Hi Keith,
Great news - please let me know your impressions.
One of the things we found in doing the research on Torus was that a lot of the tansformer based filters and power conditioners in the marketplace were using transformers that were too small. In the Torus the transformers are TWICE the size they are rated for - so they weigh a lot!
james
OK, here's my fist impression - OH MY
I'm a skeptic! I wasn't always, but it's funny how life trains you to be! I really don't know what I expected. My system was good before (at least for me). I live in a small city, so our power is not as 'dirty' as say Metro Toronto or the like. But I have to admit, I noticed a difference right from the get-go.
First off, let's talk build quality. Absolutely remarkable. You know the fact that this thing weighs 100 lbs may have little to do with performance (although I suspect that's not true! There's some magic in that 60 to 80 lb toroid!), but when you pay good $$ for a piece of gear I take a certain comfort in that it's built like a tank. Lifting the box indoors with it's 4 neat little handles in the box didn't seem too bad. Taking the unit out of the box was a pure dead weight. This thing is solid and looks better in the flesh than in the brochure.
As far as sound goes, it works. What else can I say. I have a 3 1/2 year old and a 1 and 1/2 year old, so needless to say by the time I hooked up the unit this evening I couldn't open up the system. However, every night I listen to music at a low level (as low as -40db on the SP1.7!). I know my system and certain music I listen to often. So even at this low level tonight, the first thing I noticed tonight was the bass. There was more there and it sounded great. In the past it's the one area where I felt there was something missing. But tonight, in music I listen too almost every night, the bass was better and more prominant. I tried it across numerous artists I know well on my system and yep, it was there. I fully expected that when I tried the unit with the 'pedal to the metal' I'd hear some bass difference, but I was impressed even at -40db!
I know this may sound 'cliche', but the system was 'blacker', imaging was superb. I listen to a lot of Alison Krauss and tonight she was ceratinly more 'there'. The system just plain sounded better. Was it like going from a cheap system to a great system? No. But there was a noticable difference for me.
The system just seems 'effortless' now. I hate it when magazine reviewers used these cushy phrases to describe what they hear, but that's exactly what it's like to me. But I'd say at the low level I'm listening to so far, the bass is the kicker but there are improvements all around. Make no wonder Torus offers a 'money-back' guarantee, I suspect it won't get much use.
Oh, and on a final note, I know Torus claims it uses "LoNo' technology (low noise), but they can change that to "NoNo". This thing is super quiet and I'd say essentially noise-free.
I mean how exciting can 100-lbs of wire get? Well, in my system it's enough to put a smile on your face....and isn't that what's it's all about. After all these years I still listen to music, not the equipment
Kudos. Great job Torus and Bryston. I don't care how or why, this thing just works! Now I'm just hoping for a lightning strike to get 6000 volts to prove that the surge protection works as advertised. On second thought, scratch that
But seriously, impressive.
Keith
