zmanbands-
Shakti's are not used or required in the Reference series. Different wire geometries require different forms of filtering to control ringing harmonics. We consider no one product to be a cure all for everything, Shakti's serve a purpose in the Studio Reference line, but are not necessary in the Reference line. As mentioned over the years, the Reference cable is designed to choke noise above 1.5 KHz and control harmonics below. The Reference really shines with digital and video components/displays. The cable isolates, rejects, and absorbs noise traveling in both direction along the length. Obviously the length is tuned and a minimum length is required to meet our specs, but longer lengths provide double and triple the noise suppression over the standard 6 foot cable, which is why we use the geometry in studios for in-wall applications. Over the past weeks I have removed all our Studio Reference cabling and PE filters so the a/c could readjust before Alan came home. I switched out the balanced power conditioner for 115v isolated and rewired the system using our Reference cable and RPC. The PE V Surge Interrupter and 3 PE V Pro Custom filters are still used in between the wall and isolation transformer, and I left the PE V Plasma cable on the LCD TV because the video looks fabulous and I don't want to change anything.
Reference Set-Up:
Benchmark DAC 1 pre: Reference power cord and Studio Reference XLR IC's.
Crown Studio Reference 2 Amplifier: Stock power cord and Studio Reference SC.
HTPC: Reference RPC Hub, Reference power cord, Studio Reference Network Cable, RAM DVI-HDMI cable (tweaked), and Kimber USB cables.
Server: Reference RPC hub, Reference power cord, Lindy VGA (tweaked), and Kimber USB cables.
External Hard Drives (Server): Reference power cord.
Sony LCD: PE V Plasma power cable.
We use a mix of Soundcare spikes, Audiopoints, Cardas blocks, AM designs feet, and acrylic pending the particular requirement, Alan doesn't put too much stock into feet designs, each offers different tonal colors for tuning. Too many theories in the hobby all based on non-sense to stick with one type of product over another. Selection should be based off required application weight and not manufacture mumbo jumbo.
Alan is on the phone: Pick your poison and understand exactly how it works. Coupled feet for example should never trap vibration, the concept is based on draining vibration to a lower state. If you use isolation stands with component coupling feet, then the isolation stand should also have coupling feet. Vibration should be drained from component to the floor and not the shelf underneath the component or platform.
Back to required weight, lets look at Audiopoints for example, the 1" Audiopoint has a optimum weight load of 30 pounds, that means you need to use three under a 90 pound component in order to properly damp harmonics and drain vibration. Anything under 90 pounds creates a two way valve for the foot, energy travels to the shelf, interacts with the ringing character of the shelf, and the altered ringing character re-enters the component and effects the componentry. Keep in mind the platform already has it's own ringing character due to the different material, density, and physical weight, the reason why we use natural products in audio design is to try to maintain the original integrity of the musical presentation, of coarse none of this is actually possible, but we try to use the material to highlight different areas within the analog band. Cork is a wonderful product for soundproofing rooms and damping vibrations, but it's lousy for damping audio components because theoretically cork injects no coloration of it's own. Audio reproduction is based on perceived coloration, cork rolls off bass and highs to remove the coloration that is built into the circuit design and selected parts. Rubber is used to counteract the cork because rubber acts as a spring and slows the vibration/frequency speed down, but rubber is notorious for vibrating around 50/60 Hz causing wild coloration harmonics to ride over 60 Hz and actually injects distortion by peaking one frequency over another causing frequency imbalance, not a big deal for a PE treated system because we address this problem by controlling the circuit harmonic, but a non PE circuit will provide oodles of listening frustration because the user will never get the frequency balance right and he/she will spend a fortune in the pursuit of listening happiness. My comments are not meant to provoke or instigate confrontation, but mentioned as a reminder to be careful about tweak selection and make sure you understand all the ins and outs, I spent a fortune in the 90's trying to figure this all out and eventually I said the hell with it and threw it all in the garbage. If you spend a fortune on your components try to pick something that will do less harm and inject not added coloration, if you need the tweak to band-aid a poorly designed circuit, then coloration can be a benefit, but understand proper weight load per product can be helpful and remember there are a lot of ways to achieve the same thing. Talk to you all next week, I expect to be home tomorrow evening and I would like to take a couple days off before filling the orders. Adios.
The feet are blue. We contract E.A.R. Medical to mold the feet out of their C-1002 material. It is the best in the business that we have found for isolating frequency and maintaining low rebound from 50 Hz on up.
NOTE: The Reference One page is completed (
http://alanmaherdesigns.com/RO.aspx).
