AudioCircle
Audio/Video Gear and Systems => Critic's Circle (Equipment Reviews) => Reviews of Accessories => Topic started by: glynnw on 3 Dec 2016, 11:09 pm
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After encountering this device at RMAF 2013 (I think), I and a friend were impressed with the sound in their room, but we balked at the $4K price tag. When Underwood Wally offered these at $1K I jumped in and have been very pleasantly entertained by this silver box. I placed it between my DAC and preamp, adding to the amount invested in interconnects. In addition to altering the sound, the well made silver box offers remote switching of 3 inputs. The thing you immediately notice is the wider sound stage. Even without the QOL my system successfully passes the Chesky sound stage demo disc test by placing sounds well outside the left and right speakers, but I seldom encounter this effect on most recordings. With the QOL (what a bad name) in the line, I now am used to sounds well placed outside the speakers with usually no negligible affect on sound quality. The processed signal is generally several dB louder, but keen listening can reveal that while some of the instruments are now louder, the vocal level remains constant - in some recordings. The effects really vary from recording to recording - today I liked a Johnny Hartman recording better with the unit in bypass mode. There is a remote that lets you control whether the unit is in the line or bypassed. After several months of listening in what I considered a semi-purist system, I prefer almost all listening with this unit in the signal path. I have probably easily done over 100 comparisons of actively listening - What is better, A or B? Anyone who can get their hands on one of these should give it a try. Having a wall to wall soundstage is addictive. And anyone who can produce a product like this for $1K can do a nice business.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=154363)
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