutes away so I could have an enjoyable listening session.
 
Joking as I left his house, said now the Main Stream will show up and sure enough on the porch sitting for me it was delivered (Big Smile) so  for fun still plugged the Puron in for warm up  the amp and listened to a disc very familiar with then plugged  the Main Stream, cold from the get go pretty much Bettered  the Puron in Every aspect like a Puron on Steroids, listened for 4+ hours I am truly impressed.!!
 
I don't need to bore you with all the Audiophile verbiage you know what this thing does in combination with the SnubWay it is a world class product. enough said.
 
Those were my findings from about 2 weeks ago, I feel the Main Stream refined a bit more after about 72 hours and is really making music Very enjoyable and Engaging! my system has a wonderful and natural Flow now..
 
Thanks Mark, great job on this one, you and your "Team" Knocked this one out of the Park...
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