Perfect Path Tecnologies ‘The Gate’
It’s night all the time since installing the Gate for me. Ultra pure signal any time of the day. Love it! fazee, The Gate does not plug into an outlet. It has two wires coming out of it. One wire is connected to the common buss inside of the electrical panel and the other wire connects to a circuit breaker....preferably 220v. The Gate itself sits at the bottom of the panel. Not sure what voltages you’re dealing with so Tims input would be best. I believe I have pics on my ‘ virtual system’ page of it installed. If not I’ll post some soon. |
Okay so that is the hardest thing to swallow so far, that it works so good you can no longer hear any difference between day and night. That's not even something a lot of people are even aware of or have ever noticed. Okay so here's another one- the breaker test. Listen to your system. Flip off breakers to the rest of the house. Listen again. Sound the same? Different? Better? |
I wish someone would make a YouTube of the installation process for us folks living on the other side of the world, probably having different voltages and electrical systems from the US. I remember being one of the first few from the Far East to purchase Total Contact and Omega e mat but those were straightforward to "install." I have had a few email exchanges with Tim regarding the installation process and he has been great with his response but due to limited electrical knowledge, I do not feel comfortable enough shelling out a decent sum of money for The Gate. Tim asked how close my Distributor box is to a socket? Does The Gate need to be plugged into an electrical outlet or just connected to somewhere in my DB? As requested, having a YouTube video on the whole installation process will help those of us on the other side of the world make a quick decision to make this investment. Regards, Les |
Miller. Not had it in system 30 days yet but I can say there is no difference between night and day performance in my system. My experience may have been a little different to others as I heard a huge improvement right after install. Akin to adding NOS to an already blown motor! Since then it has been gradual, subtle changes, not anything I would say was another "wow" event. Let's just say it will not be going back.... |
Its only 40 days since the first post back when this was so new it wasn't even on their website yet. A few who added them later, might not even have had them a month yet. The Gate by its very nature is always "on" so we can count everything from installation as burn-in time. We know its fantastic but what's the big picture 30+ days in? By now it has probably transitioned from being mind-blowingly better every time you turn around to mind-blowingly better each day to every once in a while damn how is it still getting better to, well you get the idea? And now that you're used to it, do you still notice the usual "it still sounds better late at night" kind of thing or is that now just a thing for us poor unenlightened schlubs now? |
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Lak, I had one mat, ten cards and treated with TC before adding the Gate and like Frank said the Gate’s impact was immense. I believe it would be an equally immense sonic improvement on a system without any other PPT products but the overall affect wouldn’t be as good as the additive affect achieved using all of their products. |
lak ... When I installed The Gate, there were already tons of tweaks in the system. Even with all of the tweaks previously installed, The Gate has opened up the SQ to a point way beyond where it was before. I know this isn't the question you asked, but it does establish a baseline. What would a "Gate" do on a completely stock system containing no upgrades? I think it would be a revelation to the listener just as it was in a heavily tweaked system. The Gate cleans up dirty AC throughout the entire home, so it stands to reason that all appliances, i.e., TV, computer screens and stereo systems would benefit from it. Frank |
@whostolethebatmobile -- I have two PowerCells because my system is configured with the sources 30' from the power amps so one conditioner cannot cover both ends (plus I need a lot of cords for my sources). And @lak I use no other PPT products (I did try the paste but was not convinced) -- as each product is doing something completely different I would expect the impact to be additive but also presumably complementary if others' comments are to be gone by |
Reflecting back to the past several years I wonder the following: How good would the Gate enhance one's system if they did not have any of the expensive fuses or any of the other products that Perfect Path Technologies have available? I ask because I know that most of you that have the Gate have all the other goodies also. |
I'm still amazed by what The Gate is doing in my system. Over the past two weeks, I've been pulling out vinyl recordings that I haven't played in a few years. What I remembered as okay recordings, now have new life. Little details, once obscured, are now very present. Anyone besides me like the "Persuasive Percussion" albums? I have quite a few. They are fun listening from both an audiophile and a music lover's standpoint. Some of them are demo quality. Nice selection on eBay. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1311.R1.TR2.TRC0.A0.H0.Xpersuasive+.TRS0&_nkw=persuasive+percussion&_sacat=11233&LH_TitleDesc=0 Frank |
folkfreak - Thanks for your description of the effect of The Gate. I plan to take the plunge soon. I will also have 2 PowerCell UEF SE units on hand soon. I already have one. Do you have any advice for the best use for 2 of them, if any? A brief answer would suffice, as I don’t want to unreasonably derail The Gate thread. |
Thanks folkfreak, a very interesting and well stated analysis. With so much power conditioning and grounding solutions it’s impressive to me that the Gate was able to improve upon what you have in place at all. Your system is quite impressive and obtaining even the slightest improvement can’t be easy yet must be very rewarding. I think your hypothesis is spot on. The Gate brings one closer to the original recording.....for good or bad. I tried the SR Active Grounding Block SE after installing the Gate and didn’t hear enough of a sonic improvement to warrant me keeping it. I also found my system sounds better without power conditioning when using the Gate. I notice greater dynamics, better pace and greater tonal purity without a power conditioning. The SR grounding black provided an even blacker background, albeit just slightly, and while nice I couldn’t justify spending that much on such a slight improvement.....especially after experiencing such a drastic improvement with the Gate. Having said that, implementing a SR Powercell UEF 12 SE with their Active Grounding Block SE along with the Gate would be magical most likely, except I’d have to sell a kidney to afford it! 😜 What folkfreaks system demonstrates is how versatile the Gate is in imparting it’s affects upon a system. For those of us with less extensive systems the Gate can be a revelation. Even those like folkfreak with very well implemented power conditioning and grounding solutions the Gate can still provide some special sonic improvements. |
So after a recommendation from Ron Hedrich at Marigo, who is now a PPT dealer, I took the plunge and had the Gate installed. My system already has some pretty extensive power conditioning (dedicated 40A 240V line with SR treated breaker and ground isolation -> Torus WM75BAL wall mounted (300lb!) isolation Tx -> two SR PowerCell 12 UEF SE Conditioners -> a mix of SR Galileo SX and AQ Dragon PCs) so the installation was non-standard. We ended up putting it between the floating neutral incoming to the Torus wall mount and one leg of the balanced primary. I’ve had it in place for a week now and while still seeing some small incremental changes believe I have a fair handle on things. Anyway you're all wondering what did it do? The answer is complex. What the Gate does (in this system context) is subtle but actually pretty important. First up the Gate does nothing for most of the usual areas like lower noise floor, more dynamics etc etc that I got from things like the various generations of SR conditioners I've been through, or Power Cord upgrades. Instead what the Gate delivers is a sense of integration and seamlessness between component parts of instruments or voices, or between players in an ensemble. What do I mean by this? Take something relatively "simple" like a piano note or a sharply struck chord on a steel strung guitar. Many systems will render the broad outline of the note and let you hear the different combinations of lower frequencies (the fundamental) and the overtones and leading edges but often they don't quite come together, it's almost as if the sound is made up of many different instruments playing at once. With the Gate somehow all of these constituent parts integrate in a new way that seems much more realistic. Piano in particular is a good test where the initial percussive impact of hammer on string, the tone, and the decay are all of a gestalt. The same is seen on vocals where differences in miking and vocal technique are much more apparent. There is a possible downside however. What I’ve noticed across multiple recordings I know well is that the perceived soundstage has changed – in many cases becoming less deep with more of a forward, even “wall of sound” presentation. In other cases and other recordings a deep soundstage is however still apparent. My hypothesis as to what is going on is that the cues we use to decode soundstaging are about small timing differences between different frequencies in the mix i.e. we are able to interpret a slight delay between line A and B as A being further away. With the Gate removing reproduction driven delays some "artificial" perceived depth vanishes. But by the same token other more subtle cues such as height become more apparent. So instead of the system imposing a sonic soundstage signature across every recording you hear only what is on the original disc. The types of effect I am describing are closest in my experience to what I found when applying grounding solutions – so those familiar with the benefits of grounding may know what to look for. Net net for the cost of a power cord these days the Gate is a no questions asked benefit to a well configured system. I have no opinion on whether the Gate could substitute for other power conditioning approaches – that’s not how I am using it in my system and the benefits it brings are fundamentally different from what I get from traditional conditioning and isolation.
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roberjerman ... So, what happened when you installed "The Gate" in your system? No improvement in SQ? Nothing at all? Please enlighten us. Thanks... Frank |
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I haven’t been able to listen to any music the last couple of weeks yet was able to do so today. Wow. I don’t know if it’s due to the long absence or the Gate settling in another two weeks but even with my back up amp the system sounds amazing. When I get my newly upgraded 300B SET monoblocks next week I’m in for a real treat! |
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Conversing with Tim this morning who wanted to know how I had my Gate installed. He advised that it should give best results with the label or wording facing the bussbar or breakers. Mine is mounted high in the box to the right and vertical which was perfect he said apart from label was facing out. All I did was rotate it in place so label facing the breakers. I do have pictures of before and after but have never figured out how to add any to conversations here! I do not use any photo hosting services or any social media crap and likely never will! This forum is bad enough... lmao. Just passing this along in case it may be of use to others with The Gate. Time for another listening session. |
I am grooving on the E mat I finally put over my breakers--I guess I didn't think I needed one there because I have a big transformer right at the components. And the TC continues to work mojo there and in my new AC cord. The cynics may visit to scoff, but please don't stay long. I may have a song for that.......... https://youtu.be/s-ITL7s6Vyc |
"...
Using some of the most advance Quantum materials and carbon derivates, PerfectPath Technologies
has developed a revolutionary set of effective Nanotechnology Power
Conditioners, designed to enhance the electrical signal of your HI-FI
audio equipment while protecting it from static & RFI/EMI
disturbances.
..." https://www.perfectpathtechnologies.com/ Wow... Quantum materials, carbon derivatives, Nanotechnology. OMG those are big fancy words... do they even know how to derive the Schrodinger's wave equation (basics of quantum mechanics)??? Well, they seem to know how to derive the Snake Oil equation for sure. And what's quantum materials??????????? Really curious. |
uberwaltz ... Your positioning for The Gate is fine. Same as mine. Bob’s installation was different. He has a brand new panel due to damage from the recent fires. There was no room at all in the panel that contained the switches. There was a side panel that contained the mains that fed the meter and that’s where we placed The Gate. We fed the wires from The Gate through to the panel with the switches using a convenient hole. I sent Tim a picture of the installation and Tim’s suggestion was to lean The Gate against the other side of the panel with the logo facing up toward the meter. That’s it in a nutshell. No big deal. By the way, Bob has a first-rate system and it sounds great. Anyone familiar with Venture speakers knows how good they are. With The Gate installed, the bass was so much improved that we suggested that he disconnect the subwoofer. Not sure if he left it that way or not, but it sure sounded good by the time we left. Frank |
@mribob Can you expound on the change in position of the Gate in your panel to a more optimal position? I fear mine is less than optimal simply because it is a very old panel and there was no room for the Gate at the bottom. In fact it is near the top, pretty close to the incoming mains lines. Thank you |
Jafreeman, Mac. Unfortunately the "fan" is female, which should give the game away...lol Think someone must have spiked her cocoa last night...... Not sure if I can heap any platitudes on the Gate this morning now, someone may call the health department on me. But here goes, mostly an all day listening session on and off yesterday and boy was it good. Tried various media, tape, vinyl. cd and streaming. Bass has returned in spades, still the vocal clarity and range is breathtaking, hearing notes and effects in songs I had never noticed before which I think has to be just the lower noise floor, always there just never could hear them previously. And yes I am for the most part listening to music at a higher SPL than previous without feeling there is any degradation or breaking down of the musical force for want of better words. A very happy camper indeed. |
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Great synopsis mribob, it sums up what I’ve been hearing very well. I too find myself listening at louder volumes as I now can do so without any negative affects. I also find my system seemingly sounds louder than before. In other words it seems louder at the same dB level as before but it’s just that it’s more dynamic and ‘energized’ sounding. Hey uberwaltz, around here your ‘fans’ response isn’t surprising at all. There are a number of close minded individuals that have never heard the products affects in their systems, don’t want to hear it and yet are convinced that there’s absolutely no way the products can achieve the results we are describing and therefore we are all ‘fanboys’ and/or delusional. Hmmmm......maybe they’re in their own cult of denial? 😃 I agree Frank, the removal of signal grunge and associated lower noise floor allows for a more pure musical sound to flow forth but as good as that pure musical sound is nothing comes close to that of a live performance. |
Bob ... Very nice review. These PPT products have an uncanny ability to remove glare, grunge and other impurities from the AC that nothing else can match that I know of. The results are stunning. A fellow A'Goner just left after a seven-hour listening session today. One of his comments was that the noise floor has become so low that the naturalness of the music is allowed to flow, while at the same time, the instrument's tonal quality has improved to such a degree that the sound is just more real. Talking about "real," a couple of friends (both audiophiles) and I went to a live concert Friday night and sat in the front row between the string section and the piano. It was a professional symphony orchestra with the soloists being gifted Junior High and High School students. Fantastic talents. My first thought was of my audio system ... and as good as it is at this point, it is not even close to what we heard there. If only ... Frank |
This.... From a "fan"..... 9:44pmALL the people who are hooked on whatever they fed you or planted in your mind from PPT, (more like drug addicts or newly converted religious fanatics.. than audiophiles btw. can stay the hell away from me. There is no ’natural’ response in any of the praise comments, or the strange need for others to join them. So it seems more like a ’cult’ than a product. I find the behavior of way too many of the cult followers to be just like Scientology followers, and seem to be playing fro the same handbook. You all act like you are in love, or like you were hit with "Love Potion #9" If it entirely disgusting behavior, and bizarrely repugnant. And gee I really really mean it. So stay the hell away from me with that garbage. Spew it at somebody stupid. Bizarre or what! |
Its been over three weeks since the Gate has been installed...Tim was kind enough to suggest a more optimal placement position for it in my panel via text photo...been busy at work, but today, have the house alone, and I'm able to enjoy the stereo and louder listening volumes. Sitting here, listening to an album from 'Academy of Ancient Music, Andrew Manze, playing Bach's Concerto for oboe and violin, strings and continuo in D minor...and its simply breath taking....the music flows seemlessly, full of sonic depth and textures, that was missing from my rig previously. Sound stage, bass, detail, resolution in spades....the music just fills my large listening space, and transports me to a live concert hall. I rarely listen to classical, but am raptured by the beauty. I believe the synergistic effect of my judicious use of TC paste, 6 eMatts, and now the Gate have really transformed and elevated my system. The changes for me were gradual, but when I now have time to listen, its just amazing. I have no dog in this hunt...but wish to share my personal observations on how these products are helping me simply enjoy the music like never before, and thats why I worked hard to improve my rig...hard to believe it could get better than this. Peace...and enjoy listening. bob |
