How I do I like it... well the other line conditioners I've owned all sounded fine to me (guess it often comes down to which flavor one prefers). And I was doing the usual upgrade dance for all too many years, but as usal something was always bugging me about my system.
So along comes an opportunity to get a PowerCell from the first production run. As a result my system has changed in an important/major way. Finally I feel that I'm hearing what each component is capable of with no apparent loss of dynamics or extension. I'm hearing what is typically associated with each of my components when reading their reviews born out of listening in ultra revealing reviewer's systems. One of those "... so this is what they're talking about" kind of moments.
Dynamics and extension (top and bottom) are up several notches. Distortion is also down to where playing louder and dynamically challenging passages results in no breakup as was often typical before. This was also observed in my friend's vinyl set-up. There was an operatic soprano passage from an older London recording that would break up and we attributed to possible tracking issues... PowerCell in, break-up/distortion out.
All the above with a level of refinement (especially with digital sources) that I've never had before. A subtle sense of grain and congestion that I could never completely remove is also gone (no mean feat as I live in one of 184 condos in a one sq. block area... that's a lotta grunge in the lines).
So along comes an opportunity to get a PowerCell from the first production run. As a result my system has changed in an important/major way. Finally I feel that I'm hearing what each component is capable of with no apparent loss of dynamics or extension. I'm hearing what is typically associated with each of my components when reading their reviews born out of listening in ultra revealing reviewer's systems. One of those "... so this is what they're talking about" kind of moments.
Dynamics and extension (top and bottom) are up several notches. Distortion is also down to where playing louder and dynamically challenging passages results in no breakup as was often typical before. This was also observed in my friend's vinyl set-up. There was an operatic soprano passage from an older London recording that would break up and we attributed to possible tracking issues... PowerCell in, break-up/distortion out.
All the above with a level of refinement (especially with digital sources) that I've never had before. A subtle sense of grain and congestion that I could never completely remove is also gone (no mean feat as I live in one of 184 condos in a one sq. block area... that's a lotta grunge in the lines).