The Gate
This morning marks the eighth day with The Gate in the system. I'm in agreement with everything the OP said in his opening statements.
First, the price - $4,999.
On the surface, it may look like a lot of money (and it is), but measured on a performance basis, it's a bargain. If one is thinking about upgrading to a more expensive piece of equipment, a new amp, or pre-amp, for example, one would be far better off installing The Gate.
The size -
2" x 2.5" x 10." Weight 10 pounds.
The sound -
When The Gate had been in the system for only two days, I had a fellow A'goner over for a listening session. He was silent for the first two recordings. I asked him to describe what he was hearing. To that, he responded that the use of the usual audiophile terms wasn't adequate. It goes far beyond that.
The Gate removes grunge, hash, and distortions from the AC power, and leaves nothing but the music and the performers in the room. The clarity attained brings this hobby to an entirely different level. The Gate is a real game changer and it will transform the hobby. It is that good.
Listening -
Upon first turning on the system immediately after installing The Gate, there's not much improvement to be had. Maybe slight. After 15 minutes, things started to open up a bit. You can hear The Gate slowly improve over maybe an hour or so, then WHAM! The purity of the sound starts becoming very evident. By the time the first listening session was over, we were shaking our heads in disbelief. Nothing ... and I mean NOTHING I've done in this hobby has had this much of a profound effect on improving the sound quality. Forget terms like focus, transparency, dynamics, black background, noise floor, sound stage, speed, tonality, and such. Just replace all of the normal terms with one word ... reality.
Break-in -
The Gate continues to improve day by day. Tim Mrock, the designer, says that it will continue to improve over a four to six week period. If the first eight days are any indication, I can't imagine what things are going to sound like after several weeks of continual break-in.
What others have heard -
So far, I've had two fellow A'goners over to experience The Gate. The best testament I can give this product is that both of them returned home, called Tim, and ordered The Gate for themselves. When they heard it in my system, it had only been installed for two days. At eight days, it is much better than what they heard.
The results so far -
In terms of how large of an improvement one can expect from The Gate, I'm equating it to all of the tweaks I have in the system at this point. Even culmulative, I'll take The Gate over all of them combined. In total, they have created a true magic music machine. The Gate just brings things to a whole new level. Highly recommended.
Frank
