Sorry, I meant the "Big Barn Bed" cut on McCartney's Red Rose Speedway album. |
So, using this as a diary entry, it's now 2:03 a.m., exactly 3 hours, 15 minutes after I put the WA quantum chip on the capacitor (at 10:48 p.m.).
There is enough of a change in that time to note several things: the backup vocalists on Big Barn Bed (McCartney, Red Rose Speedwagon lp) have blossomed and it's fuller-sounding. The spotlighted effect, a sort of grainiess on guitar transients is noticeably less in effect, and the vocal harmonies on the Eagles, "New Kid" cut is back. Pretty cool at the 3-hour mark, and the amps are not fully warmed up. |
These chips remind me of the Combak Resonance Devices that were featured back in TAS in Issue 75/76. I bought them at the time, and put them on my JVC XLZ-1010TN player. What a change in the sonics! It seemed to clear up fuzziness from the sound and allowed rhythms, especially prevalent in jazz music, to set the system on fire, figuratively speaking.
It seems that these chips do the same things, only on different components. Has anyone tried them on a CD player yet?
As for the Shakti online stabilizers, I wondered how they could work. The irony is that I've had The Shakti Stones since 1996 and didn't hear what they did back then. Maybe my ears got better as I got older (nope, just a joke. Really, a real joke: I had my hearing tested and my lower treble range is down a bit). Anyway, perhaps it's that I'm better -- much, much better - at setups, because when I finally bought them (I put them on interconnects and my Shunyata speaker cables across the "=" and "-" leads and I can EASily hear their effect, especially instruments in the back of the soundstage.
I'm no longer surprised by any of the so-called tweaks, but a caveat: placing them is not so easy as to simply put them on a component and think that that's the best place. Tube traps are like that: exceedingly small movements, like nudging them along the wall to the right or left, so small you can barely see that you moved them, has effects completely out of proportion to the "nudge." I aver it is the same with anything that affects resonances. My Finite Elemente Spider Rack's rubber dampers position under a preamp is the difference between hearing the sound a flute creates and hearing the body/instrument itself. and these movements are infinitesimal. Anyone moving a tube trap 1/2" is in Tube Trap 101. 1/60" would be more likely and the ones on top of it can be moved in other directions equally small and will shock you that such tiny increments do what they do (and it's NOT all good, to go against the current slang).
I'm impatiently awaiting my Quantum chips (thought they had arrived tonight, but it was the Otterbox for my Droid. Great, but once I saw what it was, I was bummed).
Waiting, waiting, waiting....but I've no doubt they'll bring more magic to the music than I already have. |
Tbg:
Thanks for the insight. My chips arrived today: both the fuse and speaker "chips."
I agree with Lacee that the directionality of fuses is more obvious with the chips. I have the HiFi Supremes and I most definitely heard the difference in directionality of the fuses with the WA Quantum chips on them. I could hear it even before placing the chips on them (they sure don't stick easily!), but it was more obvious WITH the chips on them.
I also agree with Ozzy point #6: "The speaker chips work pretty well, but the placement on your speakers matters." I put them vertically and horizontally, and, listening to Renee Fleming's Handel recording, her voice flattened out and lost subtle dynamic shadings when I placed the chip on the top half of my speaker horizontally. I was non-plussed and removed it, and her voice came back to life. Then I looked at where I placed it (more like, slapped it on) on the other speaker and duplicated its placement. This worked better. I also noticed that when I let it sit for a few minutes and played the same cut again, the woodwinds were more vivid.
I have to say, I like the fuse chips the best. The speaker chips, I will, as Tbg suggested, give time to see how they sound tomorrow (if there's any power tomorrow: this is the night of the "Storm of the Century" in the Northeast (MAN, is that snow high: I can't see the wheels of my van!). Actually, I'll listen to them a little later, but they clearly DO sound better, even if played just a few minutes later. Interesting. I saw on another site (or maybe it was this one on another thread) that the perception was that the sound got louder, as though one had turned up the volume controls. Yup. No question about it: about half a decibel, I'd guess, or maybe even a full decibel, but it unquestionably sounds louder. And there IS more weight to instruments, although that may simply be the sense that there's more "push" behind the instruments towards the listening seat (as in jet-propelled, although not quite that dramatic, but you get the idea). Still, "weight" is a good way to describe it.
My only concern is moving the speaker chips around the cabinet of a floorstander. That's a lot of space to cover to find the optimum spot, but vertical placement (on my speakers only) seems preferable to horizontal. I've no idea why that would be, but Fleming's voice was disparagingly deadened - and the voice flattened out, as in a balloon fully inflated, and one half-deflated - when the speaker chip was in the "wrong" spot and horizontally placed. I'll have to play around with it some more).
If I were recommending them, I'd go for the fuse chips, simply because they're cheap. Also, for the snake-oil crowd, empirical evidence beats speculation every time. If a person can spend $11 on popcorn/soda or even just the price of a ticket at a theatre, it would seem to me that spending $7.95 for something that lasts longer, and could actually benefit one's system is a no-brainer (and one doesn't gain weight from the fuse chips, so think of it as dietary supplement).
I can see how a body could miss its effects, though. |
Thanks for the tip, Chuck. That's exactly how I did it, too!
I do have a question for those with the Hi Fi Supreme fuses: did you put them on the metal end (not on the end itself, but the metal part of the fuse that covers the end, or did you keep it entirely on the body part with the text on it? |
Antigrunge:
Having just received some more chips for different placement (capacitor, op-amp/dac chips), I decided to place the capacitor chip on my cj preamp. I had played The Eagles Hotel California album (specifically, the "Hotel California: and "New Kid in Town" cuts, and Paul McCartney's Red Rose album ("Red Rose Barn" and "My Love" cuts).
It's barely been a half hour and the thing I noticed immediately is the forwardness in the midrange/upper midrange, so, coming online and seeing your observation, I had to smile. Interestingly enough, the upper bass/lower mirange seems sucked out a bit: the backup voices on "Red Rose Barn" (McCartney) were less obviously Black backup singers (I'm also a Black backup singer...well, I WAS one), and more generic in tone, as though the throatiness that characterizes a great deal of 60s and 70s singers. I found this fascinating.
I'll observe more tomorrow when I replay the same cuts. Neither McCartney nor the Eagles' alubms sound like they're that well recorded, which actually makes it easier to hear when the voices have a smoother octave-to-octave transition. The Eagles "New Kids in Town" lost the harmonies of Henley and Frey as two separate voices, but the transient information is unquestionably sharper on guitars in particular, so it may simply be that the mid/upper mids improve immediately: the lower mids and upper bass, later.
Hard consonants (like K, T, and exhalations) are clearer, I don't think - at least, so far - that the midbass/low bass changes noticeably with the Quantum chips. But given that the noise floor is lower with the chips, the bass instruments as a whole "pulsate" more vividly.
A fascinating product. |
Goodwin:
Good sense of humour, mate! Tube amps don't take 3 hours to warm up, but the chips do seem to develop whatever "magic" is in them over a period of hours. The diary entry was an update of how it sounded after 3 hours of the Quantum chips, which was, I'm sure, your making a joke.
However, just so you know (in case you don't), there are some amps that do not like to be turned off. Older Krells (that may be BYT [Before Your Time]) did not sound great if turned off for an hour or two and then back on, something well documented in the pages of TAS. |
I'm about done with chips for now. I just bought several Furutech IEC inlets for the back of amps and am moving to Furutech GTX-D(Rhodium) outlets, after which I will then try some chips again. |
Goeff:
I can't respond to your entire question, but after being away from here for a while, and having acquired an Oppo BDP-83SE, I found that, just today, putting the Quantum chip on the Sabre 32 DAC, the sound became quite a bit more focused. I had to call Oppo, who informed me that the Sabre chip was on the UNDERSIDE of the green pc board that held all the RCA jacks. The gentleman at Oppo warned me that the white and gray "ribbon" that connected the pc board to the main part of the unit was very fragile. Nonetheless, I conquered my fear and pulled out the screws on the back of the Oppo that let me then turn the pc board over and put the dAC chip on the Sabre, which had, by then, ben turned off for at least 30 minutes. As soon as it came back on, and I turned my amps on (the preamp is at Conrad Johnson being upgraded, so I'm doing direct output to the amps), and I put on the RCA Red Seal version of the Khatchaturian Dances (the complete ballet), I could tell instantly that the background was darker (meaning, less filled with grain, which contributes to a black background. Obviously when there's grain, the background is more grayish
than actual Black. This was a clear move towards Blackness!).
I would speculate that you may only want to put one chip on the larger capacitor and listen for a week or so, and THEN perhaps try another capacitor. If the capacitors are small, then use the small ones.
I have no idea what differentiates a small from a large capacitor, but Oppo could easily tell you. The customer service rep put me on hold several times and came back with an answer. |
Guys, a question:
My home has a standard 200 amp breaker box. Where, EXACTLY, would I be placing a chip, and what type of chip? The small cable chips, are those the ones we place on fuses or are they different ones?
I have Hurricane amps, which have 8 capacitors in each one. I don't know if that would require a large capacitor or a small one. But I AM fascinated by putting them on the breaker box. Is it placed directly on the on/off switch, or on something else? Pardon the question, but I'm not getting a clear picture.
And, do you have to be electrically knowledgeable to remove the metal breaker box cover? I'm all for being turned on, but not when fooling with electricity |
Didn't someone in here suggest putting them on top of the capacitors? My CJ Teflons lie on their sides, and I'd read to put them on the TOP of the capacitor, in contrast to attaching them to the sides. And there are quite a few capacitors in my unit (FMJ 23) not to mention I tried getting to the Ring DAC and the bloody boards are all but welded on, so nothing moves easily.
Actually, I have Arcam's number and am calling them in an hour (they're at lunch, although it's only 8:30 am here!) |
I've had several interesting experiences with the Quantum chips since I last posted.
I got a shipment two days ago, and put a semi-conductor on the Ring DAC module. And...it didn't improve it. Indeed,it seemed to remove some of the palpability and focus on the piano. So I took it off this morning, and found the sound had improved.
Now, being a scientific type, I found, when I opened the Arcam, that it had a fuse in it! I never knew that (I'd never opened it)! So, naturally I got a Synergistic fuse for it, which arrived yesterday, along with large capacitor chips and a fuse chip.
I had put the fuse in last night, but wasn't satisfied with the sound. So, I moved a few Tube Traps around, on the theory that I had compensated a bit to get more air and transient information back into it. I should point out that 3 weeks ago, before I had the semidconductor chip OR the fuse, that the sound was pretty emotionally involving and the piano playing (off the 2nd Mercury box set, CD55 with John Corigliano, the composer and Hilde Sumer, the pianist) was extremely dynamic and transients were fast, clear and percussive.
So, back to last night. I went to see the opening of the Man of Steel, giving the fuse time to warm up. Oh, and I had put large Capacitors on the CJ Classic SE preamp as well. I already had one capacitor on the really big capacitor in there, but put two more on the capacitors on the right and left channels (they fit, so I assume the large size didn't hurt).
For one of the few times, I wasn't impressed AT ALL. It sounded good, but when I put on the latest CD I got, the Julliard Quartet, it sounded "dead." Now, I remember when it arrived a week ago, and although a little bright, it had a real "live" feel to it. So I backtracked and decided to remove anything that hadn't been in the system last week, including the exact placement of the Walker Large Brass cones on the preamp and CD player (and believe me, placement is ALL with the Walkers). 1/8" movement, right or left, forward or backward, makes the difference between sound that is mildly foggy (or grainy) and sound that is clears and restores ambience retrieval - and therefore the placement of instruments improves, because when you lose ambience, the distance, front to back, of instruments becomes compressed because there's no "air" in between the different rows of the players.
So, I took off the semiconductor chip (but left the fuse in there [ I did all this an hour ago: my job can wait!!! I'm trying to discover a new neutron star in my mind. The job's tedious]) and turned it on.
Cold, with the capacitors on the CJ removed, but the fuse in placed and the semi-conductor chip removed from the Ring DAC module, the sound moved closer to realism (as I hear it in Carnegie Hall, my reference Hall). The wood blocks had more snap, and the pianist, Ms. Somer, sounded like she was on a manic binge, and the music had all the drama the composition had before I made these changes. (And the system is still warming up, since the Arcam had to be turned off). I'm going to put the Quantum capacitor chips on my Hurricane amps, since I now have 4 of them. So, two on the right amp, and two on the left. We'll see what that does.
A question, though, gentleman. Which chip do you put on your breaker box? I know the answer's in here somewhere and I'll look, but in case I miss it, can you guys remind me which chip goes on the breaker box and make suggestions as to other places to put the chips?
Thanks, I appreciate the sharing that goes on in here when we find a product that works.
Oh, by the way, this isn't germaine to this forum, but do try the Shakti Online stabilizers on transformers on your amps, speaker cable (midlength of the speaker cable, which I can't do, since I got some MG Audio design AG interconnects and the Planus 2 speaker cable (and it's a ribbon, and the speaker cables on my Shunyata Dark Elevators - the V2 version (waaaaaaaaaaaay superior to the version 1). So the cable are thin - like Nordost's Valhalla speaker cables, and on their side, so there's no way to balance the Shakti's on there. But they do work. I put them on power cords and the difference is obvious, especially if you listen to instruments in the back of the orchestra. Their placement loses a mild haziness and the inner detail increases.
Thanks again for the sharing. |
Nope, Geoffkait, not this time. I know to do it, but not right now. I'm going to live with it in one direction for two weeks and then I'll change it and play the same music again. Sometimes, something like the change in voltage coming in thru the wall can throw off the sound as well. I opt -these days- for a longer "trial run" and then change. Besides, the only thing to change is the fuses. I had the Capacitor chips on my Hurricanes, and found that using four of them reduced the realism on CDs that have that capability. When I took them off both amps, the realism was reduced again, which meant I could use two, but not four. My experience is that the chips (as many of us know) don't work in every application, no matter what the manufacturer thinks (or even individuals). There's enough examples on this thread alone to show that the chips DO work, just not in every spot. I'm exceedingly curious about the chip that one puts on the breaker box (that one's on its way). If it works, Great! If it doesn't, well, back it goes to the place I bought it from.
I wish they worked on every single thing you put them on, but I just haven't found that to be the case, although the Synergistic fuses, with the WA Quantum chips wrapped around them, have yet to fail to make noticeable differences.Good ones (more transparency, more air around instruments and a fuller timbre), but I think part of that is Synergistic, which is similar to Shunyata in that they also have a fuller timbre, no matter WHAT the product is. They're probably pretty powerful in the midbass, which gives an instrument its "body." I was playing Malcom Arnold Cornish Dances tonight, and I thought, hmmm...the sound is clearer, and timbres better, but the CD itself remained "light"- sounding as in, say, the difference between Nordost,which is lean in timbre (although very fast) and Shunyata,which has more tonal color. (And I have both: Valhalla, Tyr and Shunyata's Cobra line so I can hear the difference between them).
The fuse was a good thing, since, if putting the Synergistic fuse in the system made the Arnold CD sound "thicker" I would have known it was a coloration. I've heard the Arnold in enough systems to know that it isn't ever going to sound as though it has a "presence" to it.
But back to the Quantums. In some applications, they shine. In others - where you're sitting back going, Oh MAN, this is gonna be great - it doesn't pan out that way. I still think they're fantastic on fuses, which is where they show the most immediate improvements. |
Geoff and Tbg:
I agree with both of you: the chips are a crapshot - in certain applications.
I think we can ALL agree that fuses are easily heard as the most obvious improvement.
Just tonight, the chip (more like a wrapper!) arrived for the breaker box. It was instantly obvious that the grain in the soundfield had lessened to the point where rows of players separated out, akin to an accordion when it's folded up and then when it's full extended out to the sides. My eyebrows went up to Jupiter at how easily heard it is.
I think there is a caveat - but it is not the chips themselves. It is the room. If your room is not acoustically treated in some way to deflect first reflections or simply large enough that the sound bouncing off walls, ceiling and floors don't matter, you hear less of the effect. As Alton Everest says in his book "Master Handbook of Acoustics," larger is better. I doubt anyone reading this with a small room wants to read this, but reality doesn't really care what the hell we think. It's just there. I've heard my Arcam FMJ 23 sound better in the 30 x 47 room of the Meow Meow jingles writer (with awful speaker cable, poor placement of speakers - right next to the grand piano - and mediocre speakers - than it will EVER sound in my 13 x 20 room).
Having heard several speaker systems in my basement, I know they could equal Mr. Meow Meow's room ( my basement being 23 x 45 with tube traps every 3 feet, which I have enough of to do that - stacked, even), but his room had NO treatment. I was disgusted and thrilled in nearly the same moment. Point is, the room - as REG wrote in an old issue of TAS, which I was reading recently - is everything.
Nonetheless, the effect of Quantums on the (master) breaker box cable (which Quantum themselves said was better than putting it on the [breaker] box itself)was obvious. I didn't have to strain, no "you hear it because you want to" (who ARE these dopes?!?!) effect. I had to pull myself away long enough from being mesmerized, to come in to type this!
I have yet to put these on the large fuses in my Hurricanes, and I need to hurry: time's running out. I'll give myself until the weekend withOUT them on the Hurricane's large fuses. They're already on the small ones in the back of the amps, and they're a WOW if ever I heard one, but that was months ago. I have to say that the Synergistic fuses have, finally - to my ears - turned out to be the best ones for the Quantum chips. Bargain is hardly the word: $7.95 for an improvement akin to going from a $300 power cord to a $900 one?!?!?
I haven't had much luck with the capacitor chips in the Hurricanes: a kind of grain inserted itself between me and the music, and the Hurricanes, whatever anyone might say about their (supposed) lack of resolution, will instantly reflect changes ahead of them (as Scot Markwell wrote in TAS in issue 140 in the sidebar). I have the 2nd Mercury Living Presence Boxed Set CDs. There's a CD, #37, which was recorded by the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra: cuts 12 and 14 (by Bernard Rogers and called "Once Upon a Time: Five Fairy Tales") have simple instrumentation: cymbals, woodblocks and a few other instruments - I forget which ones. The sound, on my reasonably-good system, leaves me cross-eyed. (You really should get this while it's there. The first boxed set, which cost $100, is selling on Amazon for anywhere from $250 - $400 a set. And it's worth it if you love the Mercury Sound) The cymbals shimmer as they clearly did not do prior to the breaker box chip installation, and the sense of clarity - the sense of a "fog" lifting, allowing you to hear straight through to the cymbal itself, shimmering into empty space around it, is fan-TAS-tic. Afterwards...Oh, never mind, people will read this, shake their head and say, "hyperbole. Or that apple martini he's drinking." Let them.(Anyways, I had the apple martini AFTER I heard the effect, the way a man gives out cigars after the birth of his first child. Jubilant!! Well, not quite the same, but you get my point...)
These are great devices, but one does have to remain skeptical on certain applications, because it IS possible to think: waaaaay better, but then - for me, anyway - hours later, it's: no, it's NOT better. I hear grain covering up the harmonics on the piccolo and it wasn't like that before.
And it doesn't change by day 3 or day 10. So yes, negative effects Do happen. But I think, if one uses voice recordings instead of instruments, one will hear the effect much, much faster whether the effect is positive or negative.
But these are still stunningly good on fuses, the breaker box (who'da thunk it?!?) and maybe even DAC chips (which you guys have had more luck than I have). Capacitors? Well, on come components, a crap shoot, but still, one DOES have 30 days to try them out, so what's the loss (besides shipping costs)? Besides, they clear enough grain out of your system that when you buy your next component, you'll know pretty quickly if you want it. That puzzle you (how could they possibley do what they're doing?), but they Do work. And damned, damned well, at that. |
Ozzy, I hadn't thought of putting a Power chip inside my PS Audio Power Plant, but thanks for the suggestion! I'm sure that'll improve it as well! I'm going to swap out the outlets on my older PS Audio for the Synergistic Research outlets on one duplex and a PS Audio outlet (current version) on the other duplex. I have the older orange outlets on my Power Plant P300 and I'm sure they dull the sound a bit: when I had a Power Plant before, it had blue outlets on them, not the orange ones (which are older - and, I think, softer-sounding). One would assume PS Audio's thinking on outlets has changed as they're in their 3rd generation of power outlets, so I'm guessing that improving the outlets will improve the sound on top of putting the Power chip in there.
Did it seem to any of you that the sound got louder, even though you hadn't touched the volume button? I looked at the position of the volume control, even though I hadn't come near it (I thought perhaps I brushed against it while moving the CD player placement slightly, but i hadn't). The sound was unambiguously louder or perhaps I should say it was signal-to-noise volume that made it seem louder. But it seemed like the actual volume went up.
Tbg...WOW. You built your tube traps?!?!?!?!? You GO, man!!! But what are "Ziplex" bowls? |
