Alan Maher's new Infinity DIY filter

cporada · « **on:** 24 May 2009, 10:33 pm »

I was recently fortunate enough to try out Alan?s newest offering; the Infinity DIY filter. I took Alan?s advice and installed the first one inside by breaker box right near the breaker that feeds my dedicated audio circuit. The second, I was not sure where to begin, so I installed it inside my SACD player atop its power transformer. I figured that was a good starting point, based on all the literature I?ve read about other EMI/RFI blocking devices and the sensitivity of digital circuits to these forms of interference. Alan had warned me that these things would produce mayhem with my circuits for several days, but I couldn?t resist a listen about 4 hours after install just to hear how things were coming along. By now, I should know that Alan?s products always produce very strange effects upon initial installation and then, as they set up, more and more of their magical abilities are revealed. Well, the new Infinities were no exception to this rule; my initial reaction was that I had taken several steps backwards in sound quality. Everything sounded rather thin a bright, and the soundstage collapsed entirely down to the point that all sound seemed to be coming almost directly from my speakers. There was no width depth or height. At 48-72 hours after install, things had changed dramatically for the better, and when I say better, I mean better than anything I had ever experienced. Suffice it to say that it was as if the gates of Heaven had opened in my family room and from them was pouring forth the music of the cherubim. Listening to The BIS SACD of Beethoven?s 9th with V?nsk? was a revelation! The final movement with the choir and soloists was unlike I?ve ever heard it reproduced. Each soloist could be placed at a precise location both side to side and front to back. Moreover, I could actually hear the vertical positioning of the choir members, with some higher up, I suppose on risers, than others. Starker playing The Bach suites for cello was almost a religious experience as was listening to Bono singing MLK on the Mobile Fidelity gold CD release. Every subtle nuance and inflection is there. Listening at night with the lights off is almost spooky; you?d swear people were in the room singing/playing just for you. In conclusion, I don?t know what exactly the Infinities are doing to produce their effect (they don?t look like much; just little black boxes), but wow! The soundstage is so big and clear you can almost walk around in it and the sound is like liquid gold! It?s unbelievably clear and detailed, without even the slightest hint of harshness or brightness. Alan hit it out of the park with this one. I can?t wait to order more and treat everything I can find to see how far the magical spell the Infinities have cast over my system can be taken.
Thanks Alan for another great product that redefines what I thought was possible in audio reproduction.

alanmaher · « **Reply #1 on:** 25 May 2009, 09:31 am »

Great review Chris...you really hit the nail on the head

The description is right on.

Bill@LakeGeorge · « **Reply #2 on:** 25 May 2009, 02:18 pm »

Alan can you give a brief discription on where and how the Infinities get installed?

alanmaher · « **Reply #3 on:** 25 May 2009, 04:33 pm »

Bill

I suggest adding them to circuit breakers, main house breaker and individual circuits, use zip tie, Velcro, etc. It is not necessary for the filter to touch the breaker; the filter can be mounted on the outside of the panel door centered over the breaker.

Next location, try installing a filter box behind the system wall outlet or use 3M mounting tape to secure the filter to an unused system wall receptacle.

Next, mount a filter on each a/c male and iec shell.

Next, install the filter directly above all small transformers within the system.

Next, install over dac chips in CD, DVD, and SACD player.

The filter can be installed at the midpoint of interconnects and speaker cables.

The filter can be Velcro to the rear of the speaker at the midpoint to absorb cabinet vibration harmonics.

Phil · « **Reply #4 on:** 25 May 2009, 08:48 pm »

Hi Alan,

I have 2 shakti stones on the main house breaker box (covers about 2/3 of the breakers). Can the Infinities be used with the shakti - to cover the other 1/3 for example? Of course, I'm not going to add anything until my Quantum AC filter is fully broken in

alanmaher · « **Reply #5 on:** 25 May 2009, 10:11 pm »

To be honest I never tried. I don't have any stones available to experiment. I did try to experiment with Quantum Disrupters in the same location, but the results were not good. Downstream from one another works fantastic.

The Quantum AC filter should be just about done, watch it over the next 2 or 3 days. If it is still sounding like it's having problems up top, remove the Shakti Stones from the panel and allow the circuit a few days to set up.

topround · « **Reply #6 on:** 18 Aug 2009, 02:25 am »

Just a brief description of what I have experienced

Day One: Installed my DIY Infinity with Blue tack to the breaker that controls the outlet for my system.
The breaker box door does not close completely , but not a big deal in my house.

Everyone talks about the soundstage collapsing. This it did. Sound came from between my 2 speakers, I lost width and depth, height was still OK.
Sound was very clean, highs were cleaned up alot, and tone was gorgeous.
I really enjoyed what I was hearing even after a few hours, getting rid of grit and grain makes one very happy. My toes were tapping, and my fist was pumping. All good signs.
Even though I lost my soundstage, I am assured it will come back.
If my soundstage comes back to my original size, and I get to keep this tone and beauty, this refinement. I would be very happy.
If my soundstage grows beyond what i had, and retains the tone, than this is the best tweak I ever tried. All the benefits of power conditioning, without the negatives.

Also bass has improved, I don't have more bass, but more defined bass, bass lines are easy to follow and have their own groove.
On a side note my vinyl has seemed to experience a greater loss of soundstage than my digital. Not sure why.

Again, day one. they say it can take 2 weeks.
Time will tell. So far I am very impressed.

Mike

Phil · « **Reply #7 on:** 18 Aug 2009, 03:14 am »

The break-in, like everything else in audio, is probably system dependent. I'm just getting to the 2 week period and things haven't settled in yet. Along the way, I've heard moments when my system never sounded so good and then it disappeared. But I've broken in several of Alan's filters and know, for whatever reason, my system takes the maximum time he specifies. With this filter, that seems to be 17+ days.

I hope it is shorter in your case but it may take a bit longer to hear all that it can do.

alanmaher · « **Reply #8 on:** 18 Aug 2009, 07:56 am »

Phil-
In your case Infinity is re-adjusting the frequency of all the filters installed on your circuit/s. This is the main reason why it takes you 20 to 25 days and Mike, that has no filtering, only 10 to 12 days.

Tip: On another subject, the Infinity and Quantum SC can be flipped around to suit different speaker/amp/speaker cable designs. Try both directions to see which works best with your amp/speaker cable/speaker combo.

Eric · « **Reply #9 on:** 18 Aug 2009, 02:11 pm »

I was sort of intimidated by the idea of installing stuff on my circuit breaker so I never considered thiese types of products before. How do they install?

alanmaher · « **Reply #10 on:** 18 Aug 2009, 02:42 pm »

Infinity can be installed using a zip tie for attaching to the main wiring entering the panel box. You can use a small piece of 3M mounting tape to apply to the circuit breaker (bottom, top, or side). Mounting tape is also recommended to apply the Infinity CBF over the spare receptacle at the system outlet. Use zip ties to attach Infinity to the AC and IEC shells. Blue tac is helpful inside components (transformer, dac chips, etc).

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #11 on:** 18 Aug 2009, 03:10 pm »

I velcroed my filter over the circuit breaker on the side away from the motion of the toggle in case it has to trip. You wouldn't want the filter preventing the toggle from jumping over as designed. Other than that it is pretty straightfoward.

Regalma · « **Reply #12 on:** 18 Aug 2009, 08:14 pm »

OK I'll bite. I am intrigued. How do I get one of these? All it says on the website is that the site is under construction.

cporada · « **Reply #13 on:** 18 Aug 2009, 08:17 pm »

I'd e-mail Alan directly (alanpmaher@alanmaherdesigns.com). He's very professional and always gets back to me right away whenever I e-mail him. He provides some of the best customer service I've yet encountered. His products are also mind-boggling good

Chris

alanmaher · « **Reply #14 on:** 18 Aug 2009, 08:19 pm »

http://alanmaherdesigns.com/InfinityCBF.aspx

Contact me via my e-mail account for more information: alanpmaher@alanmaherdesigns.com

Philistine · « **Reply #15 on:** 24 Aug 2009, 03:56 pm »

I have a secondary panel in my basement that feeds my system. I Velcro'd my filter as can be seen from the photo:

Is this the best placement option?

alanmaher · « **Reply #16 on:** 24 Aug 2009, 04:10 pm »

Remove the panel to expose the breaker wiring. Tape the Infinity CBF to the bottom of the breaker (use 3M mounting tape...Velcro is flamable), it should span across 2 or 3 breakers (center to the AV breaker), and reinstall the panel. The filter will require 4 weeks to set up.

Another option is to say screw the breaker and strap the filter to the main wire bundle just prior to the main breaker. Use a zip tie to secure the Infinity CBF to the wiring. In this set up the CBF will filter everything on every circuit connected to the main breaker. In my home this is the preferred set up. A second CBF is fitted to the a/v duplex across the spare receptacle. All my power cabling is of my own design and I also filtered each AC/IEC shell (added inside the shell for a 20% boost in performance) with the crystal for additional benefits.

tenantman · « **Reply #17 on:** 25 Aug 2009, 08:56 pm »

I installed a PE IV with a DIY filter in the AC outlet located just below the Breaker panel. I did not get the same bang (but did not know it will take up to 4 weeks) when I placed it on the incoming AC wire feeding the panel or inside on the breaker itself.
With the AC outlet, it was immediate and mind blowing the change/improvement. Is this more an 'active' phenomenon related to the PE itself than the DIY filter alone?

Thanks

Philistine · « **Reply #18 on:** 25 Aug 2009, 11:17 pm »

Okay Alan, I took your advice and removed the filter from my sub-panel and got rid of the velcro.

Here is my main panel:

With the filter installed:

In addition I have a Quantum Studio in the bottom duplex socket that has my Richard Gray Power conditioner fed from the top socket.

Did I interpret your directions correctly?

tenantman · « **Reply #19 on:** 26 Aug 2009, 12:43 am »

Wow! Nice picture close up. Is the camera CBF compliant