My 2019 Update Thread - My final system I think.

[Gazjam]

How did you get your Mitts on one of these James?
You never paid fullh bhuna for it did you?

Was it a loaner?

That said its all relative,
if its doing the business it "works".

Open minded to at least trying things out, but need to know a LITTLE bit about how they work, so I'm out.

£6000 for a black box without a switch or a light on it and mystical powers. That sounds just up your street Gary

To be serious this thing works particularly well with digital equipment, but not so sure of its effect with analogue. I was shocked what it did with my humble digital system. It really was a night and day effect and I was deeply sceptical it would do anything.

This device was from the Chord cable company not Chord electronics so nothing to do with Mr Watts etc.

[Macca]

How did you get your Mitts on one of these James?
You never paid fullh bhuna for it did you?

Was it a loaner?

That said its all relative,
if its doing the business it "works".

Open minded to at least trying things out, but need to know a LITTLE bit about how they work, so I'm out.

it works by reducing distortion on the AC power feed in the very high frequencies, way beyond hearing, no different from any other 'mains purifying' device.

In theory that cannot improve sound quality. In practice maybe that's a different matter, there's no real experimental evidence either way. It could be a six grand placebo.

I don't see that there's any need for it to cost so much whether it has a real effect or not. As usual with these things if they charged less no-one would take it seriously.

[Jimbo]

Ah - thanks for that James. One other question are the Chord Cables made in China, or are they European?

Going back to the Tuned ARRY (?) cables, they were on loan from someone who used Naim equipment, cost a couple of hundred quid, so we couldn't open them up to see how they were made. But we did have them x-rayed. They use two separate coaxial cables, wired 'shotgun', with the screens connected together at one end only, which makes them directional. We tried to duplicate the construction, but with limited success.

Not sure if Chord cables are manufactured in China. I do know that some of their top end cables are manufactured here in the UK.

[Jimbo]

How did you get your Mitts on one of these James?
You never paid fullh bhuna for it did you?

Was it a loaner?

That said its all relative,
if its doing the business it "works".

Open minded to at least trying things out, but need to know a LITTLE bit about how they work, so I'm out.

Haha it was a loan item from my mate who is a Chord dealer. He did explain how it works but it sounded a bit complicated for my small brain. They do make a cheaper version but not as good. The professional product I heard was seriously good.

If you can get a loaner item I would recommend it. Basically it dumps all the noise in your mains and anywhere near
your digital stuff into the black box and eats it!

It was extraordinary like flicking a switch and my £200 digital set up suddenly sounded like a £10,000 set up!

[Jimbo]

it works by reducing distortion on the AC power feed in the very high frequencies, way beyond hearing, no different from any other 'mains purifying' device.

In theory that cannot improve sound quality. In practice maybe that's a different matter, there's no real experimental evidence either way. It could be a six grand placebo.

I don't see that there's any need for it to cost so much whether it has a real effect or not. As usual with these things if they charged less no-one would take it seriously.

I can't comment on the cost because for all I know it maybe manufactured from highly exotic materials by hand and take months to build.

What I can say is forget the technicalities and theories. I plugged it in and was astonished at what I heard. That's all I can say. Night and day.

[Macca]

I can't comment on the cost because for all I know it maybe manufactured from highly exotic materials by hand and take months to build.

What I can say is forget the technicalities and theories. I plugged it in and was astonished at what I heard. That's all I can say. Night and day.

If I'm being asked for 6 grand I want all the evidence and theory I can get! That means, for me at least, some controlled testing, and there is none. If it was a couple of hundred I might take a punt but not at that price.

Conversion from AC to DC power in the power supply of the equipment will remove all mains noise and distortion so it is hard to see what this thing really could do.

However...

Years ago I bought a Linn pre-amp on ebay and the seller e-mailed me and we had a bit of a chat about hi-fi. He recommended a Belkin mains block that a pal of his had said improved the sound. He'd got one and thought the same. He sent me a link and it was fifty quid so I took a punt.

made the sound worse with power amp plugged into it, but with just the pre and CD player plugged in it did seem to improve clarity and sweetness of tone.

I'd have put this down to placebo but thing was civilians started to comment, totally unprompted, on how good the sound was, which they had never done before. That even included my mother! Nothing else in the set-up had changed. That did make me wonder.

Sadly when they came to change my meter I left it plugged in and the anti-surge crowbar thing operated, which disabled the unit. (This was back when Belkin offered a million dollars of cover if the unit failed to prevent a surge from destroying your equipment).

By then they had stopped making them. I bought the replacement version but no magical effect with that. Still does make me wonder if there may not be something to it. I could afford the six grand but I'd have to be more sure than I am that the effect is real. And also that I couldn't get the same benefit for less.

[Jimbo]

My process for evaluating and buying equipment.

1. Borrow piece of kit that I intend to incorporate in my system and listen to it in my system.

2. Find out how much it costs and then decide if the price is commensurate with performance upgrade.

3. Read all the technical articles and sales fluff.

4. If I cannot at least get to try a piece of kit in my house I would at least try listening to it at a dealers or in someone else's system.

5. Ponder for a few months if I really need or can afford to buy new piece of kit.

6. If it is absolutely great value and I cannot live without it - BUY.

[Gazjam]

A good way to go about things James.
Your ears, your system.

Similar to myself,
unless its a "fun punt" under £50 then I'll have a go, for funsies.

The Mystery Box
For myself I reckon have mains noise covered anyway running everything from the big balanced mains unit.

Always fun to play with thi stuff of course,
Handy if your mates a Hifi Dealer!

My process for evaluating and buying equipment.

1. Borrow piece of kit that I intend to incorporate in my system and listen to it in my system.

2. Find out how much it costs and then decide if the price is commensurate with performance upgrade.

3. Read all the technical articles and sales fluff.

4. If I cannot at least get to try a piece of kit in my house I would at least try listening to it at a dealers or in someone else's system.

5. Ponder for a few months if I really need or can afford to buy new piece of kit.

6. If it is absolutely great value and I cannot live without it - BUY.

[Jimbo]

A good way to go about things James.
Your ears, your system.

Similar to myself,
unless its a "fun punt" under £50 then I'll have a go, for funsies.

The Mystery Box
For myself I reckon have mains noise covered anyway running everything from the big balanced mains unit.

Always fun to play with thi stuff of course,
Handy if your mates a Hifi Dealer!

My mate has a mega balanced mains unit running in his system and he still gets an improvement with this mystery black box. I think he uses two!

[Gazjam]

Ooh...