Gordian. Most of us remember it as a recalcitrant knot of antiquity slashed asunder by...well, some legendary hero no doubt. Actually, the story is credited to Alexander The Great. Whilst wintering at the Phrygian city of Gordium, he tried to untie an ox cart leashed to a post with an intricate knot of cornel bark. Said cart dated back to a time when the Phrygians had been without king. An oracle decreed that the next man to enter the city whilst driving an ox cart should be crowned. In remembrance, Midas tied up that cart which subsequently became a tourist attraction. When Alexander couldn't untie its knot upon his visit, a version of the tale has it that he cut it with a single stroke of his sword. Since then, cutting the knot has become synonymous with thinking outside the box. That of course means solving a problem by unconventional means; even if in popular cop shows, chain locks are invariably cracked open by gun shots, never by sword attacks.

In any event, contemporary hifi explorer Stratos Vichos of the small hifi boutique Lab 12 in Athens calls his compact AC conditioner Gordian for good reason. It features adaptable filters with auto diagnostics. So you may optimize various parameters like EMI/RF filtering, common filtration, differential filtration plus line phase aka power factor correction. Displayed analysis (which may be dimmed or turned off) includes FFT current/voltage measurements, DC, THD, power consumption, line frequency, polarity, proper earthing and AC voltage output. There are six outlets on EU, UK or US socketry. Two are high current/low filtered, four are low current/high filtered. The IEC inlet is of the 20A high-current sort. That requires a specially terminated power cord. Called Knack, Lab 12 has one for €273. One can manually run through the filter adjustments and select the best by ear. Or, 'auto mode' lets the Gordian configure itself. Its industrial analyzer constantly monitors eight different parameters at 256 samples per AC cycle. That sends 2048 measurements per interval to the main processor. Power factor correction switches in a capacitor bank but calculates the optimal value for the most effective power conversion. Over-voltage protection clamps down against catastrophic failure. In 'auto' mode, the Gordian constantly calibrates itself against its own real-time measurements. With its configurable circuits, the Gordian allows us to listen to specific actions of specific filter methods. Rather than promissory propaganda by various manufacturers, on what's best, we may compare and contrast a number of options in one unit.