The most hidden secret of Hi-End

(20110226)

Dear audio friends,

this time I'm going to loose the friendship and credibility of some of you, but -hopefully- I will open a Pandora box that could potentially help many other audiophiles. My friend Fabrizio Baretta is used to say -since many years- that “today it is really difficult to find a hi-fi component that sounds really bad”. On the other hand, it is usual to listen many differences between the different components and systems. Many audiophiles have fought in one or another of the long-lasting wars between “tube-fans” and “solid-state believers”, or between “best-measuring” oriented designers and “No-Negative-Feedback” designers, or between “analogue” versus “digital” audio reproduction, as if these are the most important considerations in order to obtain a truly hi-end sound. Very often, when one audiophile is not completely satisfied by the sound of his system, he wants to identify the “weaker electronic” of his chain and will not find peace until he has replaced that component.

Now, my point here is: are we really sure that our components are set in the “best environment” to express all their potential? What I have learned in the last years of my audio journey is that there are some enemies of the good sound that are much more subdole and dangerous than many of the previously quoted religion-like arguments, on which we usually focus all our attention. These enemies are:

vibrations
AC noise
EMI/RFI noise

The very point of this page is to understand that often we should fight much more these enemies instead that continuously looking for the “Sacro-Graal” component. For those of you that will stop here because they consider what follow too much “Voo-Doo”, I can only suggest: try it yourself and then believe only to your own ears, not to your prejudice.

RESONANCE CONTROL:

The art of controlling resonances, adsorbing or “tuning” them, is something as difficult as important. A part from using very expensive audio racks, what I suggest you is to invest in some good feet, at least for your digital source. A good damping system is able to improve the quantity of details that you will perceive, the quality of the bass response and also the soundstage.

These Turstopper (door-stoppers) have 1.5 kg each one but cost only 5 Euro at OBI!	They are not designed for audio, but used with an Ikea Exklusivt board are already much better than original rubber feet of my Conrad Johnson MV60SE.
Other cheap feet are the Alabaster polyhedrons (bought in Volterra), that have a character similar to graphite blocks, even if not as good as the best graphite.	The A.R.T. Q-damper Limited Edition were blocks of synthetic graphite selected by Be Yamamura. They are very effective under my wooden Kuzma Stabi turntable.
These are 3 old and expensive Combak-Harmonix MY-T TU-210 tuning feet. They seems to be made of a light wood (at least the cone), but probably the materials used inside are simply a secret.	Under my modded Sony SACD player the TU-210 are able to add clearness in all the spectrum, but in particular to make the midrange much more sweet. They resembles a musical tuning instrument... At the end I have maximized their effect placing them under the FaberSix power distributor!
The Stillpoints Resonance Dampers are able to absorb and dissipate a great spectrum of vibrations. Up to now they have the best “performance/cost” ratio of all the damping tools that I have tried and since they are not very cheap, that means that they are extremely effective. After one year I had to buy another set of 3, so that now I can use them under both my Sony SACD player and my CJ preamp.	Placed under my modded Conrad Johnson Premier Fourteen preamp the Stillpoints produced a greater soundstage, with a level of clearness never heard before.

NOISE REDUCTION WITH BYBEE:

Jack Bybee must be a genius! The Bybee quantum purifiers are already on sell from about 10 years, but their use is still not widespread as they deserve. Maybe it is because it is not really clear how they would reduce the “pink quantum noise” or to increase the “speed of electrons” along the conductors. In any case, you don't really need to understand them, but only to listen if their effect is -dramatically!- audible in your system. On the http://www.diyaudio.com forum there is a 150 pages-long thread on measuring their effect and trying to understand what do they really do. I simply don't understand why a lot of those nice guys don't spend that time in trying the Bybee in all the possible positions (AC before the main transformer primary, AC on the main transformer secondary or even after the rectifiers, on the DC side, or along the signal, on the output connectors or inside the speakers, before or after the crossover) and reporting their finding. I don't know anyone who has honestly tried the Bybee without noting a clear improvement in the sound and if someone don't want to try them it is only for prejudice. And no! I'm not payed by Jack, nor by Doug Hall...

My first Bybee (large, copper type) has been mounted on the phase and on the neutral wires of the main AC input inside my Sony SACD player, with improvements evident to anyone. After a while I replaced the large Bybee on the phase with a golden type.	Here (below) is my first “golden” Bybee quantum purifiers mounted in front of the primary of my CJ Premier Fourteen preamp, on the phase wire. A great mod! After that I have added also a copper Bybee on the neutral wire (above).
A golden large Bybee is going to marry a silver-rhodium Oyaide 174R IEC outlet on my Sony SACD player.	Inside my CJ MV60SE amp there is a golden large Bybee on the AC phase and a copper one on the neutral wire.
A small silver Bybee on the phase wire of my CJ EF1 phono preamp.	A large copper Bybee on the phase wire of my CJ MV55 power amp.
Here is a small copper Bybee on the positive pole of my Acoustic Zen ribbon tweeter.	And here is the Bybee mounted on the tweeter of the other channel.
I'm still wondering how big was the improvement in details, soundstage and focus after having Bybeezed the tweeters of my Acoustic Zen Adagio speakers. Another incredible mod.
The Bybee purifiers uses inside also a piece of Stillpoints ERS cloth to shield against EMI/RFI. I use tons of ERS also inside my Sony player, because it makes the highs more clearer.	Pieces of Stillpoint ERS cloth are mounted also in my preamp, inside my old CD player and in my Tribute MC step-up...yes it really helps! And no! I'm not payed by Stillpoints...

MAIN-AC CLEANING WITH FABER, OYAIDE AND HI-FI TUNING:

Cleaning the main AC power supply is fundamental. If you have tried to replace your “hospital-grade” power cord with a truly silver wire-build with proper shielding structure power cord you know what I mean. If you have not yet tried it, I strongly recommend you to try a very good power cords (e.g. a Faber's Cables power cord would convert you as it did to me along the Damasco way). But shielding the power cord is not enough. You must also provide the best contact to the electrical junctions and improve as much as you can the path from your AC outlet to the primary of the main transformer inside your components. So, as first step you have simply to replace your AC outlet on the wall. What? Yes, you will not believe me until you will listen by yourself. Then you need to replace the power distributors (the plastic box with multiple outlets) with an aluminum one, like the giant-killer FaberSix. Lastly you should you should thrown away the cheap (and bad) fuses inserted along the main AC path (usually on the phase wire) and put an “audio grade” fuse, like those very good provided by Hi-Fi Tuning. Remember: everything that you do to improve the power supply of your equipments (including cleaning the AC line from hi-frequency noise) will be immediately perceived as a clear improvement of the sound, in particular on the detail reproduction and on the soundstage amplitude. Last trick: check which is the phase wire (usually brown or black) and connect all the equipments with the correct phase! Use the usual screw-driver tool with the internal light for a double check.

The Oyaide SWD-XXX-E Schuko wall outlet is plated with 24k gold and hence there is a very thin layer of palladium above the gold. Of course, the mechanic is able to apply a very tight pressure on the contact parts. It is not cheap (about 125 Euro), but comparing with the sonic improvements it is simply “a must”!	Please note my “double running” of AC wires, each one with a good diameter. Note that the brown cable identify the phase, while the blue is the 220V~ neutral wire.
I adapted the Oyaide Schuko in a box for 3 italian plug-elements, while it is designed for the two elements box.	The FaberSix power distributor uses simple (plastic) VIMAR multi-standard outlets, but it is drilled from a solid block of aerospace aluminum and is internally wired with silver plated cables. It is unbelievable how much it can improve the sound...
The FaberSix can be provided with the usual 10A IEC plug or with this 16A plug, that has the horizontal pins instead of the vertical ones.	Here you can see the Faber's Cables power distributor with a fewof my Faber power cords and only one “hospital-grade” power cord.
This is the third generation of Hi-Fi tuning Ag-ceramic fuses. Yes, they are cryogenic.	Replacing the original fuse with Hi-Fi Tuning gave to me the impression of more shining high.

TONE CONTROL WITH NOS TUBES:

The last part of my secret suggestions could interest only those of you who still use that old technology called vacuum tubes. I don't know why in 2011 there must still be around people who like the sound of these prehistoric electronic components. I like to think that it has something to do with an inherent higher linearity of triodes with respect to the solid state counterparts (BJT transistors in primis, but also FET and MOSFET), which in someway could be related with a better transmission of electrons inside the vacuum than with respect to silicium junctions. I also like to think that this “higher-speed” in a “less noisy environment” signal transmission has something to do with the Bybee quantum purifiers, even if I don't have any proved theory to explain my feelings.

What I would like to tell you is my experience with NOS (New Old Stock) tubes. You have probably read the recommendations of many audio companies (from US in particular) that the “tube rolling” is a dangerous play and that they amplifiers are designed for the new production tubes, which are more reliable and maybe even better sounding than the old and expensive NOS tubes and bla-bla... I also know of a respectable italian designer who solder the Chinese 300B tubes on his amplifiers to avoid any tube rolling. Well, I want you to know that me too, like all the others who are responsible for the high price at which are sold on eBay the NOS tubes, can subscribe that all these nice suggestions are simply wrong. I don't believe that they say so because they are liars, but because they don't listen carefully and, in particular, I believe that medium to big companies who still use tubes are mostly driven by marketing and not by the quest of a true hi-end sound. It is not a case that some of the best small companies producing tube-based equipment (most from Japan or Hong-Kong) offer NOS tubes on their expensive products. I don't understand why the new production of tubes don't have the same good properties of the best old production. Maybe it is a matter of material used? In any case, to me that effect is not so strange. I have already seen how many of my Speaker Corners 180g Decca vinyl reissues are often worse than the original “light” Decca vinyls. Time going on do not always means progress... Believe me: with the right NOS tubes you can do a fine-tuning of the tones produced by your audio equipments, like if you were according a musical instrument. Just try to listen how much richer and true are the sound harmonics.

To find four good 6GK5 (6FQ5) I had to try many brand of NOS tubes...	The RCA are among the best sounding 6GK5, at least in my CJ Premier Fourteen.
Two NOS-NIB Mullard BVA ECC83 made in UK in 1963 and 1965 respectively. Simply the sweetest midrange that you can dream on.	Two NOS-Telefunken ECC83 smooth plate labeled B4116003, their sound is extremely transparent and open.
Four old -used- Tung-Sol 6550 replaced my Svetlana winged C 6550: there is simply no comparison...	Four used Philips Miniwatt xf-2 O-O getter EL34 from the 60's mounted in pseudo-triode on my CJ MV55. The most human voice that you can dream of.

Well, that is all folks. If you have learned nothing new from this page, my compliments to you. If for you all these items were new and you don't believe to any of them, well just start trying a Bybee quantum purifier... and let me know what you find! Probably you will continue with a Oyaide wall outlet, some Faber's cables and his power distributors, Stillpoints and so on... At the beginning you will have the strange feeling that you are missing some energy in the bass spectrum, then, after a while, you will realize that what you are missing was a sort of grease attached to body of the bass spectrum, while now you can finally appreciate the midrange ourity and high-frequency richness, without distortion, enjoy!

Lastly, I have to state that I'm very happy of how my system has been dramatically improved by all the tricks described in this page.