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My first proof of Evocian efficacy and PC rightness came from Daniela Manger's MSMs1. I initially positioned her actives where most other boxes sound best. This meant my longest power cords didn't reach. A pair of generics she'd brought together with 5m XLR cables thus had to plug directly into sidewall outlets. When the Mangers eventually repositioned closer together and farther back as their maker recommended, my 2m Crystal Cable cords regained reach. After Daniela departed, I experimented.
As I wrote then, "...while the whole active concept and XLR interface spells pro audio and we-know-better attitude (on what really matters), quick experiments with power delivery show that audiophiles know a thing too. When I replaced Daniela Manger's long generic Swiss power cords jacked directly into the wall with Crystal Cable equivalents tapping a GigaWatt PC-3 SE Evo conditioner instead, bass weight, tone color intensity and general robustness each took a noticeable step up."
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As a Braun-era Quad-reminiscent speaker with clearly more bandwidth and dynamics but no means of upgrading or simply changing its built-in amps, I'd desired a bit more image and tone density. Since three preamps found themselves strangely ass-whupped by three variable DACs—I suspected more complex multi-stage amp circuits with high negative feedback in the German speakers to explain why—I was out of usual means to inject these qualities. And I really didn't expect to get them from an active power conditioner.
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Eximus DP1, Zodiac Gold/Voltikus, DAC2. Switzerland's nominal 230V AC power hovered around 234V in our flat.
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Power conditioner reviews tend to riff ad nauseam on lowered noise floors. They describe at great lengths all their audible manifestations of deeper insight into recorded material. Here that was far from the overriding attribute. If at all. Perhaps the Manger with its excellent impulse behavior and point-source dispersion—which majors heavily on transparency —left little headroom there. What the better cords and GigaWatt did was complete a transporter beam instead.
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Envision Star Trek Enterprise. They're beaming someone down. Wall direct was like interrupting the process before a flickering spectral appearance had solidified completely. Whilst likeness seemed already perfect, the GigaWatt still added flesh 'n' blood and thus made for a deeper descent into physicality. Contrast demonstrated how some substance, mass and hereness hadn't fully materialized without it. Tone temperatures increased as well. This made the prior color palette paler or a little washed out.
These effects reminded me of prior isolation transformer experiences. Yet for all their body building those had put a foot on the energy brake like a damper. I later gravitated to and preferred passives for their greater vibrancy and quickness. To determine whether our Pole robbed Piotr to pay Pawel even just a bit—when does anything hifi come free?—I needed my FirstWatt SIT1 speed demons. The comparator was my usual Furutech RTP-6 passive to allow use of my standard Zu Event cords which complete a front-to-back Zu Event loom. My Swiss-to-US wall adaptors are too fat to allow two in the same wall triplex, hence no wall-direct bypass test. For that I'd use April Music's Stello Ai700. |
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With the SIT1s, there was a surprisingly small offset between greater speed and bite (Furutech) versus somewhat higher stateliness and warmth (GigaWatt). This ran Adam's top cord on either to minimize variables. On brilliant upper vocal registers like Dulce Pontes' which can veer into occasional glassiness—think sunlight glint off a faraway window—the PC-3 in the loop was the more satisfying. The degree or two of deep-relief contrast it gave up in trade was gladly sacrificed. Relative to perceived noise floor, I detected no difference. The usual telltale aspects of ambient recovery and micro detail were equally splendid with each device. The real shocker came next.
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With TruLife Audio Athena preamp & AudioSolutions Rhapsody 200 speakers
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With Simon Lee's best integrated I could perform the mandatory bypass test to connect GigaWatt's massive power cord between it and the wall, then swap cords and run through the conditioner. Without the PC-3 the sound became flatly more distant, faded and pale. The far more holographic acuteness of dimensional sculpting receded. Front/back layering remained of course but the level of contrast against surrounding space had taken a real hit. Much of the combined effect was akin to cheating with output levels. Louder always trumps quieter. These improvements behaved not dissimilar to notching up volume a few clicks. While this bundled attributes—color intensity, presence factor, body—if I was limited to just one I'd call the core benefit contrast enhancer.
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The next test compared Adam's two power cords—LS-1 upgrade cord, LC-3 —to my Zu Event. All of them connected the Stello Ai700 directly to the wall. The stiffest most unwieldy cable with the silver contacts called LS-1 was the gutsiest. It had the highest dynamic impact. The LC-3 and Event were both mellower and slightly softer. Whilst the Zu took those descriptors literal to also drape far more easily than the high-sprung Polish wires, these two cords were otherwise virtual stand-ins. These personalities transferred to plugging into the conditioner rather than component. What surprised me here is how these differences became more pronounced to really make the LS-1 the go-to choice.
Sadly there's one thing this brilliant PC3 SE Evo conditioner won't do. AURALiC's 500-watt Ucd400-based monos with massive linear power supplies proved utterly noise free at the tweeter as though not on at all. Ditto for their ultra-compact costly Plitron toroids after they'd settled down from initial inrush current upon power-up. Yet sporadically their iron would go off vibrating. Then it would buzz loud enough to be very audible 5 meters away. Shortly afterwards the toroids would revert back to perfect silence again as though I'd imagined it all.
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DC on the mains makes transformers hum. I noticed before how various amps were slightly noisier at some times but not others yet always at levels inaudible from a meter away. I asked AURALiC's Xuanqian whether their low-rider trannies were unusually susceptible to DC; and GigaWatt's Adam whether he didn't filter it. "If our toroids start to hum, it would be
either from DC or overvoltage on the mains. Since the
amps shut down above 240V [the PC-3 confirmed that we never exceeded 237V - Ed] the latter should be
no issue. We have tested for DC mains effects. If the
transformer hums loudly, DC is more than 4V. Though our toroids use narrow-band cores,
Plitron assures us they are no more sensitive than others. Our Chinese mains supply isn't very good. Voltage is unstable. DC offset is serious with a lot of EMI. Hence we are twice cautious about any such conditions. It's why we implemented the Purer-Power AC filter technology."
GigaWatt: "Generally even the best and most expensive power toroids—especially high power above 500-700w—aren't resistant to hum from DC. We have huge experience in this area. It's why we resigned from transformers in our products. We used high-quality transformers before (700-1500w). Despite best efforts we could never completely eliminate noise. Hum depends on many causes: AC sine wave distortion, slack in the transformer core (very often!) and DC current.
DC filters can help but that depends on the build of a given transformer and other causes. For now our products don't eliminate DC because generally only a fraction of devices on the market hum. But we do plan to make such products in the future."
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Given Marja & Henk's excellent transformer hum-busting results with the IsoTek Evo3 Syncro—an AC pre-filter against DC built into a power cord to precede a conditioner—I'd really love to see Adam Schubert implement equivalent DC protection in his otherwise so completely executed brilliant (and let's face it, costly) powerline conditioner. In the bypass test it slaughtered wall direct. Compared to a superior Furutech passive it gave up nothing and merely shifted the subjective balance on the speed/body axis in favor of the latter. This modest injection of substance or mass was unexpected but welcome for being blessedly free of the THD side effects similar contributions from valve gear cause. I'd until now not really considered an AC filter as a perfectly benign system tuning device in this area. As though that weren't enough, the GigaWatt PC3 SE Evo then adds comprehensive protection circuitry whose presence is clearly inaudible.
As someone suspicious of active line filters where many take away more than they give—with the 'more' admittedly a function of what qualities one personally considers most important—I'm delighted to report that Adam Schubert's 2nd-from-the top six-outlet box rewrites those rules. Whilst returning it has me far from slumming with my Furutech RTP-6, especially on the ultra-quick wide bandwidth FirstWatt SIT1 mono amps I shall fondly remember its small contribution of density and mass which came at very little cost to incisiveness. Very well done, Adam Schubert! |
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GigaWatt replies:
We agree that DC filtration is a desirable feature and are already working on a dedicated device. However, it's important to know that we had very good reason not to include one inside a conditioner. There can also be negative influences on the sonics to become a compromise. Thus the power conditioner was designed to just focus on improving the sound and protect the connected gear. The DC filter will be a separate device optimized for just one thing - to symmetrize the AC sine wave so it is equal on both sides of the zero line and thus remove DC offset. We will send you such a unit to evaluate in conjunction with the PC-3 SE Evo when it becomes available.
Adam Schubert
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