By Juan C. Ayllon Audio reviewers often get a bad rap for, amongst other things, approving anything that comes their way. Everything's wonderful, or so you'd think, based on their vast preponderance of work. In all fairness, some reviewers (and, apparently, some periodicals) can be bought; free product and hefty advertising and/or other fees often lead to favorable reviews, I am told by close friends in the industry. ,Recently, Mat Weisfeld, president of VPI Industries, posted a Facebook update that claimed that an unidentified periodical demanded some $40,000 in advertising in order to have one of his products reviewed. He went on to write a scathing diatribe stating that you are a whore, not a reviewer, if you demand free product in exchange for a review. You've got to love Mat; he's one of the good guys in audio, and I am a proud owner of their VPI Prime Scout turntable that I purchased several years ago. But what's more as reviewers, we often gain access to industry accommodation pricing, which means that we can often procure products or services at prices around wholesale cost and, from time to time, we may even get to keep review samples for free. Those are nice perks, and with them comes a degree of temptation to compromise ourselves as writers, reviewers, and human beings. That's a slippery slope, and one that I am striving to navigate with integrity. Yet the fact remains that it is often the policy of audio journals that, rather than write a bad review, they simply contact the manufacturer, advise them of the unfavorable outcome, ask for a return shipping label, and send it back. No harm, no foul. Lately that I have been shipping back more product than ever before. Yesterday was a case in point. Against my better judgment, I had recently received a $4,500 power cable for review. It worked very nicely in my system for several months and there wasn't any particular reason that I felt that it would do poorly when it came time for evaluation. That is, other than a growing suspicion that differences in power cable performance may be closer to imperceptible than I'd previously imagined. And, in all truthfulness, it did not perform badly; in fact it performed very well--except when compared to another cable that used the same IEC plugs and connectors but sold for $3,000 less at $1,500/meter, it simply did not perform perceptibly better--at least according to these 61 year-old ears. So I contacted the manufacturer, and the cable will be returned shortly. Now I am in a bad mood. That's two products returned in the last couple of weeks! I feel bad for the purveyors of these products because, frankly, I like them. But I have to be true to myself and be honest, so as much as it stings, that's the cost of doing business. The other thing is that I kind of liked how my last two reviews were unfolding. I thought they read well. Right up until I got to the conclusions, where I had to contact the seller before publishing an unfavorable review, that is! Then, I scrapped them. That hurt. To salvage something from their wreckage (maybe a few more hits on my blog, perhaps?), I thought I'd offer you a glimpse behind the curtain at excerpts from my most recently aborted review. Of course, I have edited and scrubbed it of names -- save that of the comparison cable, the Audio Arts e2Plus power cable, which retails for $1,500 for one meter and is produced by Rob Fritz, another good guy in audio. What follows is still a rough draft, as when I realized it wasn't going to go well, I halted the creative process. I am also replacing the actual name of the high end IEC plugs with "Pluggo" and the review cable's name with the moniker, X-1, in honor of my late hero, test pilot Chuck Yeager. Here goes. Aborted Review I first experienced one of their power cords in 2017 following AXPONA. Thick and overbuilt, these futuristic pieces appeared to be the work of iconic architect and furniture designer Le Corbusier. Say what you will about the impact of power cables on your audio experience, plugging one of these experimental ones into my DAC imparted a harshness into the system that wasn’t present when I used other brands’ cables. Its designer said that the fault fell to the IEC plugs used in their prototypes which were subsequently replaced with Pluggo IEC connectors and plugs. As a result, their production models were quite good. Cable Me
Now why would someone in their right mind spend hard-earned cash on expensive aftermarket power cables? That’s a fair question. Is their impact on your music listening experience on the level of speakers, electronics, room acoustics, or even speaker cable upgrades? In my experience, no. However, if the rest is in order, like crown molding to a room or custom rims for a sports car, great cables can impart a sense of refinement in completing the aesthetic of your equipment. Moreover, for many, there’s a perceptual improvement in sound. Take for example, a month ago when two audiophiles visited my listening room. As advocates of more livelier sounding spaces rife with acoustic diffusers and sans absorption panels, they found my room (which in addition to bass traps, employs acoustic absorption panels and thick curtains at first and secondary reflection points) a little too acoustically dampened for their tastes (personally, I really like the balance) and suggested tweaks such as putting my electronics on isolation cones, spikes or “tippy toes” designed to drain off vibrations to the ground, as well as replacing some of my absorption panels with acoustic diffusers (which one of them, coincidentally, makes and sells). At their insistence, I placed my DAC and preamplifier on spare cones I kept in storage–which seemed to add a slight improvement in clarity. But, still, there was something missing. Do I have a higher end power cord that I could swap into the amplifier, they asked. Sure enough, I had an older cousin of the X-1, a high end power cord that I’d reviewed several years ago, and inserting the IEC plug into the rear of the Pass Labs X150.8 amp, the reaction was immediate. “Ahhhhh, that’s much better!” one guest exclaimed. “There’s greater detail and the bass is more clearly defined,” the other offered. Indeed, it did sound slightly more focused; overall, the presentation had a little more edge and bite to it. Product Description Blah, blah, blah… Listening Session Dave Liebman with Pat Metheny. “Water: Giver of Life (from The Elements - Water). Pat Metheny’s plucked strings on the acoustic guitar – leading edge, transients hanging in space – extremely natural hanging in space, a sense of the room. The plaintive tones of Lieban’s soprano saxophone, Billy Hart’s brushed snare, and Cecil McBee’s somber and woody double bass are rendered in vivid realism with “X-1”. With the Audio Art e2Plus power cable ($1,550/ 1 meter), it’s very close in presentation, but maybe with a slight more snap, but it’s hard to say; the two are virtually identical. Swapping back and forth between both cables on this song leaves me scratching my head if there’s really any difference whatsoever. I dunno. John Mayer Trio “Vultures” With Audio Art e2Plus power cable – a faint sound of the crowd’s cheers, the kick and snare keeping four/four time is impactful, if slightly muted, the ringing of Mayer’s electric guitar in the opening seconds tease. Mayer’s husky, utilitarian vocals shifting to falsetto, enjoined by slow guitar solo… With “X-1,” maybe there’s a slight increase in air, at the beginning, but maybe not – it still remains virtually indistinguishable. -------- So, there you have it. By the way, I have a backlog of reviews that I am still chipping away at, so if I promised to review something but haven't done so yet, don't assume that it's a dud. It may simply mean that I haven't gotten around to it yet. My bad. For example, I really DO love the Usher ML-802 loudspeakers, Straight Wire Crescendo 3 speaker cables, and a few other items in the works. I promise that I will get around to them soon enough, and if you don't find them on these pages, you can always Google the product name in question, along with mine, Juan C. Ayllon, and if it's on the web, you should be able to find it. God speed in your audio and life journeys.
2 Comments
9/20/2022 04:54:04 pm
Nice read as usual Juan. Your a very good review reviewer.
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Juan C. Ayllon
9/20/2022 07:11:07 pm
Thanks, Ken. I really appreciate that. Have a great week!
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