Powerblock review by Clive Meakins - February 2000
Time to be honest. Have you bought a hi-fi system, been impressed with it for a while and then got the upgrade itch? You then upgrade only to go through the same experience again. One system inadequacy may be masked or, if you're lucky, fixed by the new kit. This seems to be a never ending sequence.
Ever visited a hi-fi show and been totally underwhelmed by the bright, aggressive sounds?
After writing hi-fi reviews for more than ten years I've come across something that doesn't just make a small incremental sonic improvement. It makes a fundamental improvement that has dramatically reduced my propensity to play with differing equipment. Music becomes the focus. A sense of contentment now dominates.
So, what am I talking about. Is this a late conversion to vinyl? Could it be the latest in 24 bit, 192 Khz upsampled DAC technology? Maybe I've got my hands on SACD? How about some sexy new cables made from some rare earth material and suspended off the floor? All these things have their places and are of interest in their own right.
My elixir is far more basic. Power.
So, what sort of power am I talking about? Sure you can upgrade your earthing arrangements. New cable and a dedicated earthing rod plunged deep into your garden. New and the right type of distribution boxes will also be worthwhile.
My elixir is much simpler. A plug in power conditioner.
Why a power conditioner? To begin with there's all the normal domestic devices that are now very common and commonly adding to things we don't want near our hi-fi. You then find out some power companies transmit digital information via their power cables. A stand alone generator starts to look appealing. There's no snake oil in the power conditioner. It's a whacking great transformer. You plug it into your wall socket. You plug your system into the power conditioner. What does it do? It filters out many of the nasties that pollute our mains power.
When making a change to a hi-fi system most of us listen for tonal differences, soundstage, imaging, quality of bass, treble and vocal quality. What about the ability to make music? On plugging in the power conditioner I barely noticed the improvements in traditional hi-fi attributes. For sure there were all sorts of improvements here but, that's not the point. There was tremendous musical coherence. Music just hung together, it didn't draw attention to the parts but, to the whole. I even undid some of the tweaks I'd used. Notably I found that an X-10D that had been beneficial for atmosphere and otherwise transparent was now rather course and superfluous.
Clearly this elixir can't turn any system into a sonorous musical instrument. I wouldn't say it's brutally revealing, that would be too 'hi-fi'. Instruments certainly have their own space but, no one instrument is highlighted. Indeed musical sounds seem to occur from an inky black background. The power conditioner renders even poor recordings more listenable. Good recordings and performances become magical. Bad news for the hi-fi industry. I now feel very content with my system. I simply want to listen to music. No longer do I look to be impressed with how well the system technically reproduces sounds. I just want to listen to, and be moved by, music.
There are two sizes of power conditioner, they do the same thing. You just pick the right one for the power rating of you system. You can go more overboard and use one for you source components, the other for power amplification.
Where ever I've tried the power conditioner I'd heard the same effect. These different environments include various power companies. Also, some locations were normal residential, others near factories and others more rural. Same effect. This is one hi-fi component I cannot do without.
