[Jon L]

A while back in a discussion about Audience AdeptResponse, I remember lamenting there were no internal pictures available, but here it is at last.

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/audience5/adeptresponse.html

At the time, given the info available, I had guessed that it probably uses a whole bunch of Audience Auricaps for filtering individual outlets and no transformer, and it does indeed look like the case.  It also looks like internal wiring is also Audience PowerCord material, and a special attention has been paid to grounding scheme with a huge ground bus copper bar with huge drain capacitor.

I'm a little surprised that the reviewer heard what he heard, but such is system-dependent nature of Power conditioners, I guess..

[JoshK]

don't forget the CMCs between.

[Occam]

... and a special attention has been paid to grounding scheme with a huge ground bus copper bar with huge drain capacitor.

The two parallel copper strips are for Line and Neutral, and its not huge drain capacitor, rather it is an accross the line. X cap, as in the infamous 'Auricap tweek". From those bars you can see the line and neutral wires going though a CMC [in the black shrink] and to an indivual outlet with bypass Auricap.
The ground is implemented in a star, with 2 small 'Y' auricaps going to ground from line and neutral, and the outlet grounds daisy-chained to the star point.

[ekovalsky]

Seems like the MSRP is pretty high given the parts compliment inside.  Not that this is unusal in high end audio...

I was considering the Adept Response but zybar and MauiDan (a TacT guru) steered me towards the Running Springs Audio which is much less expensive and works wonderfully.  Thanks guys!

[zybar]

Seems like the MSRP is pretty high given the parts compliment inside.  Not that this is unusal in high end audio...

I was considering the Adept Response but zybar and MauiDan (a TacT guru) steered me towards the Running Springs Audio which is much less expensive and works wonderfully.  Thanks guys!

You are most welcome.  

George

[tvad4]

Seems like the MSRP is pretty high given the parts compliment inside.

Uh...yeah. Over $3000 for wire, copper buss, and capacitors?

Golly, I love the used marketplace.

[Hantra]

I hate to sound harsh, but. . . What a lame ass review.  It just seemed that Jules never came to any valid conclusions in the review.  Plus, no one reading the review has a more esoteric, odd system than this guy.  

Having spent time with the Audience, I seriously have never heard a better power conditioner.  It fascinates me what this thing can do.  These two guys seem to be just out there. . .

[tvad4]

I think Jules posts some of the most cogent and reasonable reviews on 6Moons. His observation that equipment varies in nearly every system is more honest truth than you're likely to read in the majority of reviews.

His attempts to be fair within the context of his personal experience is the most one can ask from a reviewer.

[Scott F.]

Not sure what I'm missing here about the design of the Audience unit but I thought power filtering was typically an LCR design (notice I mentioned filtering not regeneration which involves a transformer). Now I'm no filter designer by any means but how do you filter anything other than high frequency hash with just a capacitor? (or do I have that backwards and caps filter low freqs?) What about the rest of the audible frequencies (thats where the L and R come in)?

I'm a relative fan of the Auricaps but $3800 is just plain silly. Honestly, there can't be more than $400 worth of parts there. Not to mention it;s a questionable design. I'd sure be interested to see a chart of it's filtering capabilities.

just my $.02.

[JoshK]

Before we go Audience bashing, and I am not one to usually stick up for high prices, a little more care would be needed to come to the conclusion that it is way overpriced, at least relative to other things out there.  It is overpriced by my standards but not compared to a lot of other gear.  

I think I counted 11 caps.  These caps aren't cheap, at least at retail.  Then they use quite a few inductors, likely specially made for this use which I would guess probably easily add up to as much as the transformer in the BPT signatures (~$3k retail) but I'd guess they cost even more.  Then there are bus bars, circuit breakers and then that white thing back there (not sure if that is a cap).  The implementation looks quite well executed if I do say so myself.  

Looks to me that the manufacturing costs on this thing probably isn't as cheap as it looks like and given the normal rediculous markups of high end companies this product is probably par for the course.  

Steve, Caps filter high frequencies (they pass high frequencies, so across the line they pass the crap back to return) and the inductors help in filtering.  Basically the caps turn the differential noise into common mode that the inductors (common mode chokes) cancel out.  It is actually quite a sound design.

[PhilNYC]

Josh...there are 13 caps; 1 on each outlet, then one at the switch.

FWIW, I happen to know that when Audience first embarked on the adeptResponse two years ago, they were targeting a retail price of around $2K (I had the prototype last summer at HE2004).  Richard Smith had built and tweaked his own power conditioning unit over the years, and based on those designs, $2K was within reach.  But much the way Josh/Occam/tianguis have found better parts, interesting design changes for their Felicia plc, once Richard really got into it, the cost of parts and design/manufacturing-concerns started rising...I had many conversations with John McDonald about the price, and if they could make it lower, they would.  

Note that the adeptResponse is a 12-outlet power conditioner; Audience feels that it can be used for an entire home theater (amps, processor, sources, screen/projector, etc).  So the adeptResponse can be viewed as costing about $315/outlet.  Considering that something like a PS Audio P300 retails $1500 for 4 outlets (about $375/outlet), it's not nearly the most expensive power conditioner on a per outlet basis.

They are planning a 2-outlet and 4-outlet version for later this year which will be appropriately priced...

Just my two cents...

[ekovalsky]

A lot of high end gear is priced so MSRP is about 4x the production cost.  Less on value gear, more on boutique stuff.  

With dealer margins, warranty coverage, overhead and last but not least profit (excepting gear made in Cuba, N Korea, and China of course!) that 4x figure is probably what it takes to maintain an adequate business.

There are probably about $950 of parts in the AdeptResponse so, while it is certainly not cheap, it is probably not unreasonably priced.  There is definitely margin included in the $3800 MSRP, when I was looking into this unit I got a quote about 30% lower from a reliable dealer I've done business with before.

[Jon L]

Josh...there are 13 caps; 1 on each outlet, then one at the switch.

FWIW, I happen to know that when Audience first embarked on the adeptResponse two years ago, they were targeting a retail price of around $2K (I had the prototype last summer at HE2004).  Richard Smith had built and tweaked his own power conditioning unit over the years, and based on those designs, $2K was within reach.  But much the way Josh/Occam/tianguis have found better parts, interesting design changes for their Felicia plc, once R ...

I think a 4-outlet version would be an excellent idea, especially if the parts quality remains the same for those 4 outlets.  If you have some input, could you PLEASE tell them to use a normal IEC inlet for the 4-outlet version?  I know that powercon connector is superior and that every cable manufacturer feels their power cord is irreplaceable, but that power-con connector will turn off way too many audiophiles, including myself.

[PhilNYC]

Jon L...I will certainly tell them your feedback re: IEC...

[Adz523]

I understand the Audience is great on some systems and going to sound
very lightweight on others.  So, I'd say if you're in that price range, then try to save a few bucks and at least first compare in your own system the AdeptResponse against something like the Equitech 1.5Q or 2Q especially if you're all solid state.  Now its a balanced power isolation transformer but should warm up tonally the presentation.

[PhilNYC]

I understand the Audience is great on some systems and going to sound very lightweight on others.

It's mostly going to depend on how clean/noisy your power is...

[JoshK]

The Felicia would probably be in the same price class as the higher end Equitech and Adept if it were a commercial product. No joke.  Its only cheap because it is DIY, non-UL certified and many of the parts are available on the surplus market.  If the trannies were sourced, even OEM, they would be much more expensive.

[Bingenito]

Pop the lid off any gear and you will find caps, inductors, resistors, transformers, wire, etc.

All of these components do nothing without a well thought out and implemented design. So total up parts cost of any gear and yes you would save money if you designed it yourself. This is true of anything in or out of the audio world.

I have heard the Audience unit and like what it does.

[zybar]

I hate to sound harsh, but. . . What a lame ass review.  It just seemed that Jules never came to any valid conclusions in the review.  Plus, no one reading the review has a more esoteric, odd system than this guy.  

Having spent time with the Audience, I seriously have never heard a better power conditioner.  It fascinates me what this thing can do.  These two guys seem to be just out there. . .

B,

What other conditioners have you tried?

What does the Adept do that the other conditioners didn't?

I not suprised you liked it so much given how much you like their other products... did you keep it?

George