After a couple of days of marathon listening sessions, I have concluded that the Bybees(at least the ones I have) are everything they are advertised to be. This pertains to the Bybee Ultra Quantum Speaker Filters with Nordost SPM Reference tails, Cardas spades, and Cardas gold posts. In my system, there was no down side. The best way for me to describe what it was like, is that everything seemed to get "broken-in" all at once. That smoothing out you get after break-in of a component, is kind of like what happens. The level of smoothness is killer, with all the air, detail, dynamics, layering, frequency balance, naturalness, emotion, and everything still there. IMHO, they are worth every penny spent. |
I am very happy with the old style Bybees in my system. So happy in fact, that I use them on both ends of most of my ICs and speaker cables ( here reverse phase on the amp end ). I tested them first by simply adding them to just one channel ( got the idea from TAS) and found, that the soundstage somehow shifted to the channel that was "bybeeized" and the difference was not subtle. I found no change in transparency, also no change in the soundstage with both channels modded, the highs and lows were the same as before, but the entire musical rendering seemed more lively, transients were better defined, voices seemed more lifelike. Where I could not discern any difference in performance were the AC filters. So generally I had a very positive impression and I've kept them in my system.
As far as the internal bybee mod is concerned, I think one has also to test the hypothesis, that some of the detrimental effects described above, could well be caused by sloppy soldering as well. Just a thought. Cheers, |
Sns, I'm sorry to hear that you had trouble with the Bybees. I've heard these accounts from others, but I did not experience the same result. Mine work great. My system is ultra revealing. It consists of a Sony DVP-S9000ES SACD/CD player direct input to a David Berning MicroZOTL with NOS tubes running direct to single-driver Fostex TL speaker system. This system has huge amounts of "air" and detail. If I lost any with the Bybees, I sure didn't notice it. I specifically payed attention to air, detail, soundstage, imaging, and musically emotional involvement, as these are things I read about before trying the Bybees out. These are the only pair I ever heard, but I like them. With the inclusion of the Bybees, all I have between the output tubes and the drivers is 3 meters of speaker cable(and now the Bybees). I don't know why some systems respond differently than others. It seems strange. The ones I got were the discontinued ones with the Nordost SPM cable pigtail and Cardas spades and Cardas Gold binding posts. |
that's consistent w/ what i've heard. on AC, a no brainer, but elsewhere it might not be an improvement...then again, it might.
rhyno |
I have been experimenting with the bybee filters for the past 3 weeks and my experience has been quite unsettling. I had my perpetual tech. p3a and monolithic sound modified by Modwright 3 weeks ago. I had the level II upgrade and power supply upgrade (in addition I had bybees placed on analog outs on DAC and purchased another pair for my tweeters). Upon first listening something was completely out of wack, my system though smooth was utterly uninteresting.
I decided to remove the bybees from the analog outs on DAC. What a difference! I believed transparency had returned to its pre- mod state. I listened to my system in this configuration (bybees on AC ins on Monolithic and tweeters) for a couple week, still it seemed something was missing, the emotional involvement just wasn't there (even to pre modified configuration). Finally a couple days ago I removed the bybees from my tweeters, air and ambience returned as well as my emotional involvement.
At this point I am very happy with my system (bybees still on Monolithic AC ins), all the good things others say about monolithic mods are there, but I'm now considering taking the bybees out of the monolithic. IMO there is some masking of detail and/or transparency with bybee filters and it is also additive. Perhaps 1 pair are good, but 2 are not necessarily better. Quality of AC may be important as well. I have done much to improve the quality of my power (dedicated circuits, upgraded power outlets, ps audio ultimate outlets, PS300, segregated digital and analog, power cords) and perhaps the additive effects of bybees makes things worse. My recommendation for those considering bybees is be careful, buy 1 pair at a time and listen closely as each pair is added. I believe they are best on AC ins and much less useful, perhaps harmful elsewhere. Of course your milleage may vary. Also you may want to read what others have said concerning bybees at some of the other forums. |
Cool, let us know how it goes! |
I just tried out a pair of Bybee Quantum Power Speaker Filters that were sent to me by a wonderful member for my evaluation. I just received them and hooked them up today. I spent the next 3 hours listening to music. These things work! My initial reaction is very favorable. Much smoother sound across the spectrum, without any loss of detail, soundstage, imaging, or anything. I will see how they do over a few days time, as far as any changes with burn-in go. |
Jack Bybee is a genius
Any guy who can filter out enough crap in a submarine so it can hear a guppy fart at 300 yards and know it is a guppy knows something
I have used all his audiophile products and still own everyone I bought
Hard part is getting a hold of his stuff
I run his balanced interconnect filters and his spaker filters with all my Valhalla's |
thx alan, i checked modwright and it says he sells them for DIY speaker installation. do you know if there is a different one for speakers than for AC mains? or can i use the one dan sells for speakers in my component AC?
from what i gather, its best to put them right between the transformer and the bridge.
thanks again
rhyno |
Rhyno......you can buy the Bybee filters directly from Dan Wright, as he is an authorized OEM reseller. I think they're approx. $80 each. As he has done extensive work with them, he is most qualified to assist you with your DIY installation.
He is easiest to reach at "modwright@yahoo.com"
alan m. kafton
audio excellence az |
any place to buy bybees to install into component's AC? i'd prefer to do the work myself, as i'm not big on shipping gear unnecessarily
thx
rhyno |
The Bybee filters do nice things for AC mains, such as allowing the digital gear to remain on when listening to analog if separated into separate circuits, digital and analog....I don't care for them on speakers or ICs as feel too much of the baby gets thrown out with the bath water, but YMMV....Some folks love them throughout..... |
I have both the Bybee speaker filters and the IC filters. The IC filters are on the lines from both my digital (CD player) and analog (phono preamp) sources to my linestage at the linestage inputs, and are also on the lines running from my linestage to my amplifier at the amplifier inputs. I initially thought that the speaker filters had the most effect, and in certain systems, I still think the effect of the speaker filters is at least very noticeable (good). However, in my system and in some others, the biggest and best difference is made by inserting IC filters going into your amp, whether they are coming from a preamp or directly from a source. This has proved to be the case not only in my system but in at least 2 other quite different systems I have listened to at great length recently.
A local dealer here claims that inserting Bybees directly into the power feed of a CD player or DVD player will make a very dramatic improvement in the digital sound reproduction and video output as well. I can't yet verify what this dealer is saying, but I can say that he is a very knowledgeable and reputable fellow whose opinion I respect. |
Gpalmer is right. Dan Wright will probably send you straight over to Stan Warren. :) |
I had the Bybee filters installed by Dan in my Pioneer 38A. It was at the same time as I had the level 2 mods done to the transport and had the clock upgraded. It is therefore very hard for me to be sure which component upgrade was responsible for the new sound. I can tell you that the player after he got done has a very clean sound. It seems like the electronic mush in the background that was always there in the past has been removed so the instruments are much more clearly delimited, i.e. a blacker background. I find the level I listen to music has dropped coniderably because of the improved resolution and lower background noise. I would attribute this to the ByBees, though I can't say for certain that it is true. I hate to say it, but Dan is probably the person best qualified to advise you.
I have always heard that the most effective place for the ByBees was at the speaker, although you need one for each driver I believe. Second most effective is supposed to be in the digital front end. The in-line ByBees seem to be the most controversial. I have read quite a few postings which said the owners found them ineffective, even with owners who had very good things to say about the speaker and electronics location.
Sorry, I can't be more unambiguous, good luck whichever route you choose!
Regards,
Greg |
Twl, before committing to Dan Wright, you might also want to talk to Stan Warren (co-founder of PS Audio) of SuperMods un Eugene, OR who also does supposedly an excellent job on the s9000es.
I talked with Stan on several occassions and was about to send my s9000es to him when I got laid off. So I put off having the mod done.
He only does one revision at $250. He claims a 25% improvement in sonic performance. A friend of a friend who is some type of audio equipment reviewer, had his s9000es done by Stan around a year ago and he claimed about a 40% improvement in performance.
So I'm guessing between 25% and 40% improvement in sonic performance.
I still have the unmod'ed s9000es but have since purchased a Sony SCD-1. |
