[Mad DOg]

Disclaimer: These results were attained using the following products in my system placed in my room being fed by Los Angeles DWP electricity. Your results may vary based on gear, room and municipality.  
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At the Feb 2004 LA & OC Audio Society meeting that was held at Classic Records in Hollywood, Rob Woodland was present to introduce and share some of the Eichmann Technologies products. When a few members questioned him as to the sonic signature of the products, he replied that there was no “sonic signature,” but rather his cables should be like an open window. He ultimately stated that the best way is to try it out in your own system. Well, since he threw this out, I decided what better way to find out how the Eichmann products sound in my system than to accept Rob Woodland’s advice! Rob set me up with a 1M pair of the eXpress6 RCA interconnect, a 2M run of the eXpress Power AC Enhancing cable, and 2 sets of resonance controlling devices called The Topper.

Visually, the eXpress6 interconnect Series 2 with its bright blue almost translucent covering looks much like a toy rather than a serious audio cable. Somehow it reminded me of blue licorice sticks! The eXpress 6 incorporates the Eichmann Ratio™ formula – plus an extended EMF control system where additional passive buffer conductors are used. I inserted the $196 eXpress6 interconnect which replaced a pair of $640 Argent Jaden Signature ICs and $948 Acoustic Zen Silver Reference MkII ICs between my DAC and preamp and powered up my system to play Andrea Bocelli’s Cieli di Toscana. Given the difference in price, I was fully expecting the sound of my system to take a giant step back when I pushed the play button, but that simply did not happen. In fact, my jaw dropped as I had never heard a sub $200 interconnect sound quite as transparent, detailed, airy and neutral as the eXpress6. On track 5 of Josh Groban’s first album, lesser cables impart some upper midrange harshness and grain in Josh’s voice. The eXpress6 added absolutely nothing - able to fully convey all the passion and emotion in his voice with supreme smoothness. I then spun up Diana Krall’s Live in Paris disc. The music flowed out with such unrestrained naturalness, lacking any trace of midrange grain and treble sibilance that normally afflicts cables in this price range and higher. Snare drums sounded realistic. Brushes and rim shots sounded just like they should rather than tinny and overly crisp, unnatural characteristics I have found many other cables to add. I found the naturalness to hold especially true on piano notes, which can often contain some, glare, edge and bite to them. Treble had an airiness and transparency to it rather than a veiled, compressed and closed in feel. Bass while leaner in presentation than the Argent and Acoustic Zen ICs, was still articulate and tight. Soundstage was comparably deep and wide. Background was very black. Focus and clarity was a touch off the Jaden Signature’s and Silver Reference’s mark. For approximately 31% of the price of the Argents and 21% of the price of the Acoustic Zens, the eXpress6 offers about 90-95% of the performance. Rob Woodland was right indeed! The Eichmann IC is a wide open window. Just as a window should not color the view, I found the Eichmann IC to be extremely neutral and uncolored. As such, I would highly recommend others to give this interconnect a try. For the price, it will be very difficult to beat! For more info about the eXpress6 IC, go to http://www.eichmanncables.com/interconnect/index.html .

I also tried a 2M run of the eXpress™  Power AC Enhancing Series 2 cable which sells for $299.95. The eXpress™ Power AC enhancing cable incorporates newly discovered fractal resonance control technology that provides a cleaner AC load to the power supplies of components. There is a bulbous attachment that resides between the power plug and IEC plug that contains an aluminum body covered in a plastic shell. While this sounds fancy and looks rather strange, how does this technology sound? I can sum up my experience with the AC cable in one word – INCREDIBLE! Plugging this cable into my CD transport resulted in a haze or film being removed from the sound. As good as the interconnects worked, the AC cable was even better! The difference the eXpress power cable made was amazing as it replaced a top of the line Onix Statement power cord costing over 2Xs the price of the Eichmann and I still experienced a marked improvement in sound. The one thing that the Eichmann PC does so well is that it doesn’t restrain or restrict sound as some of the heavily shielded PCs that I have tried do. Vocals were full and natural. Rim shots, high hats and triangles had a natural shimmer to them giving the sense of unbelievable air, transparency, focus and detail. Bass had great weight and authority with superior clarity and definition. Unfortunately, I only have one of the PCs. I imagine similar improvements in my system can be realized by running another eXpress™ AC cable to the preamp and another 2 PCs to my monoblock amplifiers. Again, I highly recommend giving this excellent product a try. For more info on the Eichmann eXpress™ Power AC Enhancing cable, go to http://www.eichmanncables.com/ac_enhancer/index.html .

The final product I tried was the Eichmann Topper™. The Topper™ is a passive device used to reduce resonance (vibration) and improve the performance of audio and video components and loudspeakers that reminds me a lot of the scales on Godzilla’s back! According to the website literature, the Topper™ is supposed to provide cleaner, more focused sound, reduce upper bass haze and overhang, increase low level detail and improve soundstage. I tried the Toppers on my loudspeakers and my subwoofer and discovered that they delivered 3 of the 4 things they were supposed to do. I did notice a cleaner, more focused sound and a reduction in bass haze and tighter bass tones. As a result of the cleaner sound, I was able to hear increased low-level detail with improved clarity. The difference the Topper made was not as dramatic as the interconnect and power cord, but there was an audible improvement making it worthwhile to try as well. For more info on the Eichmann Topper™, go to http://www.eichmanncables.com/topper/index.html .
 
Since the power cable and interconnect delivered serious performance regardless of price, I am looking forward to trying the Eichmann eXpress 6 speaker cable in the future!
 
I would like to thank Mike Hobson and Scot Markwell of Classic Records as well as Rob Woodland for allowing me to audition the fine Eichmann products!
 
My system:
Source: Audio Alchemy DDS-Pro CD Transport, Perpetual Technologies P-1/A Upsampler/Interpolator, Perpetual Technologies P-3/A DAC w/ ModWright Level 2 mods stacked on PandaFeet sorbothane vibration dampers
Preamp: Aragon Aurum
Amps: Aragon Palladium II monoblocks
Speakers: Onix Reference 1 monitors on Osiris 24.5” stands
Subwoofer: Onix UFW-10
Power conditioning: Quantum Symphony Pro, Quantum ElectroClears
Cables: Onix Statement speaker cable, Argent Jaden Signature RCA interconnect, Acoustic Zen Silver Reference MkII RCA interconnect, Onix Grand Master Digital Coax from CD-T to P-1/A, Revelation Audio Prophecy I2S cable connecting P-1/A to P-3/A, Onix Statement power cord, Onix Statement 1 power cord, (2) Absolute Power cords used on the Monoblock amplifiers.

[Mad DOg]

the Eichmann eXpress6 Interconnect



eXpress6 IC geometry



the Eichmann eXpress Power AC Enhancing Cable



Topper...tell me this doesn't resemble the scales on the back of Godzilla!

[rosconey]

can tell you live in california-the toper is half a snow flake

[DSK]

Mad DOg,
Nice review! I'm glad more people are starting to get to hear the Eichmann products.

I've been using the Eichmann AC Enhancer cables on all my components for about 2 years now (pretty much since they first came out) and have been very happy indeed with the performance and price. They were so much better than my Synergistic Research AC Master Couplers it wasn't funny. The improvement on my amp (Plinius SA100/3) was huge, with smaller but quite noticable improvements on my XA777ES and Aspen GK-1 tube hybrid pre-amp. They have terrific drive, dynamics, PRAT and inner detail with no harshness whatsoever. They add (or rather let through) a wonderful openness and naturalness making the music so much more lifelike and easy to be drawn into the performance. StereoTimes reviewed them last year and preferred them to the US$1000 Viper cable. Interestingly, their description of the cable's sonics was almost word for word what I fed back to Rob Woodlands when I first got my cables.  I take reviews with a grain of salt but it is nice to get positive reinforcement  

http://www.stereotimes.com/cables080803.shtm

[Mad DOg]

can tell you live in california-the toper is half a snow flake

no! it's a scale from the back of Godzilla!

[Mad DOg]

Mad DOg,
Nice review! I'm glad more people are starting to get to hear the Eichmann products.

I've been using the Eichmann AC Enhancer cables on all my components for about 2 years now (pretty much since they first came out) and have been very happy indeed with the performance and price. They were so much better than my Synergistic Research AC Master Couplers it wasn't funny. The improvement on my amp (Plinius SA100/3) was huge, with smaller but quite noticable improvements on my XA777ES and Aspen GK-1 ...

DSK,

thank you. the Eichmann stuff is the REAL deal...wish i would've found out about them earlier...the results of the AC Enhancer cable is just AWESOME on my CDT...i'm anxious to add another one to my preamp and then 2 more to my amps...maybe i'll just have to try an Eichmann power strip to plug my P-Tech gear into as well...the IC was EXCELLENT for the price...about 90% of the performance of the Argent Jaden Signature or Acoustic Zen Silver Ref IC for a fraction of the cost is quite an amazing feat! the fact that the Eichmann products won't break the piggy bank is real value in my book! hopefully i'll have a chance to audition the eXpress speaker cables and digital coax cable as well.

[Jon L]

I'm wondering if you are holding on to the Eichmann cables for at least a while.  

I was promised some "review samples" from a soon-to-be-launched cable company, which should be here in a couple of weeks.  These include air-dielectric/cotton dielectric silver/gold wire IC's and power cords.  These are purported to be some of the best of the best (then again, all internet cables companies claim the same thing).

A comparison of Jaden Sig, Eichmann, Acoustic Zen, the new cables, and whatever people have will contribute greatly to the knowledge base.  Frankly, it is very difficult to sort through the gabillion cables being sold on the net these days...

[Mad DOg]

I'm wondering if you are holding on to the Eichmann cables for at least a while.  

I was promised some "review samples" from a soon-to-be-launched cable company, which should be here in a couple of weeks.  These include air-dielectric/cotton dielectric silver/gold wire IC's and power cords.  These are purported to be some of the best of the best (then again, all internet cables companies claim the same thing).

A comparison of Jaden Sig, Eichmann, Acoustic Zen, the new cables, and whatever people have  ...

I'll probably end up purchasing the Eichmanns to use in my HT rig so they will most likely be around for awhile...

Cool...Should be fun to arrange for a cable shootout some time...Not sure how much longer I'll have the AZ tho as these are on short term loan from a friend, but the Jaden Sig is here to stay unless I can somehow afford some Pursangs soon...Maybe we can check w/ Alex Peychev to see if he'd be interested in sending his APL ICs for the shootout...

[TheChairGuy]

Thanks for that effort, Mad DOg  

I've thought about Eichmann gear for a time, given their reasonable (by most of our obsessive   standards).  I'm intrigued far more now after hearing the very positive review.

Great job!

[Mad DOg]

Thanks for that effort, Mad DOg  

I've thought about Eichmann gear for a time, given their reasonable (by most of our obsessive   standards).  I'm intrigued far more now after hearing the very positive review.

Great job!

Hello TheChairGuy,

Thanks for the kudos...

The Eichmann cables are EXTREMELY reasonable by most of our standards which was EXACTLY what made me very skeptical of the products...But Rob Woodland of Eichmann and Scot Markwell and Mike Hobson of Classic Records which I believe is the US distributor for Eichmann had no problem when I expressed skepticism and said the best way to know is to try it for yourself...and then they backed up their words by sending me home with the goodies to play with...

These guys were totally cool...I shared with them the recent negative experience I had when I didn't rave about a product that I demo'd and told them I would share my honest assessment of the products so if they were really just smoke and mirrors, I wouldn't be afraid to write it up as such. They replied, "NO PROBLEM! We WANT you to be honest!" Of course they wanted to know what kind of gear I'd be demoing the cables with to be sure their cables would be properly represented and after a quick run down of my system, I was on my way!

You've read some negative reviews and some positive reviews from me...What I will always do is share my honest opinions which isn't always what everyone wants to read...There are better ICs than the Eichmann eXpress6, but the 2 that i know of, cost a lot more dough...the Eichmann PC is the BEST PC I've tried so far regardless of dough...if you're on a budget w/ ICs, the eXpress6 is the best bang/buck IC i've come across...the eXpress PC is a must have IMHO...I'm going to see if Rob will send me some eXpress speaker cables to try out...I'll let you know how that goes if it happens...

[Kim S.]

Mad Dog, How much does a set of three Toppers cost?  I might try them on my Phillips 936SA player.  Its transport rumbles!

[soliver]

I wanted to just chime in, on an additional review of the Eichmann AC cable.  It was done in I believe the Oct 03 edition of Audio Ideas Guide.

They took two reviewers and a bunch of AC cables one guy did lab measurements and the other did listening comparisons.  Each worked independently of the other, and their results were written separately as well.

The AC cables reviewed were the Kimber Palladian, Eichmann Express AC, Cardas Golden Reference, WireWorld Aurora?, WireWorld Star?, one other lesser known company, and two generic AC cables one 12 gauge and the other 10 gauge.

The most interesting thing about it all, was that the lab guy measured pretty big differences between all the cables.  I wish I had the article totell you guys exactly what they measured it was something like distortion vs. frequency, but needless to say they provided charts and each chart was different.  Some were similar, and most of the aftermarket cords had very nice looking charts.  The generic stuff in comparison was a joke.  It had many spikes in the sound whereas almost all the others didn't and their charts rolled off well before the others. The best measured cords were the Eichmann and the Kimber, followed by the Cardas.

The listening guy, again independently of the lab guy, put his impressions on paper and his cord rankings pretty much fell in line with the lab measurements.  If I remember right he liked the Kimber best and felt it was a tie (taste deendent) between the Cardas and Eichmann and the other cords he felt were a significant step behind these three.  And the generic stuff being the worse.  His favorite cable was the Eichmann however because with price included in the equation its performance was off the chart.

I thought this was one of the best reviews ever done, of course for the objectivists out there since the guy listened to the cords under non-DBT conditions I am sure they feel the whole review needs to be thrown out.  But the measurements to me were proof of the reasons why differnces in cords can exist, if you need such proof other than your hearing.  If your interested in this article I suggest you seek it out.  It was a pretty long piece (6 pages?), and went into great detail on the technical side of things.

[Jon L]

I wanted to just chime in, on an additional review of the Eichmann AC cable.  It was done in I believe the Oct 03 edition of Audio Ideas Guide.

They took two reviewers and a bunch of AC cables one guy did lab measurements and the other did listening comparisons.  Each worked independently of the other, and their results were written separately as well.

The AC cables reviewed were the Kimber Palladian, Eichmann Express AC, Cardas Golden Reference, WireWorld Aurora?, WireWorld Star?, one other lesser kn ...

I actually read that article.  The measurement was mainly frequency response, which was informative.  But other measurements, such as how the cords pass along a 60Hz waveform, RFI rejection, etc would have been nice as well.  Makes me wonder what's in that plastic box on Eichmann power cords...

[Mad DOg]

Mad Dog, How much does a set of three Toppers cost?  I might try them on my Phillips 936SA player.  Its transport rumbles!

Kim S.,

They come in boxes of 6. Let me find out from Rob how much they cost as I don't recall the price.

[Mad DOg]

Kim S.,

a box of 6 toppers or 1 pair cost $72.

[Zero]

Interesting - where are the prices for their cables?  I havent found anything yet...

[Kim S.]

Thanks Mad Dog for the price quote.  Guess I'll put the Toppers on my long list of things to try!

[nature boy]

There is a 2M Eichmann Express powercable available for $150 on Audiogon from Jeff's Sound Values if anyone is interested.  This is 50% off retail.

 
NB

[Mad DOg]

There is a 2M Eichmann Express powercable available for $150 on Audiogon from Jeff's Sound Values if anyone is interested.  This is 50% off retail.

 
NB

It's already sold...

[Mad DOg]

Rob Woodland recently informed me that the cables that I auditioned are the Series 2 cables which are an improvement over the Series 1 line. I have revised my review to reflect this...