Month: June 2014

  • Audio Excellence AZ Power Wing II, Part 2

    The reader is once again encouraged to visit the Audio Excellence AZ web site for a more thorough description of the Power Wing II but here are some selected highlights of both the stock model and my particular unit. The use of the word “stock” is rather misleading because Alan Kafton works closely with his customers in determining exactly what will go into the finished product in order to suit his or her sonic preferences.

    Stock Model
    • Overall dimensions are 20 inches long X 5 inches wide X 5.5 inches tall.
    • The chassis is constructed of 18-gauge, non-magnetic stainless steel with a curved bottom similar to a bathtub shape.
    • The top plate is 14-gauge non-magnetic stainless steel (this is where the outlets are affixed).
    • Computer Numerical Control fabricated one-inch-thick Corian end-caps. The end-caps act as supports and footers for the chassis and also assist in the dispersion of spurious vibration. The Corian supports allow the Power Wing to be placed on either of its sides (inside an equipment rack), or upright, next to or behind equipment racks, when space is at a premium.
    • The user may choose any three Oyaide outlets for the Power Wing II. Each duplex receptacle is electrically isolated and filtered from the other. (There is an upcharge for the R-1 model.)
    • Furutech gold-plated 15-amp IEC inlet.
    • The ultra-fast Carlingswitch™ magnetic circuit breaker was chosen for the on-off switch.
    • The internal circuitry is a very low impedance, non-current-limiting design and is completely hand-fabricated.
    • High-purity Cardas solid-core, 10-gauge copper is used for the buss architecture.
    • All of the internal circuitry including the inlet are deep-cryo treated twice, and certified by Cryogenics International.

    Subject Power Wing II
    • Three Oyaide R-1 oulets and R inlet.
    • Bybee Gold AC Bullet (no longer manufactured).
    • Fo. Q damping materials used inside and on the outlets, the IEC, the top plate, and a few other select places.

    The stock model costs $3,250 and one similar to mine (without the Bybee) would be approximately $3,650.

    The Power Wing II arrived in late January, 2014 and as can be seen in the photographs below, it was very well-packed and survived its journey from Phoenix unscathed.

    Power Wing II Packaging

    Power Wing II Packaging

    Packaging

    Packaging

    The fit and finish of the unit was first-class.

    Top View With R-1 Outlets

    Top View With R-1 Outlets

    Side View

    Side View

    Rose Corian End Cap With Logo

    Rose Corian End Cap With Logo

    Initially, the Power Wing II was placed directly on my living room carpeting to the right of the equipment shelves. However, I was able to get the power cords to lie with almost no touching between them by placement on the left. After discussions with Alan, I also purchased a large bamboo cutting board to separate the Power Wing II (and the Vajra power cord) from the static-prone nylon carpeting in my apartment.

    Original Right Side Positioning

    Original Right Side Positioning

    Current Left Side Positioning on Bamboo Board

    Current Left Side Positioning on Bamboo Board

    Listening Impressions:
    • One word repeated itself over and over in my listening notes: clear. Details and subtleties previously buried in the recording mix were considerably more apparent.
    • The music was housed in the quietest envelope my system had ever produced.
    • What I call inner detail and what most closely corresponds to the sustain portion of a musical note was more nuanced.
    • The decay portion of notes went on longer as a result of the lowering of the system’s noise floor.
    • Bass was more authoritative and a singer would, on occasion, take up residence in my living room.
    • The treble was smooth but very well extended imparting a greater degree of clarity to transients.
    • The sound stage extended well into the room as it had before but also farther behind the plane of the speakers than previously.
    • Dynamics on both a micro- and macro-level were significantly better with no congestion.
    • Color saturation, fine detail and depth of image on video (both from my cable box and Oppo BDP-95 and later the 105D) had never been this good.
    • The differences between recordings especially when listening to playlists comprised of many different albums were easily heard.

    I could go on in this vein but I think the point has been made.

    Concluding Thoughts
    What I’ve found over the years and especially most recently is that what I used to consider to be peripherals are in fact vital to my overall musical enjoyment. The judicious selection of products such as power conditioners/ filtration devices and power cords has elevated the performance of my system to the point where audiophile wanderlust is no more. As much as the original Power Wing was an improvement over the Shunyata conditioners I’d been using, the Model II was in an entirely different league. Its R-1 outlets and R inlet mated perfectly with both my wall outlets and the majority of my power cords.

    If you’re considering cleaning up the electrical power going into your components so that you’re able to truly hear and see what they’re capable of, the Power Wing II should definitely be at the top of your short list. Especially if you were considering spending a heck of a lot more than what the Power Wing II costs. Enthusiastically recommended.

  • Audio Excellence AZ Power Wing II, Part 1

    Before beginning to describe the Audio Excellence AZ Power Wing II, it seems appropriate to first detail the genesis of the unit. I purchased a used original model Power Wing through an audiophile buddy on the West Coast back in August, 2013.

    Up until that point I still owned a Shunyata Hydra 8 (see installments 1 and 2 for more information on this model) and Shunyata Guardian Pro 6 which were serviceable but left me unsatisfied for various reasons. So, when the Power Wing became available (a rare event since it seems that their owners hold onto these units indefinitely), I immediately purchased it with the intention of having its creator, Alan M. Kafton, update the power line conditioner to its current incarnation.

    Original Power Wing

    One Oyaide SWO-DX and Two SWO-XXX Outlets

    One Oyaide SWO-DX and Two SWO-XXX Outlets

    Side View

    Side View

    Before having the PLC upgraded, however, I wanted to hear what it sounded like as is and therefore had the unit shipped to me to use for a couple of weeks. This way, I’d be able to do a before and after comparison. One of the reasons this particular unit appealed to me was due to the fact that it was finished with rose-colored end caps, an option that was no longer available. Little did I know that this was not to be the only thing to make the finished Power Wing II unique but I’m getting ahead of the story.

    The original unit housed three Oyaide outlets: two SWO-XXX and one SWO-DX. The Audio Excellence AZ web site describes the sonic characteristics of these particular outlets as follows.

    Oyaide SWO-DX: Rhodium over silver over deoxidized phosphor bronze. Provides a more “immediate” and vivid presentation, with the sound field nearer the plane of the speaker, as if you moved your listening chair closer to the recording. Subtle details in the recording seem more evident, since the overall presentation has been moved forward. This effect is similar to sitting closer to the concert stage.

    Oyaide SWO-XXX: Palladium over gold over deoxidized phosphor bronze. Offers the deep and wide soundstage of the GX, but with a “cooler”, more neutral tonal balance. It provides additional micro-detail and nuance, together with enhanced venue information retrieved from the recording.

    I had already installed two Oyaide R-1 wall outlets (see here and here) and anticipated having the same placed into the updated Power Wing II. However, one of the features of the unit is the ability to mix’n’match outlets depending upon the end-user’s needs and desires for system fine-tuning. I thought this would give me an opportunity to try two other variations before deciding which ones to select. Another nice point is that even after receiving the finished product, you can still switch outlets by sending the unit back to Alan.

    At this point in time, I was using an Acrolink 7N-P4030II power cord finished with Oyaide P-/C-004 connectors as the link between the wall outlet and the Hydra Model 8 so that’s what I used for the new unit, too. Connected to these units were my conrad-johnson CA200, Oppo BDP-95, Samsung LCD TV, and my set-top cable box.

    Okay. So, how did it sound in its original formulation?

    Listening Impressions
    • The volume level seems to be a bit louder than with the Hydra
    • The lower register is more meaty
    • Sweeter but not at the expense of a loss in fine detail which is, if anything, better
    • Reference level sound stage for my system
    • Picture quality is clearer with more finely nuanced flesh tones, for example

    Generally speaking, the original Power Wing shows an across the board improvement over both the Hydra Model 8 and Guardian Pro 6. At this point, I’m looking forward very much to what further changes will occur once the unit has been updated.

  • Context Is Important

    Before proceeding to the installments on the Power Wing II, I thought it would be useful to list my system as it’s currently configured since so much has changed since regularly blogging last year.

    Starting from the Oyaide R-1 wall outlets, we have the following.

    Power Distribution:
    • Audio Excellence AZ Power Wing II power line conditioner with Prana Wire Vajra power cord (Oyaide M1/F1 connectors).
    • PS Audio Juice Bar with Blue Circle Audio BC68 filtered power cord.

    Display
    • Samsung 46” LCD TV with HiFi-Tuning C7 power cord and Mapleshade Vivilink Plus HDMI cable.

    Front-End Components
    • Oppo 105D with Bybee Golden Goddess power cord (Oyaide M1/F1 connectors) supported by Acoustic Revive RAF-48 air floatation board. Acoustic Revive RCA-1.0PA interconnects and LAN-1.5PA Ethernet cable. Prana Wire Photon USB cable. Mapleshade Vivilink Plus HDMI cable.
    • Olive O3HD Media Server with Tel Wire power cord (Oyaide P-/C-004 connectors) supported by ESD Elevators. Acoustic Revive RCA-1.0PA interconnects and LAN-1.0PA Ethernet cable.

    Integrated Amplifier
    • conrad-johnson CA200 Control Amplifier with Acrolink 7N-P4030II power cord (Oyaide P-/C-004 connectors) supported by Mapleshade Megamounts. HRS Damping Plate. HiFi-Tuning Gold fuses.

    Speakers
    • Quad ESL-989 with Acrolink 6N-P4030II power cords (Oyaide P-/C-004 connectors) and Acoustic Revive SPC-PA speaker cables with RBN-1 banana plugs. Acoustic Revive RWL-3 Acoustic Conditioners placed behind each speaker. HiFi-Tuning Supreme fuses.

    Miscellaneous
    • Acoustic Revive RR-777 Ultra Low Frequency Pulse Generator with KingRex MK2 PSU.
    • Black Discus and Black Sticks Devices by Mad Scientist Audio.
    • Western Digital My Passport Slim 2TB external hard drive
    • Two PNY 128GB Classic flash drive
    • Transcend 64GB flash drive
    • Macally Mini 7-Port USB 2.0 Hub with AC Adapter

  • Prana Wire Vajra Power Cord, Part 2

    Some Practical Considerations

    There a few factors to be considered when using the Vajra that will impact the listener on an everyday basis.

    The Oyaide M1/F1 Connectors are large and heavy. Therefore the user should ensure that there is sufficient space allowed to plug the Vajra into the intended component. Also, there is going to be some sag even when the Vajra is connected to an audiophile or hospital grade “grip of death” outlet. If a run-of-the-mill outlet is used, it could be possible that the M1 side of the power cord could even pull itself entirely away. I use Oyaide’s R-1 outlets both for my wall outlets and in the Power Wing II. The R-1 uses the same palladium over platinum over beryllium copper metallurgy as the M1. In addition, the inlet on the Power Wing II that mates with the F1 uses this same scheme.

    The Linebacker In-Line Conditioner is also large and heavy and does not lend itself to be left dangling from a component. As a result, the most stable placement would be on the floor or if there’s room, on the equipment rack shelf. The latter placement will result in an effective cord length that’s shorter than anticipated from its absolute length.

    I have only used the Vajra connected to a PSA Juice Bar and later the Power Wing II and in both these cases, they were placed on the floor. I’ve found it useful to position the Linebacker over a bowl or even ESD Elevators. This causes less strain on the connectors going into the wall outlet and the IEC inlet at the other end.

    Initial Set-Up

    Initial Set-Up

    Connected Vajra on 12/13/13

    When inserting the Vajra into the system for the first time the Acrolink 7N P4030II with Oyaide C-/P-004 connectors which had previously been used on the PSA Juice Bar was moved to the conrad-johnson CA200 integrated amp and the Vajra replaced it on PSA Juice Bar.

    Listening Impressions
    • Clean and clear
    • Louder, smoother and more natural
    • Dead silent with music sounding more complex
    • Individual instruments are more clearly heard and differentiated
    • Tonal balance is even across the board with no particular frequencies emphasized
    • Very coherent
    • Wide and layered sound stage
    • Transients are sharp without edginess
    • Bass is very solid
    • Vocals (as is everything else) are extremely clear
    • Dynamics are outstanding
    • Purity of tone that wasn’t present before
    • New reference level performance from my system

  • Prana Wire Vajra Power Cord, Part 1

    It's been quite some time since I posted to my blog -- October 6, 2013 to be exact. The reason is that I find Xanga's current posting engine awkward, unfriendly to the user and just a general PITA to work with. There. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, let the games begin.

    The subject of today's installment is the Prana Wire Vajra Power Cord. Silly name aside, this is without a doubt the best power cord I've ever used. And the most expensive by far. The used 2 meter cord I was lucky enough to purchase at a deep discount has a retail price of $6,548. I kid you not.

    Here's what it looks like:

    Prana Wire Vajra Power Cord

    Prana Wire Vajra Power Cord

    When you take into account what the cord is comprised of, the price becomes more understandable although still awfully expensive. Not nearly in the same league, however as Prana Wire's Avatar II power cord which would cost $24,400 in the same length!

    Anyway, here's a partial listing of what you get and where applicable how much each item would cost:
    1) Oyaide M1 and F1 Beryllium/Copper Platinum/Palladium plated Reference Series Connectors ($690)

    M1/F1 Connectors

    M1/F1 Connectors


    2) Super Enhanced Ground Plane (SEGP) Upgrade ($600)
    Super Enhanced Ground Plane

    Super Enhanced Ground Plane


    3) Linebacker In-Line Power Filter ($2,250)
    Linebacker Module

    Linebacker Module

    The Vajra power cord itself is composed of 7 gauge ultra high purity silver copper hybrid. This particular cord appears to have been produced June 9, 2012.

    Serial Number (June 6, 2012)

    Serial Number (June 9, 2012)

    In the next installment my impressions of how the Vajra "sounds" connected to first a PS Audio Juice Bar and then the formidable Audio Excellence AZ Power Wing II will be explored. Stay tuned.