Vinshine X Collaboration with Kinki Studio, TheTai Hang power enhancer
What a surprise after installing the Taihang in my system,, in a word, amazing. Stage depth clarity was amoung one of the first things I notice. My system consists of tubes pre and power amps, with a digital and analog front end. Tubes as we know exhibit a second harmonic noise distortion which is a given and something we live with as it’s our perception as being more musical. Dirty power can add more nastiness to this by way of unfiltered AC. With the addition of the Taihang it has made all the background information much more clearer. My speakers are fairly high resolving so was able to take advantage of this additional gain the Taihang give me. Leading edges from instruments started and stopped more precisely still retaining musicality. Black background noise seemed non existent as we like saying but in this case it really does without straining to not hear. So clean power can do all this, seems to be! Also will mention as in some cases experienced with power amps, I sensed no loss in dynamics or compression which is one of the biggest concerns when implementing such products. This in my first day of listening. So again I’ll go back to my original statement, amazing! Alvin’s collaboration as he calls it, has some magic inside this beautifully crafted box.
I received two of these Vinshine collaboration power filter units yesterday. Let me preface this by saying that everyone's power situation is going to be different. Sometimes slightly different, sometimes extremely different.
I am living in a very affordable apartment, which allows me available funds for luxuries like a very good quality audiophile grade system. I would categorize it as a mid level high end quality, though many in the Ultra High End would probably consider it entry level. I don't have the money to play in that sand box, so I have no quarrel with that evaluation.
LAiV Harmony stack of DAC and Preamp
LAiV uDDC re-clocker
Mutec 10mhz external clock driving the uDDC (made a big difference to my ears)
GaN FET mono-blocks (with LINEAR power supplies) from Orchard Audio
The apartment is in an old building, one of six in the building. I have known for years that the building power had issues. I have experimented with a number of different, more affordable power filtration solutions, and even designed and iterated a number of my own home brew power filters.
So, my default setup was running power from my trusty Monster Power lightning and surge protecting box with multiple filtered outputs, feeding a couple of my home brew filters which feed a couple of affordable yet beneficial Chinese filters and a couple of DC blockers. This setup made obvious improvements in my problematic location. Obvious in the sense of not straining to determine if it is more beneficial to have the filtration or not, in this particular location.
When the new filters arrived, I immediately removed my filtration and put these two new ones in place, driving everything. The upgrade in refinement, resolution, tonality and black background was immediate and irrefutable (again, in this power hostile situation). I was quite surprised, since I had tested my filtration with a group of Golden Ear audiophile friends while I developed them, years ago.
Thinking this over, and considering the excellent and robust design of the new Vinshine collaboration filters, I realized that my filters were designed for a different target. Mine are very minimalist, super high current, super low impedance, high frequency noise filtration. That's it. nothing else. So, I then put my filters in front of the Vinshine filters, and yes, to my ears, there was another level of refinement added, without sacrificing any dynamics at all.
Conclusion:
Are these Vinshine collaboration filters worth it? In my situation, absolutely. How can I prove this to you, the reader? I just ordered two more filters. I will also be building two more of my own filters, because they give me an extra ten percent improvement, in my opinion and in my situation. That being said, if you have a rough power situation, and you aspire to maximize the sound quality of already fine sounding equipment, I would rate these filters as a Must Have item, IF you have problematic power, or if you find yourself asking; "Why does my system sound so good late at night, but not during the day?".
Keep in mind that the price listed is in Singapore dollars, so convert to your own currency to see the actual price. For US dollars, multiply by 0.7 to estimate, aside from currency fluctuations etc. Worth every penny to me.
Looking forward to receiving the next two filters next week!
I received the Tai Hang today. Took one week from Hong Kong to Canada. I am using a Purist Audio Design Dominus Rev. C power cord from a Furutech FPX-Cu outlet to power it. It replaced a Furman PST-8. Even in the first minutes it easily surpassed the Furman in many areas. Not a big surprise. More organic, natural, live, holographic, 3 Dimensional, tighter bass, black background and long decays. It did not lower the noise floor of my system when I put my ear up to my 100db sensitive Altec A7 horns. The slight hiss I hear must be coming from my First Watt SIT4 amp which is plugged into an Audience AR1P. It is very quiet already.
Thanks @wig@fthompson251for your insights. I have had the SRA cables on my radar as well. I put a wanted ad up for a used DPS 4.1 and I’ll keep an eye out for an SRA Signature Amp series in my budget.
Were you a previous Puritan user? Can't recall. Wondering if comparisons are transferrable to others throughout the country with various power quality issues.
@slaw I was using Wireworld Silver Electra 7’s on digital -DAC, DDC and Legacy Audio Wavelet and DH Labs Red Wave Signatures on Coda Amp and Aurender. I now have the SRA Signature Amp series on the DAC and Amp, regular Signature Series on the Aurender and Wavelet. SRA Cottonmouth on DDC. I like the synergy, system has low background noise, is dynamic, refined and rather transparent. The TaiHang made the silence more silent, and the system sounds the same (good) no matter what.
At @wig’s recommendation, I too am using the Furutech DPs 4.1 with NCF50 plugs. I never compared it to anything else on the TaiHang. I have 4 Snake River Audio Signature Series PC’s and 1 Cottonmouth connected to all my other components. SRA is having a 25% off sale right now and he also has a cpl cords on demo closeout.
I have tried a plethora of PC in excess of $3K and in my system Furutech DPS just sounded better; cleaner with a touch of warmth but they excells is laying out a very convincing soundstage.
@rrboogie You might also consider Snake River Audio as their PCs get consistently glowing reviews and they offer a free trial (less return shipping and card fees I believe). Just another option FWIW, and best of luck.
I am anticipating the delivery of my Tai Hang that shipped 2 weeks after ordering. Does anyone have recommendations for a power cable from wall to Tai Hang? @wig are you still using the Furutech DPS 4.1? Have you tried any other power cables for comparison? I will be using it for Pass Labs XP 20, Sonore UltraRendu, Denafrips Gaia DDC and Terminator Plus. I am going to use a Purist Audio Design Dominus Rev C to start out which is a warmer, smoother cable and compare with a Harmonic Technology Magic Ref which has silver and copper wire that is more detailed. I’ll post my findings after burn in and comparisons.
@fthompson251 It is a shame. It's a beautiful piece of gear, very well made! But I would have to cut up the back of my beautiful cabinet to make it work. Bulky power cords, love them, but they have a mind of their own.
I decided to sell my Tai Hang on the Mart. Its too deep for my cabinet. The Tai Hang is a very nice looking unit, and appears very well made. I especially like the blue light on the bottom side that puts a blue glow on the shelf.
Revisiting this, my biggest take-away is that Vinshine was correct in not including a cheap molded cord with the unit. Putting a high-quality power cable on it transforms it. Beyond that, in my system it's close to the Puritan, but I'm glad to have both, so I can keep certain components semi-isolated from others. Ultimately, I suspect that its performance will depend on the quality of your electrical supply, with it making a bigger difference if the supply is sub par.
@hifipassionUp until today, it’s been running on an Amazon 14 awg molded power cable. This afternoon installed the PC I’ve been waiting for: TWL Seven Plus fitted with Furutech NCF 46’s.
My initial impressions were that it was a pretty close call between the Puritan and the TH. The Puritan seemed a little more mellow than the TH, so I had to move front end components to the Puritan and monoblock amps to the TH.
Now with the proper cable the TH seems transformed: richer, fuller and mellower. So now I’ll have to revisit the various configurations (I only need a total of 4 receptables).
Clearly both are good value for money; perhaps the TH will nose ahead.
I noted that Steve Huff reviewed the Puritan PSM156 in 2022, and the Taihang more recently, and currently uses the Taihang in his system, from which I would infer that it is "better". He calls it a better bang for the buck, although there are but four, not six, outlets on it.
The TaiHang creates silence in my front end equipment no matter what noisey stuff is operating. The system sound is consistent. No experience with the 156. Mine replaced a 25 year old Shunyata Hydra for the better.
@twoleftears@fthompson251 After having the Tai Hang in your system for a couple of weeks what are your thought? How does it compare to the Puritan PSM156? Enquiring minds want to know.
Tai Hang inserted into system today. Had it cooking for a week with various appliances plugged into it. Alongside a Puritan 156, allowing for various configurations. First up: CDP and preamp in TH, pair of class D amps in Puritan. First impressions may not stick, but for the moment I'm hearing greater soundstage depth and slightly livelier (brighter?) overall presentation. Time will tell.
I've had TaiHang a week now, one thing is for sure, it's quiet no matter what. Today it's hot out, the A/C is running, my wife has the washer and dryer going and there is still silence, no line noise at all. These Stack Audio AUVA EQ's are excellent. I now have 2 sets under my Aurender and my DAC. I plan to order 2 more sets next week for under my Legacy Wavelet and Coda amp.
I received my TaiHang today. I have it all hooked up and will wait a few days to pass on my impressions. Everything needs to settle back in. I kinda moved some things around to make a spot for it. Ordered June 13th, Shipped July 8 and received on July 23.
@timothy468 Thanks for the well thought out review, give it some time as it will probably get better. I ordered mine on June 13th, It shipped on July 8th. and my estimate is it will be here maybe by the end of next week.
I finally added two Taihang Power Enhancers from Vinshine Audio to my system. The hardest part was waiting for them to arrive! It’s a hot day and two window AC units are going and so is an air purifier, so it’s noisy today and not an ideal day for listening (and no, my wife will not let me turn off the AC). The Taihang is replacing a Transparent Powerbank 6 power conditioner (w/6 outlets – first image)
Addressing some of the common questions raised in this thread… the length of the wait. I ordered my stuff on June 1 and it arrived on July 13, so it took exactly 6 weeks for them to arrive (although I could argue that these six weeks were longer than 6 regular weeks, since I was waiting…). I ordered some of the Exact Express Flame and Earth Series interconnects from them at the same time and those arrived in 18 days.
I built a layered platform for it (mostly for fun and to get them up off the carpet) and that platform has spike feet to hold it in place (image 2), and on that I placed “Isolate It: Sorbothane Vibration” pads in place to prevent the Taihang from sliding around – perhaps it will contribute to the sound quality as well (image 3). It feels very secure and does not move – it is also tucked out of the way from dogs and toddlers, under a small end-table. Any improvement in sound from that step alone would be unknown to me, as I didn’t do any comparisons.
As for the power cords that power them, I am currently playing around with them so I cannot yet comment on that – I have a $16 hospital grade power cord going to one, and a $1,000 Pro Thunder power cord going to the other one, and I am sublimely unaware of a difference – my rationale is that I will let the Taihang do the heavy lifting in terms of power quality going to my devices. The Earth Series PCs go to the Laiv components, from the Pro Thunder-fed Taihang (mostly). I have two Transparent Model: High Performance PowerLink power cables I may swap into the wall-to-Taihang connections, or buy more Exact Express PCs.
Changing any of these after the fact is tediously difficult for me, however. As an aside, although Vinshine sells both the Taihang and the Earth and Flame series of interconnects, the size of the Earth Series plugs prevents one from easily seating them side by side in the Taihang (see image 3, right side). A single mm farther apart in the plug receptacles would have made a difference (or a smaller outer diameter for the plugs and connectors on the Earth Series PC) – you can see the slight tilt to two adjacent plugs in the image of two already connected.
Getting all this set up took some time (images 4/5), but it’s clearly better. Improvements to a good system (IMHO) are going to be incremental, and my ears are not trained like some reviewer’s ears are. But I can hear the difference. The main thing I’ve noticed is the sound stage or imaging is just more precise and notable and somehow spread out in width and, oddly, height and placement for instruments. A quiet background is promised, but perhaps I’m too naive to recognize that, or the AC running continuously in the background prevents me from hearing it (I’ve also said that I thought a wine tasted “good”, so there’s that). I wish I not only had the vocabulary that Steve Huff has, but his ears as well. I am stuck with my chronic tinnitus and roll-off of high frequency hearing from aging. But, I can still hear a difference in this setup. My wife can hear it as well.
I guess we could call Steve Huff @stevehuffan “influencer” and that just might make me one of the “influenced”. I have dived into the Laiv Harmony landscape, and his highly recommended Closer Acoustic OGY/BOB speakers. The latter are improved by the addition of isolation platforms I just bought for them. I am (unlike a career reviewer) about to (gasp!) stop buying new stuff – and I feel like I could listen to this setup from here on out. But then I had to go and buy some used Ohm Walsh F3 speakers that are 30 years old and sound every bit as good as the OGY/BOBs. They are in the office and sublime. They are also playing off of a McIntosh that is simply plugged into the wall (image 6). Heavy sigh… Perhaps exploration of the love of listening to quality sound and music shall not leave me just yet.
The sound in my main system is clearly improved with the Taihang Power Enhancer and my interactions with Alvin Chee have been characterized by polite decency and a comprehensive understanding of what he speaks. Worth ordering, and perhaps before August 1st.
Tim
System 1: Taihang Power Enhancer (2), Innuos ZEN MK3 Streamer/Ripper; MoFi StudioDeck turntable; Laiv Harmony Audio components – Laiv Harmony DAC, Laiv uDDC, Laiv HP2A, Laiv LExt and Laiv Harmony GaNM mono-block amplifiers. Cables: Handmade, by Definitive Audio, speaker cables, 25’; Pro Thunder Power PC, Morrow Audio MA4 Interconnect XLR Balanced – 48 SSI; Morrow Audio PH4 Phono Cables; Earth Express Flame Series XLR interconnects and Earth Series Power cords. Speakers: Closer Audio OGY/BOBs on Closer Acoustics Isolation Platform with IsoAcoustics isolators Gaia II footing.
At kinki-studio.com it’s listed at $1,249. At vinshine.audio it’s listed at $1,694. Differant types of $?, import duties? What does it actually cost? This has possibly already been answered here, but I’m not seeing it.
Either would be fine or if you already have an extra outlet and PC, visit your local home improvement store and purchase a metal or hardened plastic outlet box and build yourself for very little money.
Decisions decisions, get a Kinki, or a Puritan. They are probably about the same in performance, but the Puritan does give you six outlets as opposed to four with the Tai Hang. But then, the Tai Hang does cost less.
@wig I like them there, not a big change from the Orea. But nice. I ordered 1 more Orea Bronze to have a set of 4 for under the TaiHang. (Use of assets..LOL)
Another notable tweek is to place good quality footers under your T/H; I have Stackaudio AUVA EQ under all of my components and the results are remarkable but you'll notice more articulate bass, low level detail and ambiance retrieval with tighter focused images.
Recieved my Taihang this week and I already hear an improved bass response and overall clarity to the presentation. Just a quick question: are owners of this unit keeping it on at all times as it does not have a. On/off switch. Or should in be unplugged if the system will mot be listened to for a few days?
Recieved my Taihang this week and I already hear an improved bass response and overall clarity to the presentation. Just a quick question: are owners of this unit keeping it on at all times as it does not have a. On/off switch. Or should in be unplugged if the system will mot be listened to for a few days?
Recieved my Taihang this week and I already hear an improved bass response and overall clarity to the presentation. Just a quick question: are owners of this unit keeping it on at all times as it does not have a. On/off switch. Or should in be unplugged if the system will mot be listened to for a few days?
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