Hi, Lake and all do you still have your fuses? any new feedback on them? reason for asking I treated my stock ends with Caig to see if there was anything to this whole fuse thing. Well the results where more than I expected the separation of instruments and the way mids come across is nice and talk about 3d, pitch definition and deeper bass . This was the main line fuse only and this promted me to jump in with both feet. I 'll be recieving the HiFi tunning Silver Star today for the main line stock fuse and eventually the other four in the amp, then the anthem is next. Just the cleanig and treating was a huge increase, I'm sold. the question now is gold or silver but I will have to see what the silver star does first? |
Glad to hear it Lake! the great thing about this hobby is we learn from each other a true meeting of the minds and with forums in which to share these ideas we all win and get closer to the sound trapped in our head LOL! Oh! almost forgot my AC12 is still burning in at 364 hrs! The sound stage keeps expanding and bass is really digging deep and the level of refinement is first class. Ive decided to let it go for 400 hrs and see this weekend if its done. My AC10 gave in at 285 hrs, mabe its the fact of more copper? ah who knows. at any rate I have the Brothers in arms dvd audio disc I'll be sure to see if Mark drops by.I'll share some final thoughts this weekend. |
Had a few days off from my listening sessions while the cables continued to burn in. They are well over their burn-in period. Now the whole gear sounds just amazing. As a final tweak, I moved AC-12 to the quintet and AC-10 to the amp. I started to hear more, loads of detail. Probably an enhanced mids and highs. It was quite interesting to hear more detail. But it also revealed the short comings of the recordings and the gear, I think. So I preferred the sound of AC-12 on amp. Moved AC-12 back to the amp and WOW sounds smooth and pleasant. Now spinning my favorite Mark Knopfler's Sailing to Philadelphia. WOW he is singing to me!.
Thanks JDub for guiding me to clean up my power. You are my audiophile guru!, thanks much. Hope you are enjoying your upgrade too. |
Those where my original post,Keep your ear to the cable(lol) she's got more to give, not till 300 hrs give or take a few hrs, I just hit the 271 mark and I just cant believe it the mids are blooming and extending beyond what I was expecting. I just sit and listen like it someone elses system thats light years ahead of my own. I'm not familiar with my system anymore, which is good its weakness has become strenghts in most places. I have a new level of listening to explore and this weekend I'll put her through her paces. |
Exactly, the improvement AC-12 gives is exponentially more than AC-10.
At 288 hrs, the sound stage has greatly opened up, detail retrieval is excellent. Overall the music is smooth and revealing. Is just amazing. Not sure if there is more breakin to happen. Forums indicate the AC-12 bunrs-in fully by 275 hrs. |
I got home tonite and OH MY!! 224 hrs and the distance from the AC10 is more than just a little it's just flat out Flagship class even at this point if I had to pay 2x the price for the AC12 I would (LOL). Now when fully broken in guess I'll sell the farm. |
Toe-in was a topic I was going to bring up later because it will be required, It's an urge I try my best to resist during burn-in, if only to compare changes. You should be about to hear the beginings of the 3rd layer of the sound emerge in the background as the final settling ends, at about 270 hrs it going to seem as though its not going to stop breaking in the frequency extrems are just beautiful. Let me know when your jaw drops! Then tell me if your Anthem is still the weakest link! |
Have not tried the Caig G5 yet. Waiting for the burn-in to be done. Have to clean all the power cords and ICs, may be the fuses too. May have to toe-in the speakers a bit as the sound stage has widened. |
Yeah wish I could explain it, but what ever it is, I like it! You can sit back and ride the wave home as it will seem as though its not going to stop giving up more new sound. Man I wish I bought the AC12 first its a Killer!! How did the Caig workout any differnce? |
My Quintet is fully burned in. At around 170 hrs on AC-12, the way the sound opened up was just amazing!. As you said, more details and more sweetness (don't know what it is!) to music. The dynamics and realism has returned in a much better way. Overall it is just a WOW!. Forums suggest actual burn-in happens after 225 hrs, cant imagine what that will be!. |
Hi Lake, just wanted to report on the tone of notes from piano violins and upright bass seem to linger forever the AC12 loves music! At first the new details where over shadowing what was familar to me and found it distracting at first, but letting it incorperate it self to what I was use to became much more enjoyable, just no more straining to hear what was once so faint in the background. It's becoming a wonderful listening experience I'm at around 176 hrs. |
For the spray I would spray the cotton swab and clean the connectors on the cable and use one to dry and then wipe off any excess, let dry for 2-5 minutes, then plug in. For IC's Iwould try to do the same or get something other than cotton swabs that wont snag or rip easily. If you have a Radio Shack or Electronics store nearby and get the sponge type swabs on a stick (LOL)! As I write this my AC12 has 144 hrs and is blacker mids are surreal and highs are begining to extend, bass still lagging behind but not as much anymore, musical tone is beautiful. It seems to be 15 hrs ahead of the AC10 at this point when it was breaking in. |
good to hear about your AC-12. I just picked a Caig DeoxIT Gold G5 spray. Not sure how to use it. Can I spray directly on the connectors?. Should I wipe off with cotton swap or leave it to dry. Can I use it on the inner side on the ICs?. |
In ways never thought possible, at 120 hrs the snap and flow are comming back, imaging is in the center again with more depth than before. overall the mids are nice bass not fully back highs still working it out. Post back at 160 to 175 and tell me if it opens up more. |
Quintet has got 275 hrs and AC-12 has got 145hrs. The sound is nicely opening up. Somehow, the touch of realism on instruments is missing. Hopefully is comes out. Jdub, hows you AC-12 opening up the system. |
I picked them from music direct for 50% off. Got good deal on Quintet at Decibel Audio. |
Hi Lake and Nasaman, the instalation for the Soloist is pretty simple use the templet and cut a double gang box hole and the wiring is straight forward, and looks good installed! Music direct has the Perfectwave cables for 50% off with any cable trade in and free shipping this month. |
Lake,
How much did you guys pay for your AC5, AC10 and AC12 and where from? |
I considering Soloist Premier too. But not sure how easy is the installation. So tomorrow will be 125 hrs for AC-12, should smooth out by then.
Yes the fuses were Hifi gold fuses. They did create a black background and improved mid bass. But colored the highs which I did not like. I tried all possible directions as my amp has 2 fuses for each channel. |
BTW, I will be returning the fuses, as this tweak degrades the system. Did you get Hi-fi Tuning fuses? They are directional so make sure they seat in correctly. |
Hey Lake, your right on the mark I looked over some notes on the AC10 and after 60hrs the worst of the breakin came in. It wasn't until around 125 hrs it snapped out of it and smooth out the highs a little more. It came back with some goodies not there before. According to my notes and I qoute "opening up in a new way" if one can qoute one's self (LOL). This time however the nasties showed up around 48 hrs or so. Do you have the AC12 directly in wall or Quintet? I have the advantage of 2 dedicated lines one for the Quintet and one for the Soloist Premier, AC12 and amp and is most likely why its still very listenable and yeilding good results while breaking in, even though it's more consrticted than out the box! Can't wait till 125 to see what's in store. |
At around 96 hrs, AC-12 infuses very high brightness to the system, hopefully it cools down. |
Yeah! the chill factor is pretty high! And the details are nice. Sorry to hear about the fuses at least you tried. |
I have put my AC-12 on the amp. Quintet is still burning, so there are 2 moving parts. Still I get chills with AC-12 at times. There is much more details and lot of micro dynamics and many earlier unheard of dynamics from familiar recordings. Like Jdub said, each upgrade from AC-5 have given me vast improvements over the other - really beating the cost-to-performance ratio. BTW, I will be returning the fuses, as this tweak degrades the system. |
Hi Lake, My AC12 is on the amp and has made me extremly happy.My AC10 is fully burned in and so is the Quintet well over 2000 hrs (installed in Febuary this year). When this AC12 finishes cooking I dont know how I'm going to act! good thing is my new Morrow MA3 xlr's need about 40 more hrs and they should be done. So what did you get from the AC12? IT just keeps on startling me with breath taking sweeps in my listen room trurly got the sound off the wall and in the room and all around me in front and is just captivating and this only 48 hrs as I write this!IT has to be the most listenable out of the box cable Iv'e heard. Post some impressions and Nasaman if your reading this Skip the AC5 if you can. From what I noticed about the Perfect wave cables is each will give you a justifiable taste of the next in the series. I have a AC10 up top AC3's in the middle and the AC12 down on the amp. the AC12 leaves nothing to be desired. Just let them open up, they will. Darn almost forgot! there was a post on Ps audio's forums about cleaning the contacts Iv'e done this with good ole Caig contact cleaner. My AC12 was a little dirty! |
jdub, did you put the AC-12 on the power conditioner or the amp. Mine is on the amp. As both Quintet and Ac-12 are burning it, my system shows too many variations. |
Lake and Jdub,
Keep us all posted with your finding. Though I'm not posting any comments, I do monitoring this thread closely so ... |
The AC12 has arrived and out the box Lake It's all true what they said, its all true, finnaly I can rest in audio nirvana for while. Just unbelievable and this is out of the box! |
Glad to hear it,I to felt the same way after the power upgrades. after the many years of focus on gear, Ic's and speaker cables this really made the stuff I have shine.I'll post back later when the AC12 arrives for first impressions! |
Absolutely not!. This has given me the first taste of hifi sound. Before power cable changes, my gear never sounded highend, but now it is!. Thanks for the suggestions. |
My AC12 will be in tommorow, Hmm!This is gonna be so much fun! no more wondering about what it sounds like! So Lake any regrets about switching power conditioners and cables? |
Iam not sure if the fuses will benefit my system, as I see high end coloring (in the correct direction i was able to find the correct direction after many attempts). AC-10 has got more than 500 hrs, AC-5 around the same, quintet around 150 hrs. I will be getting my AC-12 this evening, exited!. |
Hey Lake, If anything give the the rest of the new power upgrades a chance to settle in and then try the fuses! If returning them is an issue send them back and try again later. Try to keep in mind your systems is going through fits and spasims, you just might be at a difficult stage of the breakin process. Couple of questions how many hours on each of the following: AC10,AC5 and the Quintet? and how long till the AC12 arrives mine will be in on Saturday (can't wait!!) I just read an intresting review of the fuses over at the Polk fourms, check it out might add some insight. |
The fuse is driving me crazy!, Iam likely to return them and be content with the stock fuses as the Hi-Fi fuses is giving a negative impact on the system. I moved to Acoustic Zen ICs straight from Kimber PBJs. Happy with them. |
Keep me posted on this one, now you got me very intrested, and sweet IC's. BTW I've heard the fuse orientation is important? |
I use Acoustic Zen Matrix Ref II from Pre to amp and Silver Ref II from CDP to pre. I cant use balanced ICs as my amp does not have balanced inputs. I think the HIFI fuses does bring in good improvement over the stock fuses. Parasound amp has 2 fuses for each channel. I only changed 1 fuse in each channel, which I think is not correct. I have to change both the fuses on each channel. BTW, I have not changed the mail AC fuse on the amp. |
Not yet, I have been thinking about fuses though. I get to order my AC12 thursday. My Morrow Audio MA3 balanced should have about 360hrs on Saturday which should give me a good idea on the sound before adding the AC12.I'm using the stockcord on the amp at the moment. What IC's do you use? I have a mix of Morrow and AQ (Columbia and King Cobra). Speaker cables are Morrow's SP3 biwire. |
As my Quintet is burning in and AC-12 is on the way, I tried the Hi-Fi Tuning fuse for my amp. I felt it adds a little of height and width to the imaging. Also there is a little bit of added realism, but at the expense of added brightness. I swapped back to the stock fuses. Do you have any experience with these fuses? |
Sounds good to me,next week should be intresting indeed! The AC12 might the Icing on the cake and then some I hope. I to am thinking the amp is a good place to start. |
Iam likely to get my AC-12 next week too. I thinking AC-12 on amp may give better sound IMHO. Lets keep the finding posted, interesting, yes!. |
That's not necessarily true about not being good on amps,While it will benifit the wall to Quintet setup, in my experience with different configurations the amp and AC10 was not just a sutble improvement! it was just as good as the AC10 to Quintet if not better in some respects. In either configuration ie. Statement Sc to amp was not as good as Ac10 to amp,but STatetment to Quintet and AC10 to Amp was better IMHO.For this reason Ihope to order the AC12 this week for my amp and run the AC10 on the Quintet! But until next week can,t say for sure.I'll keep posting on my findings.(here we go again,I love this!) |
The new 1.5m AC-10 between wall and Quintet has burned in 48 hrs - overall sound is a bit veiled, waiting for further burn-in. Meanwhile, am thinking if 1m AC-12 between wall and Quintet will benefit the sound, as I dont need 1.5m. Not sure if the price-to-performance ratio of AC-12 is justifiable over AC-10. But I read reviews that AC-12 is best from wall to conditioners than on the power amps. |
Good choice! it will influence the sound of everything after it the most, even the Ac5. Start counting and take yourself some notes on the burn in, its a good reference point to work from.Keep me posted! |
Cant wait!, picked up AC-10. Now the classic confusion - whether to put AC-10 on Anthem processor to get the best out of it or to put it on Quintet to give clean power to all components. For now I have put it on the Quintet and let it burn in. |
Sounds like a solid plan to me Lake, the Quintet is a nice unit for the price and combined with the AC10 its that much more value to perfomance.And the sonic benifits are unreal.Movies music all take on a new level of realism and best of all you keep your gear and hear it at its best and can sit back and enjoy the fruit of your audiophile labor! Give your Quintet 250-300hrs as well. Man are you gonna be in for a suprise! keep us posted. |
... by dedicated 20A line, do you mean you are connecting directly to the wall?... Dedicated line meaning adding/running a new seperate line starting from ur house electrical fuse box STRAIGHT to your audio system. |
Did some cord swapping experiment. First, AC-10 on Quintet gives the best sound, AC-5 is just lesser. Shunyata Diamondback, removes the dymanics and adds grain - this is the weakest link in my system. On the video, both AC-10 and AC-5 increases sharpness and adds deep black levels. Even the sound in much improved. I could not note much video difference between Ac-10 and ac-5 though. So now, I will be adding a new AC-10 from wall to quintet, another AC-10 from quintet to amp, AC-5 from quintet to preamp, all other components directly to the quintet.
Levy, by dedicated 20A line, do you mean you are connecting directly to the wall?. Are AC-10/5 20A lines? - not too good in electrics!. |
agree with Jdub. i've got an ac-10 feeding my quintet from a dedicated 20A line. have another ac-10 going to my amp. use 2 ac-5's for my pwd and pwt and an ac-3 for my sub.
separating audio/video is a good idea imho. have all my HT gear running from a separate 15A dedicated line.
spent alot of time trying to different hook-ups before settling on what i currently have. it sound wonderful! |
For kicks put the AC5 on the Quintet to get a taste of its true potential then try the AC10, give each cord a good 30min to settle and remember your two new cables are still breaking in the highs and mids are the last to bloom with bass filling out as well. Your ears and system already jelled well with the monster and is settling in to the new equipment . Is your tv connected to the Quintet as well? if so after the power cord switch tell me the results!Sometimes the rule of thumb is to put your best Powercord first and let it trikle down to the rest of your gear! |
Jdub, I got a PS Audio Quintet as loaner from local audio shop. This is a demo unit, the dealer said its well burned in for months. When I connected my gear, the background is extremely dark, details and dynamic are amazing. I can get a dimensional sense of the instrument placement!. But on the downside, the highs and mids(maily vocals)are rolledoff/laidback. Using Monster power conditioner, the mids and highs are a bit forward which sounds more musical. Listening thru quintet is great, but gets a bit analytical. Note: the guy gave me power cord, that is not even the quintet's stock cord. |
