Daltonlanny,
Ritteri has succintly and accurately described the added "warm liquidity" to the midrange. Further, I heard less grain throughout, which resulted in a smoother, more relaxed presentation, especially top-end, with no loss of detail. While the Black Gates did take some time to break in, I started hearing obvious improvement within a week, and not much more improvement after two to three weeks--though I had my CD player running through it during much of this time, I would at least halve the break-in time Ritteri suggested to 250-500 hours. Yes, if I wasn't clear before: the $150, trouble, and wait was worth it. (Stan also did a great job handling the unit, leaving no external trace.) In my experience and for my listening preferences, there was "gain" and almost no loss in using the Black Gate active mode as compared to the renowned passive mode.
Ritteri has succintly and accurately described the added "warm liquidity" to the midrange. Further, I heard less grain throughout, which resulted in a smoother, more relaxed presentation, especially top-end, with no loss of detail. While the Black Gates did take some time to break in, I started hearing obvious improvement within a week, and not much more improvement after two to three weeks--though I had my CD player running through it during much of this time, I would at least halve the break-in time Ritteri suggested to 250-500 hours. Yes, if I wasn't clear before: the $150, trouble, and wait was worth it. (Stan also did a great job handling the unit, leaving no external trace.) In my experience and for my listening preferences, there was "gain" and almost no loss in using the Black Gate active mode as compared to the renowned passive mode.