High Performance Audio Starts With The In-Wall AC

In Chapter 10 of the Acoustic Revive Chronicles I wrote about a high-performance in-wall Acoustic Revive AC interface that consisted of the combination of the CB-1DB receptacle base plate, the CFRP-1F carbon fiber outlet plate, and the Acoustic Revive modified Oyaide R-1 receptacle.

I was impressed during the review period about how much difference this combination of Acoustic Revive in-wall AC accessories made to the performance of my Hi-Fi rig, leading me to conclude that true high-performance audio starts with the in-wall AC connections.

In the few weeks since that review concluded, the Acoustic Revive modified Oyaide R-1 receptacles have continued to break in and have begun to sound even better. Noticeably better: they’ve really improved and gotten smoother, silkier, more resolving, and altogether more musical – they are turning out to be very impressive devices indeed!

Mark Coles (Sablon Audio) has told me that he has found that these sort of high-performance AC receptacles benefit from conditioning on an Audiodharma Cable Cooker just like cables and power cords do, so I am in the process of investigating that by cooking some Oyaide R-0 receptacles, which are an unplated version of the R-1 (below) ...

... the Maestro receptacles (below) which have been developed by Fernando Cruz at cruzeFIRST Audio ...

... then some generic 20 amp receptacles to serve as a baseline (below) ...

... and finally I'll go back and cook the Acoustic Revive Oyaide R-1 receptacles to get an idea of the magnitude of change that results from conditioning on the Cable Cooker. Each set of receptacles is getting conditioned for 5 days on my Cable Cooker. The Oyaide R-0s are done with the conditioning process, the Maestros will be done today, then the generics will go on for 5 days, then finally the AR Oyaide R-1s for 5 days.

Then it is comparison time - should be interesting!

Vinyl and The Sound of Music

This last week has served up some amazing music on vinyl that I think just about everyone reading this post would enjoy having in their collection, the first being the Analogue Productions 45 RPM reissue of The Gil Evans Orchestra’s Out Of The Cool:

The 40th anniversary edition of the three LP album set of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will The Circle Be Unbroken on Capital:

John Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme’ on 45 RPM from Analogue Productions:

The full box set of Joseph Keilberth Conducts Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen on Decca / Testatment:

Vacuum Tubes for Vinyl

I just turned in my review of the New Valve Order SPA one phono stage to Editors Dave & David at Positive Feedback Online for publication in the next issue that will go live on the 1st of September. (I'll post a link as soon as it goes live)

I absolutely fell in love with the SPA one! In fact, my system has never sounded or played music better than it does with the SPA one playing the tunes on vinyl.

Here's a little snippet from the review:

"The SPA one is all about feeling the music and the experiencing the emotions the musicians intended to convey in the music. When I listened to music with the SPA one – any music – I got the feelings the musicians intended to convey through it. This is one of the SPA one’s great strengths as a musical device, it allowed my emotions to come alive through the music. The SPA one is the most musically satisfying phono equalizer I have ever listened to, bar none."

More ...

"The SPA one has really challenged me to think about the connection between Hi-Fi gear and its ability to stimulate an emotional response while listening to music. In my experience very few components can create a emotional connection to the music at the level of the SPA one – and no other phono equalizer that I am aware of can match it musically – making it a very special device indeed."

The Duelund-WRSE Project

I am starting on writing up the Duelund-WRSE Project article for Positive Feedback Online this weekend. The Duelund external crossover for my Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers has raised their performance to an astonishing level. I'll go into all the details in the upcoming review, but suffice it to say that the Duelund components are beyond amazing!

More to come soon!

Thanks for stopping by!