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Tweakers' Asylum: REVIEW: Alan Maher Designs Signature CBF Power Conditioner/Surge Protector by boodles

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REVIEW: Alan Maher Designs Signature CBF Power Conditioner/Surge Protector

134.197.9.25


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Model: Signature CBF
Category: Power Conditioner/Surge Protector
Suggested Retail Price: $30
Description: passive EMI/RFI remover, AC tuning device
Manufacturer URL: Alan Maher Designs
Model Picture: View

Review by boodles on February 27, 2010 at 17:07:04
IP Address: 134.197.9.25
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for the Signature CBF


Today marks day 21 since installing a CBF Infinity on my main wire bundle in the breaker box and replacing the 2 existing CBF Infinities on the breaker for the dedicated circuit powering my system and the main breakers to the panel with Signature CBF’s. The first 3-4 days after the install were glorious. The soundstage was huge, yet very detailed. It was as if I could stand up and walk around between the various instrumentalists on the stage. At around day 4-5, things took a turn for the worse, I guess as all of Alan’s other products in the house began re-equilibrating with the CBF’s. The sound became a bit more glaring and brittle, and the vast soundstage collapsed back to a smaller size than it had occupied prior to CBF install. Things have slowly been settling during the past 2 weeks and finally seemed to “click” into place yesterday. The soundstage is once again very spacious, yet places each instrument/voice in a precisely defined 3-D location, many of which are now well behind or well in front of the plane of the speakers. In addition, the sound has taken on a remarkably realistic quality. Listening to Zuill Bailey’s new Telarc CD of the Bach Suites for Solo Cello, Zuill is placed in a clearly defined position just right of center stage and the ambiance of the recording venue is rendered with startlingly convincing realism. Moreover, the timbre of the sound from the cello is fantastic. At the release of each dramatic cord, the air in the room literally ripples with the resonance coming from the cello, creating a very visceral sensation as if you are standing/sitting right in front of an actual cello playing. Other instruments, most notably trumpet, trombone, oboe, and bassoon (bassoon is particularly striking and is an instrument I never really even noticed before on many of my CDs), are also reproduced with tremendous accuracy. One of the most striking changes, however, is the amount of minute detail that is now audible on all my recordings. While listening to the Erato CD of the Bach Orchestral Suites I got up from my chair to see what was causing the faint clicking/rustling sound that appeared to be coming from the rear of my system (which is situated on low stands on the floor between my speakers), only to discover upon a second listen to the CD that the sound was in fact the musicians on the recording shifting in their seats and moving the music on their stands! Instrumental lines that were buried in the mix before are now as clear as day, yet paradoxically, all this added detail came with a simultaneous reduction in brightness/glare that is usually associated with such detail. Overall, I am thrilled with the astonishing improvement that has been wrought by such a minuscule investment in time and money. Alan, you hit another home run with these babies!


Product Weakness: None
Product Strengths: Tremendous improvement in all aspects of sound reproduction for the cost of only 2 CD's.


Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: Michael Yee Audio PA-1
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Lightspeed attenuator
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Marantz SA-15
Speakers: Green Mountain Audio Eos HD
Cables/Interconnects: MAC Mystics
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Everything
Time Period/Length of Audition: 3 weeks
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Alan Maher Designs Signature CBF Power Conditioner/Surge Protector - boodles 17:07:04 02/27/10 ( 1)