Ozzy,
I want to make sure that your passionate support of this product doesnt end up giving the wrong impression by putting words in my mouth.
-I didnt say that I was "disappointed" by the product. Instead, I listed my subjective listening experience and that of other very experienced audiophiles
-I thought that was particularly important as some in this thread had said that very high end systems may have different experiences with this product. I have no idea why that would be but I assumed it might be interesting to some people to hear what we hear
-The loss of imaging is because the instruments become less "tight" and in some recordings that reduces the believability of the instrument itself. The overall effect would therefore be going against what some of us purist audiophiles seek
-However, why this is happening is another issue. It could be that this is the greatest invention since sliced bread but its somewhat low built quality and the insertion of more cables and hardware are causing the result I reported. Even Harley admitted in his review that on bypass the piece causes some sonic change (which obviously cant be for the better!)
-Which is why I repeat that the best way to implement this technology would be for the preamp manufacturer to include it in a much more high end piece of equipment with better signal to noise ratios
-As for built quality, there it is not a subjective issue. This is not built like a $4k piece of equipment from the cheap buttons to the cover which is so thin it warps and resonates. I assume one can better significantly the performance by improving on its transformer etc. In any event, I think us customers should be honest about this stuff and cause manufacturers to build better products. The margin on this one must be offensive to our intelligence.
-I am very glad they have tried to come up with something new and the 30 day waranty (which I dont know if it applies outside the US) is a great way for people to try this out. I am guessing this means some people may end up with used equipment (?) but I would be happy with that tradeoff.
So there is no disappointment here. It is an intriguing piece of equipment and I look forward to seeing how it will perform when and if implemented in a real high end application.
I want to make sure that your passionate support of this product doesnt end up giving the wrong impression by putting words in my mouth.
-I didnt say that I was "disappointed" by the product. Instead, I listed my subjective listening experience and that of other very experienced audiophiles
-I thought that was particularly important as some in this thread had said that very high end systems may have different experiences with this product. I have no idea why that would be but I assumed it might be interesting to some people to hear what we hear
-The loss of imaging is because the instruments become less "tight" and in some recordings that reduces the believability of the instrument itself. The overall effect would therefore be going against what some of us purist audiophiles seek
-However, why this is happening is another issue. It could be that this is the greatest invention since sliced bread but its somewhat low built quality and the insertion of more cables and hardware are causing the result I reported. Even Harley admitted in his review that on bypass the piece causes some sonic change (which obviously cant be for the better!)
-Which is why I repeat that the best way to implement this technology would be for the preamp manufacturer to include it in a much more high end piece of equipment with better signal to noise ratios
-As for built quality, there it is not a subjective issue. This is not built like a $4k piece of equipment from the cheap buttons to the cover which is so thin it warps and resonates. I assume one can better significantly the performance by improving on its transformer etc. In any event, I think us customers should be honest about this stuff and cause manufacturers to build better products. The margin on this one must be offensive to our intelligence.
-I am very glad they have tried to come up with something new and the 30 day waranty (which I dont know if it applies outside the US) is a great way for people to try this out. I am guessing this means some people may end up with used equipment (?) but I would be happy with that tradeoff.
So there is no disappointment here. It is an intriguing piece of equipment and I look forward to seeing how it will perform when and if implemented in a real high end application.