Power Conditioner to the rescue

This is a report of the Audio Magic Eclipse II power conditioner. Since I have never owned or tried a power conditioner in my music system before trying the AM, I have no baseline comparison to a similar product

As a late bloomer (only a couple years ago) to trying out different power cords, I simply have not heard the dramatic differences, for better or worse, between power cords like other A’gon members have reported. There have been subtle improvements in resolution with small-signal components but the cost for these power cables has always out-weighed more significant upgrades, e.g., IC’s for the same cost. And the CAT JL-3 amps showed no differences with power cords at all.

There have been many reports here that attention to dedicated circuits, filtering, isolation transformers, upgraded outlets, etc., should be considered before putting out the effort and expense of power cords. With a 30A (10ga) dedicated circuit for each amp and one additional 20A circuit for the rest of the system, I was on my way to better power. But with only one outlet on the back wall to drive the rest of the system, it was quite a rat’s nest with a cheapo 6-socket adaptor plugged into a standard wall outlet.

Two local (Minneapolis) audiophiles, Artg and Jadem6 (JD), both had a fit when they saw that this was my solution to powering the system. Another visit by Art had him shaking his head when he saw this here again. Finally he could not stand it any more……he politely emailed me later that day to suggest that I look into an Audio Magic unit for sale on A’gon. And with JD’s recent report on the significant loss of musicality when he removed his Hydra to put it up for sale, here was another hint that maybe this was something for me to finally consider.

I spent two very long nights reading all I could on the Walker Velocitor, Sound Application Line Stage, Audio Magic, PS Audio Regeneration units, Shunyata Hydras and Balanced Power models. There was no consistency in the reports on the PS Audio units. And I already have enough heat generation with the Aesthetix Callisto Sig and Io and CAT amps that I certainly did not need the add’l heat from a regenerating power unit.

The one product line that continued to strike my interest was the Audio Magic. While each of these units was reported to bring on significant improvements, the AM was consistently the product line where the improvements were detail, resolution and dynamics rather than dimensionality and holographics. I have so much of the latter characteristics in my system now that I needed to focus on the former. The AM clearly sounded like the unit to audition. Art was right on with his suggestion that I investigate the AM.

I emailed Jerry at Audio Magic to get his perspective on which unit would be a good match for my system. Later that day, Jerry called me back. He is one heck of a nice guy and a pleasure to discuss technical issues over the phone. He was honest to tell me right away that he’d love to sell me his top Transcendance model but the Eclipse II would bring on such a significant improvement to my system that spending more at this time was not necessary. The Eclipse II model was being discontinued, as according to Jerry, the demand has been to either go for the less expensive Stealth XXX model or all the way to the Transcendance. He had two remaining Eclipse II models…..one of which I purchased.

Jerry gave me the option to have the unit shipped the next day or he could burn it in for a week or so and then ship it to me. I wanted the best first impression possible the instant I installed this unit so I requested that he burn it in. Two weeks later (today) the unit arrived.

What do you do when you get a power conditioner for the first time? Do you plug one component in at a time and listen for changes or do you just go for it all at once and make the decision with or without the conditioner on this merit? I have read here that digital components are greatly affected by these units. And I wanted to find out for myself if this was true. Transports seem to be the one link that consistently lay claim to the biggest improvements. To get a qualitative and quantitative assessment of each component in my system, I decided to try one component at a time.

I use a Pioneer PD65 as a transport. I have tried Muse 8, Theta Basic II and even recently Art’s Audio Aero Capitole CDP as a transport, and differences for me anyway, were very subtle at best compared to this $450 budget product. This is why I have held onto this unit for so very long. It truly has been an amazing performer as a transport. This was the first component to go under the AM microscope.

I started with the Alan Parsons “On Air” CD. On one track, Christopher Cross is the singer. There is much ambience and detail in his voice that makes this track very good for comparisons. After listening to this 3 times with the PD65 plugged directly into the wall, I plugged it into the Eclipse II. There is absolutely no way I would have ever believed the difference had I not heard it for myself. What was before a mushiness, lacking in individual sounds, was now so incredibly clean. I was mightily impressed as I was unprepared for the improvement. No transport comparison here ever came close to such an improvement. And how could this be possible? How could there be such a huge improvement in clarity and detail? A return to the PD65 plugged into the wall and the entire presentation was a mushy mess of sound. It was not an issue of noise or grain but simply that everything was slurred together. Upon hearing this single improvement, I did not care if the AM did nothing else in the way of improving my system. I could spend twice as much on a transport and not at all get the improvements I just heard with the Eclipse II driving the ridiculously cheap PD65. Absolutely incredible!

Next unit on deck was the Genesis Digital Lens. I put this into the AM and again the improvements were not subtle. This time it was a significant increase in dimensionality, holographics and smoothness. There was so much more air and silence between the notes and without the edgy bite that detracted from enjoyment. A return to the Genesis plugged into the wall and the soundstage simply collapsed. Gone was that incredible openness and ambience that gave the music that special presence. It reminded me so much of my recent listening comparison of the Aesthetix Callisto vs. Calypso. The tonality was nearly the same but the Callisto brought on that awesome dimensionality and smoothness without sacrificing the subtle details. The Genesis in the AM matched this the same way. Again, how could this be? Geez, it’s only 1’s and 0’s. How can clean power affect two products like this? The bottom line: I didn’t care! I was so impressed by and unprepared for the AM’s performance.

Jerry told me that I would hear a big improvement in the DAC and that I should also plug it into a digital outlet on the Eclipse. The Manley Ref DAC was next to plug into the AM. The improvement here brought on a change that I never would have expected: a significant drop in fatigue. With the Manley now on the AM, the forwardness that was part of each initial attack on guitar strings was gone. Christopher Cross’s voice was much more coherent with the rest of the music rather than it being higher in amplitude. There was far more body, air, ambience ….. absolutely incredible. I plugged the Manley back into the wall and that edgy spike in his voice was back. It is amazing how it is nearly impossible to tolerate such a sonic flaw after hearing the music without it…..even briefly. I could not wait to get the Manley back into the AM to bring everything back into place.

I was tired of the Alan Parsons CD by this time so I switched to a Vangelis CD, Voices. The track, “Prelude”, is a favorite of mine for piano music. After listening to this just once, I plugged the PD65 back into the wall. In one instant, what was such incredible clarity was now one big mush. The initial observation with the PD65 was repeatable. The Genesis and Manley in the AM did not change at all the sonics of the PD65 plugged into the wall. Unless the PD65 was plugged into the AM, the improvements brought on by the other units in the AM mattered very little; the slurring of the notes had to be resolved first. What I have read here many times was indeed true: the transport benefited by far the most with the conditioner; it was indeed that significant. I am now a believer.

For digital playback, I had one more component to try with the AM: the Aesthetix Callisto Sig with one power supply. I put the PD65 back into the AM, and the glorious piano magic was back. I then moved the Callisto to the AM. Another smile came my way. Once again, I had a huge improvement. There was yet another degree of air between the sounds and for the first time, a big jump in dynamic contrasts. I had to put the Callisto back into the wall to confirm this latter difference. Sure enough, the loudest notes with the Callisto in the AM were now softer and with a reduction in ambience. I was so eager to put the Callisto back into the AM. With the Callisto back into the AM another observation was made: it was as if the time between the piano notes was longer than I heard before. The keys were no longer slurred together as before. I remember only ever noticing this sonic character once before: when I replaced the stock tubes in the Callisto with older tubes. After the PD65, the Callisto benefited the most from the AM. And this too was a surprise as the Aesthetix power supply is a very serious work of engineering.

Only one conclusion can come from my observations above: this is hands down THE most impressive improvement to my system ever and by quite a huge margin. I have paid much more to upgrade one component where the improvements were not even remotely as significant as what I experienced with only plugging any one of the four components into the AM. To get all of this at one time is unprecedented. And for this cost! Oh my!

With the first round of tests based solely on CD playback, I have not heard what might come with plugging the Aesthetix Io phono stage into the AM. And will the turntable motor plugged into the AM make a difference? How on earth could that be possible? I will have to find out.

I owe so much to Art and JD for my success here. And to Jerry at Audio Magic: you have one incredibly impressive product here. Customer satisfaction does not get any better than this.

John