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Perfect Path Tecnologies ‘The Gate’

Having been a music lover and audio enthusiast for more decades than I care to admit to I’ve had the privilege of owning some tremendous components over those years and thought I had attained a level of musical enjoyment that would be difficult to improve upon without spending more money than I could afford. Then along came The Gate to turn my audio conceptions on end. 

While I was quite skeptical of all of the positive proclamations regarding the Perfect Path mats, cards and contact enhancer ( how could they possibly bring about such sonic improvements?) I took the plunge and purchased a nano bundle to see what the hubbub was all about. Much to my surprise they not only brought about improvements to my systems’ ability to recreate a more musical sound but did so in spades. 

When Tim of Perfect Path Technologies asked if I wanted to try his new product, The Gate, I jumped at the chance thinking it would be a nice addition to what the other products provided. I wasn’t prepared for the quantum leap The Gate brought to my music listening pleasure. As much as the other products brought about a much lower noise floor, greater detail and delicacy, improved dynamics, richer tone and more realism The Gate does so in magnitudes difficult to describe. The best way I can describe its affect is unreal purity leading the most realistic musical sound I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing.....outside of a live performance obviously. It has me listening to all of my CD’s as if for the first time again.

I have no idea how The Gate actually works or what it does I just know it’s the most dramatic tweak to my system I’ve ever experienced and I wouldn’t think of being without it. As to how it’s implemented, it’s installed in the electrical panel with one lead connected to the common buss and the other to a breaker ( preferably 220). Hope I got the terminology correct.....I’m far from being an electrician!

At $4,999.00 it’s not cheap but worth every penny to me as I’ve spent more on components with less sonic improvement. 

Lastly, I realize some will scoff at something they can’t understand and I get not understanding it as I don’t, but I would hope people could keep their skepticism healthy and civil. I am not here to promote or sell, nor do I have any affiliation with PPT. I am only sharing something that I’ve found to be transforming in my system. Sorry for the lengthy introduction.
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oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa
4,867 posts
 
uberwaltz ...

Like the wise man once said ... "You ain't heard nuttin' yet." The Gate just keeps getting better over time.  

Can you believe how real vocals sound? And, you mentioned the improvement in the bass. Nice.  Do you have any recordings that have lots of percussions, say like bongos, congas, wood blocks, and cowbells? If you have anything by Arthur Lyman, try that for a big surprise. 

Frank
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Frank
Not really my type of music, closest that would contain those type of instruments would be say Santana.

Vocals, especially female vocals are scary good.

Example, last night listening to Norah Jones.

The scene it conjured for me.

An old Vegas style lounge, smoky, intimate.
Norah on the small stage backed by a stand up double bass, three piece drum kit and piano.
Myself sitting at a table closest to Norah .

I can "feel" the swish of brush on drum skin, almost see the bass strings vibrate. She is looking at me and performing just for me.

I mentioned extra bass earlier, what I truly mean is extra bass weight,and definite separation of instruments.
 I am now able to "hear" bass runs and licks that were obviously there in the mix previously but did not stand out.
Now I do not mean stand out as overpowering but as subtle but sure instruments in their own right not just as some congealed mass of music.

Its going to be a GREAT week!
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,438 posts
 
@uberwaltz,

I am ecstatic for you. I can relate to the ‘feel’ above. Listen to the track, And Then There was You by Norah. Every time I listen to this track, I get goose bumps, it was recorded in a beautiful intimate setting.

I love Norah Jones as well, hoping to catch up with her one of these days, she is touring very soon.
mac48025's avatar
mac48025 OP
672 posts
 
Glad to hear you’re enjoying the Gate in your system so much uberwaltz. Dare I say “ I told you so”? 😀 When the music sounds so ‘right’ like we are hearing it’s quite addictive. Like hearing all of your old records/cd’s for the first time.

I found removing my power conditioner improved the sound now that the Gate is installed. Originally I had the Equitech Son of Q balanced conditioner and while it really lowered the noise floor and added clarity I didn’t realize how much it was suppressing dynamics until I switched to the PI Audio Uberbuss. Now after removing the Uberbuss I’m experiencing slightly more dynamics, more bass control and more life to the music. 

Im going to make a power center with high quality outlets, power cord and wire that I’ll treat with Total Contact to plug all of my components into. I could have paid for over half of the Gates price with what I spent on the two power conditioners I no longer need. For those with multiple systems the Gate will be an economic option. 

Lalit, I think we’d all like to ‘catch up’ with Nora one of these days 😜
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
jetter
For a $5K unit some persons would want a bit of an explanation of what’s going on to make it work. Mildly surprised Tim hasn't.

Yeah, wouldn't it be nice to know? Right down to the parts list, cheapest/best places to buy them- oh, and assembly instructions. Mildly surprised Tim hasn't posted all that. More I think about it, kinda selfish, keeping it all to himself. After doing all that work. Himself. To not just give it away.

Or do you mean, mildly surprised Tim hasn't made up some mumbo jumbo marketing malarkey? Audiophiles absolutely LOVE marketing malarkey! Slurp it up like Mother's milk!

Two problems: one, it takes real talent to do that and come off like Ted Denney III and not the Machina Dynamica guy. And two, well never mind the first one should be more than enough to make the point. You'll just have to trust me when I say, when you understand enough of this deeply enough after a while they pretty much all start to sound like the Machina Dynamica guy.

Besides, even if he did explain it, what difference would it make? Ted Denney says right up front that a lot of his products (PHT, ECT, HFT, FEQ, etc) work on the principle of dither. So what? So dither for starters seems a difficult concept to understand. Even if you do, what difference would that make?

None of this would matter in the least except for the fact people actually avoid taking steps that would dramatically improve their systems simply because they can't get past the mental stumbling block of having to understand why. How do I know? Because I for years did exactly that. Now I know better.

You too can stop stumbling around. Simply change your mind. Easiest thing in the world.

 


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