I’m curious about this product from Perfect Path Technologies and would like to hear from those that have experience with it. I’ve bought and used the Total Contact enhancer and like what it does for my system so I’m interested in hearing how this Omega E mat performs.
jafreeman My amps were designed and rebuilt by Grover Huffman of GroverHuffman.com cable manufacturer. These were extensively rebuilt with few remaining parts/connectors.
If you have read the forum posts by Oregonpapa (Frank), you would see that for a few hundred dollars, he took a Pioneer DV-05 1998 DVD player with dual lasers, installed six superior capacitors, with a high end A/C cable and voila! trounced his $10K Audio Research CD player which was broken and required a $2K repair.
Also, Grover's Dynaco ST70 remodel changes the tap for power from the transformers (voltage regulated instead of ultralinear), installs typical mods like solid state rectification (kept the tube for warm up purposes) installed new huge storage capacitor and the same thing, a very superior, high current tube amp that drives bass down to the 20s and with tremendous punch and resolution, more open and extended highs. It's a smaller version of the Altec amps but not as highly resolving or powerful. It can drive Frank's Signature IIIs superbly as it does mine at my home. Again, about a $400-$500 retrofit including new IC connections and speaker terminals, IEC A/C connector.
Glad to hear you’re okay and so sorry for your neighbors. Please take heed and wear a respirator, if you’re not already doing so. On my daily morning walks I wear one and it makes a big difference. Every morning I wake up to the smell of ashes and it sickens me.
This whole area is tinder waiting for the next idiot thinking he’s Joe Outdoorsman and no one is going to limit his idea of roughing it. People need to have more situational awareness.
Prior to the evacuation orders, I decided to stay and fight. As I was hosing down the shrubbery and my roof, the wind was blowing at 50mph and driving lit cinders past me and into me. It was literally raining lit cinders. The heat was intense. The humidity was between 3% to 6%.
There’s an RV storage facility on the hill directly across from my place and it was fully ablaze. All of the cinders were coming from there. Finally, the wind was so strong, the stream coming from my hose just came back toward me and I got soaked. At that point, I panicked and said screw it ... and just bailed out of the place.
When I finally returned and "fired up" the audio system, it sounded better than ever. I think the Total Contact that I pasted on the speaker crossovers a few weeks ago is the reason. I believe its curing nicely. Must be close to the four-week jump.
By the way, guys, say some prayers for A’gon member Mribob. He lives up in Malibu Canyon ... not a good place to be during these fires. He’s out of town and I’ve been texting him with updates.
Haven’t had Internet service for a couple of days ...
Hurray! My house didn’t burn down. So scary. Had to evacuate. Two homes on my street burned down to the ground. Mine was untouched. Poured a spiced rum on ice and listened to some soothing music when I returned after the evacuation was lifted. Still, a bit traumatized though. I have two big Hepa filters going full blast in an attempt to get the smoke smell out of the house.
Ok, you have some vintage, rebuilt amps. Please tell us their story and how you made them into what they are now---very interesting about the voltage (?).
Unfortunately, there are no feet/footers on my amps. They were originally theater wall mounted horizontally into walls and gave off radiation (700+ volts). Modified (very highly), they have only 450v. and the chassis is made out of sheet metal. My stillpoints are located under the center and right transformers and the other under the left side of the chassis. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pair-of-Altec-1569A-Theater-EL34-Tube-Amplifiers-Western-Electric-Era-Peerl...
My altecs are totally different using 6BG6 russian output tubes (6) which put out 125w., the transformers are 85 degrees after hours of listening, have voltage regulated design, low feedback, a pair of 3" X 7" storage caps, I mean a totally different amp other than the chassis and transformers. So, as you can see from the photos posted on the above link, this is not a easy amp to place on the ground.
Thanks, Steve. With the Still Points blocking placement of a mat, I would just ask if you are placing the Still Points inboard from the chassis, or perimeter of your amps? There was a big craze with those bearing-type couplers, where people would place then under the sheet metal pan of their gear, only to defeat the design strengths of the chassis and the factory footers. The bearing design could easily roll the gear laterally, so the solution was to place them inward, in a tripod---bad idea, in my opinion. Either way, I would try placing small, solid blocks under your still Points and then the mats under the blocks. From my experience, and yours, the mats will do a lot more than the perfectly-coupled point. The other thing you could try is to piece together as many E Cards as possible under your amps. Best Wishes!
jafreeman, the two on top and one under the Bryston IT works great. My amps are custom built and the Mat’s can’t go under (stillpoints under at a triangle too small for an E-Mat, with tubes sideways (too hot to place on top) with one side for front controls (bias, volume, feedback) and only one full side. two minor sides available. The pre-amp also improved with the placing of 3 stacked mats underneath.
As to cost of A/C cables, GroverHuffman cables are affordable to those who can afford an E-Mat. Get both and double your pleasure. Otherwise, buy double the number of E-Mats.
I’m glad that right side/wrong side is not really an issue. I’m so happy with the sound improvement from the E-Mats. It’s like my removing all sound absorption/deflection paneling after using 32 tiny SR HFTs in the (large) listening room.
From what I heard at Frank's home, the more E-Mats the merrier.
Steve, I was about to say perhaps you are a bit heavy on the isolation transformer and could borrow two to finish the space under your amps---until I read the 100-mat treatment by Mr. and Mrs. PPT. Well, wouldn't hurt to move things around, anyway. I have heard improvements within an hour under ARC tube amps, and only covering 1/2 of the chassis, underneath, of course---label-side up on all. Fun!
About to receive my 2x emats and 1x set of ecards. Do we have a feel on what tweaks don’t play nice? HFC MC 0.5 already covered as a no no. Anyone with Shakti stones, Bybee IQSE/room neutralizers/qplug/speaker bullets, tweek geek sonic tonic tried the emats with positive/negative results? I’m hoping the mats could be THE one “tweak” to rule them all!
Hey Steve, I don’t think it matters much, and neither does Timmy. We’ve been really busy ~~ we’ve recently added 10 under each component. <3 <3 30 on a large voltage regulator, 10 under the CD player, 10 under each sub ~~and 10 on each speaker. <3 <3 ~~ 10 on my Italian race car amps. ~~ A total of 100 mats. <3 <3 It’s the most real experience in electronic sound! A huge increase in dynamic range and weight. Incredible rise in space and air/detail. <3 <3 Given what one can spend on power cords, it’s a bargain. The bass is super super detailed. ~~Skull shaker.~~<3 <3 The poor neighbor. lol. <3 <3 You have to try these products!! Many thanks to those who have. Enjoy. <3 <3 Krissy
Just one E-Mat over the main power panel greatly improves both picture and sound. A mid-fi Yamaha CR620 receiver hooked up to the TV output (good cabling though) and a pair of ADS L620 speakers with one E-Mat resulted in deeper, more detailed bass, smoother mids and highs, more dynamic and lower apparent distortion/clearer sound ("blacker backgrounds"). So, if I were only able to buy one E-Mat, I’d place it on the main power panel.
For some reason, despite using 12 E-Mats, 3 on isolation transformer, 2 on subpanel, 3 under pre-amp/phono and 3 under CD player, the two monoblock tube amps did not have an effect. Maybe I needed more than 2. Also, 9 E-Mats are incorrectly placed with the printed side away from the device. It appears to work just fine wrongly placed. Can PPT let me know if after 3 months, if it matters or not?
True ... Sweetmaria's charges for shipping, but my green beans cost an average of around $6.50 per pound. That would be for some excellent Guatemalan or Kenyan coffee. Granted, in order to use the green coffee, you'd have to invest in a roaster. The one I have retails for close to $400 now. It was $299 when I bought mine ... and I've had it for years. It's the Behmor roaster. It has a smoke filter and can be used indoors. Works like a champ:
I'm lucky enough to have a local coffee roaster that imports from all parts of the globe. In ten minutes I can have something that was roasted the same day.
I bought from Sweet Maria’s a long time ago. The issue I have with them compared to Blue Macaw and other on eBay sellers is they kill you on shipping. Example: I can get two count em! pounds of Kenya AA with *free shipping* from Blue Macaw for $22. And it’s fresh! Cannot beat with stick!
Just finished listening to a 1957 EMI recording of Sir Thomas Beecham conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. What wonderful, colorful music!
The illusion of being in the hall was VERY convincing. I’m sure it could be even more convincing, but I have a hard time saying how, until I hear it.
I had read earlier in this thread that the magnetic side to the component is best? Not label facing the component? Does it really matter and is one way really best?
@geoffkait Good morning. <3 Nothing has to be on in order to achieve the Perfect Path effect. Just place under the component and let it simmer. <3 Now, please answer my question: What is the ebay seller's name you purchase your coffee from? I've forgotten. <3 Best regards , Krissy
Innocent question. If the mat is placed under the CD player for two weeks as suggested but no music is played until *after* the two week period has elapsed will improvements be heard when first playing music?
^^^ Borrow it again and put it into either your circuit breaker box, or UNDER the same CD player and leave it alone for three weeks and see what happens.
A friend gave me mat on loan to try. Used it on my CD player. There was no difference when using it. I generally like trying tweaks but this one really stumped me on the cost vs. the value.
That’s not really what I had in mind. 😢 Where’s the enthusiasm? Come on, pretend you’re a big reviewer. Put your back into it. Don’t be shy. Spice it up a little. Go crazy.
I could tick off all the usual audiophile checkboxes, but the main thing for me is that all the various types of music I enjoy are more engaging, involving, dynamic, lifelike, and natural sounding.
So, can you tell us a little more, you know, maybe try to describe the sound now compared to how it was before you treated everything? Go into as much detail as you can.
It's been almost 9 weeks since I placed sixteen mats in my system, and the sound is still improving. During this time, the only change I have made is to remove an HF MC-0.5 a couple weeks ago (Big improvement!). Before the mats, I treated the whole system pretty thoroughly with TC. To say that I am extremely pleased with how the mats, and TC, have improved the sound, along with increasing my enjoyment of music, feels like an understatement.
Early on in the TC thread, I talked about pasting the ten-dollar thrift store Kenwood CD player with excellent results. The naysayers jumped all over me for reporting what was true. Here are the facts: Using the combination of the Omega E Mats and the Total Contact will transform even less expensive equipment into something very musical and involving.
The hall ambience, the rich texture and reverberant decay, the depth of placement that is now revealed via standard CD has bolstered my confidence in the format beyond the expectations a more expensive player would have delivered--so much added value from the Omega mats and E cards-- and not done yet!
No problemo. It’s like applying the stuff to tube pins ... It’s not for everyone. There is some risk of shorting. On the other hand, no goats, no glory. 🐐 🐐
Helpful hint to anyone trying it, don’t load up on coffee prior to. 😬
Hi there. Consulted with Tim on this one.... he really can't advise using the provided brush on the tiny pins of HDMI connection. No offense, of course. <3 Hey, maybe I don't have your neurosurgeon skills with the brush..... but for the sake of the Jackson Pollock painters out there, Tim advises against it. <3 Kind regards, Krissy
The teeny tiny little brush on the applicator works for me. But it depends on what the connector looks like as to whether there’s any risk. For Audioquest Carbon HDMI connector there is no risk of creating a short inside the connector. A tooth pick proved futile, as fate would have it.
jmolsberg, I can't say I have compared the mat at the breaker panel vs all mats at equipment, but I sure have good results favoring sensitive equipment--try the big mat under larger amp or phono stage the rest under smaller pieces, etc. You will instantly say, "I need more mats." They are that good. Paint all connections with the TC, including prongs on power cords, interconnects, speaker spades, etc., and please post your progress and results. It' going to be fun.
Ordered the "modest bundle," which contains: one e-mat, five a-cards and the TC. So where to put this stuff? The e-mat in the breaker, and one card each on Audience PC, phono-pre, Decware amp, Zrock2, and/or Linear Tube Audio pre or its powers supply. You can see my stereo https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/7335, and I appreciate any thoughts you might share. Cheers
"... this album has amazing percussion dynamics and staging, better heard with the two additional E mats, placed only a week ago..."
Haven't heard the particular album you alluded to, but I'm experiencing percussion like never before. Some of my Arthur Lyman recordings are so dynamic with all of the bongos, congas, vibes, jungle sound effects are ... simply amazing.
<3 Hey there! Timmy stepped out today for a fun project he's been working on. . . try calling him again, he should be back home. He always makes time for customers. It's the best part! <3 603-203-4486. <3 <3 Peter Murphy came ALIVE last night, almost spooky. <3 SO real. <3 Thanks to everyone for your patience while we grow! <3 Krissy
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