[alanmaher]

Sale: June 15-19
 
PE V Pro Limited Edition: $290.00
Quantum AC Limited Edition: $300.00
 
Buy 2 PE V Pro or Quantum AC Limited Edition filters and receive a FREE Infinity DIY filter

[alanmaher]

N/A

[alanmaher]

Updated FAQ page now available:


Incentive Program:
 
The Power Enhancer has become a valuable tool in the Audiophile arsenal to combat noise and correct problems that arise on the electrical circuit. We believe no one understands our product line better than our clients. In order for us to continue to offer the lowest prices on the web, we would like to offer an incentive program to all our clients. Refer 1 to 4 potential clients that result in a sale, and you will receive 10% off your next purchase (all Alan Maher design products). Refer 5 or more potential clients and you will receive a free Power Enhancer as our way of saying thank-you.
 
Requirements:

1. Referred clients must place their own order so we have a record of the transaction.
2. Referred clients must keep the product after the 30 day trial period.
3. Our client has the option to collect the 10% discount (one time only), or save the credits (5 referrals required) to receive a free Power Enhancer (we will
reward after every 5 referrals that end in a sale). Please instruct us of your intentions up front so we understand how to handle your account.
 



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Installation:

Introduction:

Alan Maher design products are designed to offer passive power factor correction, energy storage, and RFI/EMI filtering...

Passive power factor correction (PFC) is a technique of counteracting the undesirable effects of electric loads that create a power factor that is less than 1.

All Alan Maher design products store small amounts of voltage to help fill in the gaps in voltage drops over the course of the day. Our products can not replace a voltage regulator or a Universal Power Supply, but it can help with the minute by minute voltage fluctuations that occur 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Our products installed on the circuit are connected in parallel with the component / appliance power supply. Each filter is designed to shunt away and conceal current fluctuations from the primary power source to provide a "clean" power supply for your audio / video components.

All products can be used as a RFI filter. Small Arcs and voltage spikes are absorbed.

 
Alan Maher designs tuned circuit can reduce stray electromagnetic fields on the circuit. Electromagnetic interference (EMI / RFI) is a disturbance caused in an electrical circuit by electromagnetic radiation emitted from an external source. The disturbance may interrupt, obstruct, or otherwise degrade or limit the effective performance of the circuit.
 

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System Recommendation:
 
Quantum AC and IEC filter: Digital Transport, CD/DVD Player, DAC, Surround Processor, Class D Amplifiers (Especially Wyred 4 Sound), High-End HTPC, & Flat Panel Display (Plasma and LCD should use a AC and IEC filter for maximum bang performance).

PE V Pro or Pro IEC: Analog Solid State and Tube Preamp.

PE VI: Analog Solid State and Tube Amplifier.

Reference II: Low/Mid-Fi CD/DVD (Under $200), Preamp (Under $500) & Amp (Under $800).

PE and Reference II: Non--audio/video circuits mix the PE and Reference II for maximum efficiency.  Motor appliances should use the Reference II to smooth out the mechanical vibrational line distortion.  The PE should be used to filter switch mode power supplies (coffee maker, air cleaner, computer, etc).
 
Infinity DIY: Primary install location is the main or a/v circuit breaker at the panel.  Zip Tie, glue, or use 3M mounting tape to secure the Infinity DIY case to the breaker.  A/C male and IEC power cord shells, small transformers (SACD, DVD, DAC, Preamp), DAC chips, electrical wiring, duplex outlet spare receptacles (cover open receptacle.  Small pieces of 3M mounting tape can be used to secure the filter box to the front of the receptacle.), power conditioner internal parts, power strips (inlet wiring), speaker cabinets (place on top or in the center of the rear panel via Velcro of the cabinet to control vibration), computers (power supplies, 24 pin main power wiring, 8 pin power wiring), etc.
 
Infinity Speaker Cable Filter: Install at speaker end between the + and - binding posts.  In a single cable application only one pair is required.  Later in the year we will release a Signature version that will specifically be used to filter high frequencies and mid frequencies in a Bi/Tri wire/amp application.  In a Bi/Tri set up the standard Infinity Speaker Cable Filter will be used to filter the low frequency binding post. 
 

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[alanmaher]

Installation:
 
The orientation of the filter on the circuit to the system plays a role in the filters tonal quality. Part of the PE, Reference, and Quantum series design is to fill in the harmonic gaps that are moving throughout the circuit. The gaps are caused by component power supply crosstalk. When two power supplies interact on the circuit they create peak and dip harmonic nodes. These nodes are what people perceive as RFI and EMI noise. The Power Enhancer reduces the peak and boosts the dip to provide a flat harmonic response for the entire circuit. We can control the amount of ringing heard by altering the placement of the Power Enhancer on the circuit.
 
Example:

1. If the Power Enhancer/Reference II is placed prior to the system (in series filtering), the Power Enhancer/Reference II will provide a dynamic/brighter sound in the upper midrange and lower treble.
 
2. If the PE, Reference, Quantum is plugged into the same outlet as the component, the filter will provide a more neutral frequency balance. The user will experience an enhanced soundstage, increased signal to noise ratio, increased dynamic range, and true to life musical reproduction.
 
3. If the PE or Reference II is placed after the system (parallel filtering) on the circuit, you might experience a warmer sound quality or maybe nothing at all. This is not considered a defect, but rather an interaction problem with the filter placement on the circuit vs. the a/v circuit location. A simple fix is to change the circuit position of the filter to the same outlet or series position.


Series Placement: Circuit Breaker > Power Enhancer > Duplex Outlet / Component
Parallel Placement: Circuit Breaker > Duplex Outlet / Component > Power Enhancer


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System filtering vs. filter orientation:

1. Series and same outlet placement provides power factor correction, energy storage, and RFI/EMI filtering. The orientation of the filter (How it is plugged in) will determine its tonal quality on the circuit. All Alan Maher design circuits act as a polarized parallel filter. In a normal install never plug the filter upside down to reverse the polarity.  Reversing the polarity will not damage the filter, but it will degrade the audio/video reproduction.  Always check the polarity of the duplex before installation.  A simple plug in polarity tester from your local hardware or electrical shop is all you need.  If the duplex/socket is wired in reverse call an electrician to correct the wiring.
 
2. Parallel placement provides mostly increased magnetic coupling.  Magnetic coupling occurs when a varying magnetic field exists between two parallel conductors typically less than a wavelength apart, inducing a voltage across the receiving conductor.  The amount of induced items on the circuit (isolation transformers, ferrite chokes, etc) will also play a role in the Power Enhancers effectiveness. Experimentation is required.
 

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[alanmaher]

Listening for best placement:

1. Allow the filter 15 to 20 minutes to charge on the circuit before listening for harmonic changes. Take note of the detailed descriptions up top to make it easier to dial in the circuit. It is best to plug the Power Enhancer into the brightest sounding duplex outlet available on the circuit. Each time the filter is removed and moved to a new location please allow 15 to 20 minutes for the filter / circuit to readjust before re-installing the filter to test the new location.
 
2. After installation is complete, allow the filter 15 to 20 days to properly set up on the circuit. During the first several days you will experience a roller coaster effect of harmonic swings if properly installed. At times you will experience bass bloat, no bass, exaggerated highs, no highs, and then finally everything snaps back together to reveal a neutral and dynamic sound quality. Usually around day 5 the system snaps back together and continues to refine over the next few days.
 
The Power Enhancer and Reference II can also be used for circuit tuning on the same electrical phase as the audio / video system. The filtering effect of both filters is very strong and can travel up to 250 feet from circuit to circuit on the same phase. Adding 1 to 3 filters per circuit will provide additional benefits back at the audio / video system and reduce the harmonic ringing of the entire phase.

 
                                                                                                                             
Note: All Alan Maher design products are parallel filter circuits.  We do not use drain resistors in the design to allow the filter to stay fully charged at all times. When handling a charged filter please becareful not to touch the ac blades to prevent a small shock from the stored voltage. If you own a cheap power strip with a lighted on/off switch, you can safely drain the filter by plugging it into the power strip. Unplug the power strip from the wall and allow the lighted on/off switch, in the on position, to absorb the stored voltage. When you notice the light of the switch go out the filter is safe to handle.

[alanmaher]

NEWS: The larger Infinity filter will be available July 1.  We are now accepting pre-orders.  The Infinity filter is designed to filter large transformers.  Highly recommended for isolated/balanced and passive power conditioners, CD/DVD transport, and component/amplifier/HTPC/media server power supplies.

Infinity: $85.00 (4" x 4" x 1.5")

[alanmaher]

NEWS: The Infinity Speaker Cable Filter will be available July 1.  We are now accepting pre-orders.  The Infinity Speaker Cable Filter is designed to actively filter harmonics and cable ringing noise at the speaker end of the cable.  It is advised to purchase one set for a single or bi-wire application, tri-wire purchase two sets to address the mid and high frequencies.  Bi and Tri amp applications should purchase one filter set per amplifier/speaker application.
 
Infinity Speaker Cable Filter: $125.00 (6" in length.  Priced per set)

[Big Red Machine]

Alan, any benefit to placing an Infinity at the halfway point of a power cable?

[alanmaher]

As a band aid for interconnect/speaker cable reflections?  No.  It's better to look at the speaker Cable Filter and the upcoming RCA filter if you want to filter signal cables.  Infinity is best used to focus strong EM fields at the panel and to act as a passive filter for the power cord at the AC and IEC connection, transformers, etc.

[silverlight]

NEWS: The Infinity Speaker Cable Filter will be available July 1.  We are now accepting pre-orders.  The Infinity Speaker Cable Filter is designed to actively filter harmonics and cable ringing noise at the speaker end of the cable.  It is advised to purchase one set for a single or bi-wire application, tri-wire purchase two sets to address the mid and high frequencies.  Bi and Tri amp applications should purchase one filter set per amplifier/speaker application.
 
Infinity Speaker Cable Filter: $125.00 (6" in length.  Priced per set)

Alan - can you explain/expand on the connection type for this filter (i.e. how it would work with different connectors, spade, bananna, neutrik etc. of both the speaker wire and the speaker).
Thanks!

[alanmaher]

The speaker cable filter is fitted with 5/16" spades and connects in parallel across the binding post at the speaker end.

[owenmd]

DIY breaker filter.

Hi guys,

No matter how good the equipment is, if the AC's not in good shape, we'll never achieve the systems full potential... I'm constantly reminded of this as I upgrade my power over time.  I believed my system was already pretty quiet... Monachy M150 conditioner with 2RFI/RMI filters, bybees in amp and MW Transporter, PE and PE11 and a Quantum symphony Pro.    I had been thinking of doing something with the breaker panel for some time when Alan introduced the Infinity DIY filter.

Cosmetically its just a small black plastic box and sounds like its full of small rocks?  Its primary recommended position is the main system breaker, but it can also be used elsewhere.... I cable tied it to the top of my 20a dedicated line breaker.

As the filter only cost's $25, I wasn't expecting much, but I had good success with some of Alan's other products so I thought I would give it a try.  First couple of days my system changed for the worse.... thin, strident and bright.  The next day it sounded dull and lifeless and the day after it slowly started to become more neutral.  After a week, my system has never sounded so good.  I have increased bass, more body and more detail, but the nature of the sound has also changed becoming more natural and realistic with enhanced positioning and separation..... it just sounds more real.

I find it difficult to believe that a low-cost plastic box of rocks could alter my system this much... but it has.  All components are system dependent and I believe the more transparent a system is, the easier it is for the differences to be heard and have greater impact.  The differences wrought by the filter in my system are not major, but they're also not subtle when you're familiar with its character.  I would not want to remove this little gem now I know what it does!

I believe that this little filter, for its minimal cost, is easily one of the best buys in audio currently.... many thanks to Alan for creating this little beauty. 

Cheers,

Mark

[toes]

You called your Infinity Speaker Cable Filter active but I assume the 6" filter have no conductive wire across the spades to create a short but are filled with your magic rocks.

[alanmaher]

Thank-you Mark....great write up.


toes

The Infinity Speaker Cable Filter is an active filter to shunt ringing noise.....no treated rocks.

[alanmaher]

Tip: Pick up a couple Infinity DIY filters and strap both of them on the main power cord of the system.  Install one filter at the a/c male end and the other at the IEC end.  The first placement suggestion is on top of both connector shells and the second option is to install the filter on the wire butted up against the rear of the a/c shell.  The filter should be installed lengthwise to the cable.  Allow the filters 10 days before passing judgment, the harmonic/magnetic swing is very strong and system will go through a radical collapse for the first week, but it will begin to gradually comeback between days 7-10.

[alanmaher]

NEWS: The new Mini Reference (Son of the Reference II) will be available July 1.  The Mini Reference ($50.00) is excellent to filter small appliances around the home.  Watch our web site for more info. 

[alanmaher]

Infinity Speaker Cable Filter review:

Dear Alan-

I have had a chance to thoroughly test Alan Maher Design's newest creation, the Infinity Cable Filter (in this case, the basic Cable Filter model without the Bybee Slipstream upgrade added), for a period of a few months now. I can only say that this newest product in the Alan Maher Designs line-up proves my dear old mother right once again: good things come in small packages! Or make that GREAT things! Because for their size, these little add-ons can take an ordinary speaker cable and transform it into a form of 'air pump'. Yes, you heard right, an 'air pump'! Why do I say that? Because adding these new Infinity Cable Filters to my speaker wires pumped more "air" into my system than I ever thought possible! And I couldn't be happier!

Frankly, Mr. Maher should have named the little devices, "Infinity Air Filters", because that's what these babies do in spades, and then some. If you love classical and jazz recordings and crave that sense of openness that only comes from witnessing a live performance in a open, lively space, then these Infinity Cable Filters are for YOU! Oh, sure, all you dyed-in-the-wool rockers out there don't fret none, as these new little filters will make Robert Plant and the rest of Led Zep sound uncannily like you were transported to the original recording venue (which is trademark for ALL of the designs coming from Mr. Maher currently, at least in my experience.) But take a really great recording, say, a Chesky or Mapleshade, or maybe a really great jazz or classical performance from the glory days of tube-based recording, and you better hold onto your golden ears, folks, because those little Infinity Cable Filters are gonna knock your socks right off! You simply will not believe the 'air' you will hear around the instrumentalists and performers, the 'see-into' quality of the presentation, the over-all increase in sound-staging and depth, and all from these little add-on filters that fit easily and quite nicely into your speaker's binding posts.

[Just one suggestion to Mr. Maher: think about offering silver-clad or pure copper banana plugs as an option, please, as they will much more easily be fitted into most applications. Now, maybe Mr Maher thought about this already and wants the direct contact between the Infinity Cable Filters gold-plated spade terminations and the speaker cable, rather than going through the binding posts as an intermediate step. This would make much sense sonically, as a totally tweak approach (and believe me, Alan Maher Designs are TWEAK, baby! Everything Mr. Maher does is as 'tweak' as it gets in audio currently.) But there is a lot to be said for the convenience of a banana plug, especially if the step down in absolute sound quality is minimal. Just a suggestion, which I'll leave in the VERY capable hands of Mr Maher.]

So how do these little filters work? Mr. Maher explained to me in an e-mail about the Infinity Cable Filters, that they are a specialized R-C network (which is also offered with a pair of Bybee Slipstreams added as an upgrade; see below) and that the filters do a great job of killing a lot of high frequency-destroying RFI hash and other distortions on the signal, and (here is the key!) they do so without adding any veils or colorations in the mids and lows! Now that's a tall order!

In my own personal experience, I have DIY'd just about every speaker wire and AC resistor-capacitor network ever posted on the Audio Asylum. They uniformly did a few things really well (like filtering the RFI that distorts the highs), but always ended up clogging and/or veiling certain frequencies (mostly mids and lows), and slowing down the pace and dynamics of the music. Some designs were better than others, but all eventually were tried and discarded as being too reductive in areas that I didn't want reduction, or too likely to cloud and veil certain low-level mid-range and lower frequency information. Thus, many of these designs make the highs sound glorious, but the rest of the sound seems ho-hum and not too involving. Apparently another high-end give and take. Pick your poison.

Not so with Alan Maher Designs' new Infinity Cable Filter creation. Obviously, Mr Maher set himself down and decided to solve this dilemma, and somehow he DID! (Boy, did he ever!) This filter design simply has NO audible downside to my ears. Experience it for yourself: live with them for a while, then try and take them out of your system, and you'll be screaming for AIR! They are simply something that, once you have them in your system, you simply won't want to be without them ever again. And best of all, these little filters don't wear out or go out of audio 'style'. Effectively and dramatically reducing HF noise levels NEVER goes out of style, and will ALWAYS be a welcome addition to any serious audiophile's system. In short, this is no 'flavor-of-the-week' mod, this is a fundamental positive change across the board with no audible downside, and one that will most assuredly provide its audio pleasures for a lifetime. You can make a purchase with confidence that the Infinity Cable Filters won't be 'out-of-date' before they even arrive at your door.

But what I LOVED the absolute MOST about these little Infinity Cable Filters is that they don't take a gazillion weeks to break-in to be effective and clean up the sound. Their effect was immediate and obvious. This is NOT a subtle mod! It will have an immediate impact on the quality of your sound, and most assuredly, for the better.

So what about the extra cost for the addition of a pair of Bybee Slipstreams to the Infinity Cable Filters? Are they worth the extra $$$? Simple answer:

YOU BET THEY ARE! Worth it and then some. Let me explain.

Mr Maher got me into Bybee Technologies last year. Until then, I had pooh-poohed the Bybee idea for a decade or more. "What can those little double-fused black firecrackers do for my sound system? Looks to me like just a lot more audio snake-oil is all! Ha!"

Well, the laugh was totally on me, I guess, because these little black Bybee 'firecrackers' are just that: ebony-colored audio M-80's to get your system EXPLOSIVE! And it was the pushing by Mr Maher that got me (finally) to try the Bybee stuff in my reference system (a pair of Bybee Large Quantum Filters, IIRC.) Oh man, am I happy Mr. Maher pushed me in that direction, because I now have over 20 Bybees in my system, with more to be installed soon! Musically speaking, I simply don't know how I survived without them all those years. A big fat, "Thanks" to Mr. Maher for that impetus. Without it, I wouldn't be getting nearly the sound I do today. And I owe so much of it to Mr. Maher's great audio advice. Alan truly is an audio 'guru' whose advice and products you can trust. And that's saying a lot in this industry!

Now, because I already have a pair of Bybee Large Quantum Purifiers installed (soldered) at the ends of each of my speaker wires, Mr Maher instructed me that it would NOT be advisable to use the Infinity Cable Filter design with the added Bybee Slipstreams built-in, as that would simply be too many Bybees in one place and would likely have a deleterious effect on the system's over-all sound. He offered instead for me to evaluate the Infinity Cable Filter basic model, i.e., sans the Bybee Slipstreams, which I accepted (and from which experience this review now follows.)

Again, I couldn't be happier with the performance of the stripped-down version of Mr Maher's Infinity Cable Filter. Simply put, they work like a charm. Again, air, air and more air everywhere! WOW!

But if I had been unaware of the Bybee 'magic' and what it could do for my sound, Mr Maher's new Infinity Cable Filters with full Bybee Slipstream upgrade would have been the PERFECT place to start by cutting my teeth on an application that is sure to blow anyone's socks clean off (including my own, and frequently!). You simply cannot imagine how effective this combination will be: Bybee Slipstreams coupled with a perfectly tuned R-C network. Mr Maher has done it again.

But how could I be sure that the Bybee Slipstream upgrade would be sonically beneficial over and above the basic Infinity Cable Filter design? I tried to imagine the sound of the Infinity Cable Filters in the system without my own Bybees on the ends of my speaker wires, and how it would sound in either configuration. I simply couldn't do it. (Not with any measure of reliability, that is.)

So I decided to not 'imagine' or 'pretend' anymore, but to simply face the musical truth: I went and took out (de-soldered) my Bybees at the ends of my speaker cables and listened without the Bybees but with the Infinity Cable Filters still in the system. Oh, the sound was still great, but the previous combination of the Bybee magic and Mr Maher's new Infinity Cable Filter was beyond compelling: like any truly great synergy, it was simply that if you REALLY want to hear that AIR around the performers, if you want to hear what the actual original recording REALLY sounds like, then you simply MUST get the Infinity Cable Filter WITH the Bybee Slipstream upgrade. It really is a no-brainer. And with a 30 day return policy, no questions asked, how can you possibly go wrong?

[alanmaher]

Continue...

The only possible caveat I can think of would be this: Bybee devices of all sizes need a long break-in period for optimal sound. Sorry. No way around this audio 'fact of life'. Yet, even after only an hour of break-in you can hear that Bybee magic starting to build. Well, I've got some news for you: if you think the Infinity Cable Filter with the Bybee Slipstream upgrade option sounds good after only a few minutes or an hour of break-in playing time, imagine how thrilled you're gonna be in about another three or four weeks when the Bybee Slipstreams fully break-in. Audio bliss, my friends, audio bliss.....

Given the performance level of the new Alan Maher Designs' Infinity Cable Filter, it seems clear to me that Alan Maher must spend his whole waking life tweaking and comparing every known part currently made (including testing every known capacitor and resistor for sonic compatibility and optimal performance, sound-wise) in order to optimize the performance of his many audio filters he sells. (They all certainly sound like he has, that's for sure!) It is because of these endless efforts that we as audiophiles can literally share in his R & D and let his work and testing become our own. Ultimately, these findings result in the various products Alan Maher Designs offers to help us to achieve sound quality and levels of performance previously thought unattainable in audio. These new little Infinity Cable Filters fit perfectly into this description: another superb product that offers REAL value for the money, and performance that will never fade, never go 'out of style', and will give a lifetime of system enhancement for a very reasonable price. Very highly recommended!
 
Michael Danis
Leona Valley, California

[alanmaher]

Reference II review:

Another winner!  The Reference II Filter has elegantly lifted my system to an exciting new level of audio finesse.  The difference is not subtle, but quite astonishing with the use of only one filter.  The system sound is smoother, sweeter, and warmer, with a relaxed, unstrained quality even at higher volumes.  The music sounds more natural, tonally neutral and melodic.  The timing is more accurate and coherent allowing more inner detail and inflection to be heard. The power band of the frequency range is more evenly balanced.  The push on forte vocals are smoother and better controlled, not getting glary, hard or sibilant.  The dynamics sound more natural.  There is more control in the top end with less tizz and noise.  The upper mids and highs are coherent and easy to listen to.  Overall, there is more body and a lower noise floor.  The bass is fuller and weightier.  Alan, kudos!

Will Chow (Vancouver, BC)

[alanmaher]

NEWS: The 4TH of July Extravaganza is almost upon us once again.  This year we plan to offer new products, our usual 10% to 15% off selected models, and a few extras.

Sale Week: July 1-6

BTW, the new product line (Infinity) is out of this world...don't miss out.