Mad Dog
03-11-2004, 01:27 PM
Disclaimer: These results were attained using the following products in my system placed in my room being fed by Los Angeles DWP electricity. Your results may vary based on gear, room and municipality. 8)
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At the Feb 2004 LA & OC Audio Society meeting that was held at Classic Records in Hollywood, Rob Woodland was present to introduce and share some of the Eichmann Technologies products. When a few members questioned him as to the sonic signature of the products, he replied that there was no “sonic signature,” but rather his cables should be like an open window. He ultimately stated that the best way is to try it out in your own system. Well, since he threw this out, I decided what better way to find out how the Eichmann products sound in my system than to accept Rob Woodland’s advice! Rob set me up with a 1M pair of the eXpress6 RCA interconnect, a 2M run of the eXpress Power AC Enhancing cable, and 2 sets of resonance controlling devices called The Topper.
Visually, the eXpress6 interconnect with its bright blue almost translucent covering looks much like a toy rather than a serious audio cable. Somehow it reminded me of blue licorice sticks! The eXpress 6 incorporates the Eichmann Ratio™ formula – plus an extended EMF control system where additional passive buffer conductors are used. I inserted the $196 eXpress6 interconnect which replaced a pair of $640 Argent Jaden Signature ICs and $948 Acoustic Zen Silver Reference MkII ICs between my DAC and preamp and powered up my system to play Andrea Bocelli’s Cieli di Toscana. eXpress6. Given the difference in price, I was fully expecting the sound of my system to take a giant step back when I pushed the play button, but that simply did not happen. In fact, my jaw dropped as I had never heard a sub $200 interconnect sound quite as transparent, detailed, airy and neutral as the eXpress6. On track 5 of Josh Groban’s first album, lesser cables impart some upper midrange harshness and grain in Josh’s voice. The eXpress6 added absolutely nothing - able to fully convey all the passion and emotion in his voice with supreme smoothness. I then spun up Diana Krall’s Live in Paris disc. The music flowed out with such unrestrained naturalness, lacking any trace of midrange grain and treble sibilance that normally afflicts cables in this price range and higher. Snare drums sounded realistic. Brushes and rim shots sounded just like they should rather than tinny and overly crisp, unnatural characteristics I have found many other cables to add. I found the naturalness to hold especially true on piano notes, which can often contain some, glare, edge and bite to them. Treble had an airiness and transparency to it rather than a veiled, compressed and closed in feel. Bass while leaner in presentation than the Argent and Acoustic Zen ICs, was still articulate and tight. Soundstage was comparably deep and wide. Background was very black. Focus and clarity was a touch off the Jaden Signature’s and Silver Reference’s mark. For approximately 31% of the price of the Argents and 21% of the price of the Acoustic Zens, the eXpress6 offers about 90-95% of the performance. Rob Woodland was right indeed! The Eichmann IC is a wide open window. Just as a window should not color the view, I found the Eichmann IC to be extremely neutral and uncolored. As such, I would highly recommend others to give this interconnect a try. For the price, it will be very difficult to beat! For more info about the eXpress6 IC, go to http://www.eichmanncables.com/interconnect/index.html .
I also tried a 2M run of the eXpress™ Power AC Enhancing cable which sells for $299.95. The eXpress™ Power AC enhancing cable incorporates newly discovered fractal resonance control technology that provides a cleaner AC load to the power supplies of components. There is a bulbous attachment that resides between the power plug and IEC plug that contains an aluminum body covered in a plastic shell. While this sounds fancy and looks rather strange, how does this technology sound? I can sum up my experience with the AC cable in one word – INCREDIBLE! Plugging this cable into my CD transport resulted in a haze or film being removed from the sound. As good as the interconnects worked, the AC cable was even better! The difference the eXpress power cable made was amazing as it replaced a top of the line Onix Statement power cord costing over 2Xs the price of the Eichmann and I still experienced a marked improvement in sound. The one thing that the Eichmann PC does so well is that it doesn’t restrain or restrict sound as some of the heavily shielded PCs that I have tried do. Vocals were full and natural. Rim shots, high hats and triangles had a natural shimmer to them giving the sense of unbelievable air, transparency, focus and detail. Bass had great weight and authority with superior clarity and definition. Unfortunately, I only have one of the PCs. I imagine similar improvements in my system can be realized by running another eXpress™ AC cable to the preamp and another 2 PCs to my monoblock amplifiers. Again, I highly recommend giving this excellent product a try. For more info on the Eichmann eXpress™ Power AC Enhancing cable, go to http://www.eichmanncables.com/ac_enhancer/index.html .
The final product I tried was the Eichmann Topper™. The Topper™ is a passive device used to reduce resonance (vibration) and improve the performance of audio and video components and loudspeakers that reminds me a lot of the scales on Godzilla’s back! According to the website literature, the Topper™ is supposed to provide cleaner, more focused sound, reduce upper bass haze and overhang, increase low level detail and improve soundstage. I tried the Toppers on my loudspeakers and my subwoofer and discovered that they delivered 3 of the 4 things they were supposed to do. I did notice a cleaner, more focused sound and a reduction in bass haze and tighter bass tones. As a result of the cleaner sound, I was able to hear increased low-level detail with improved clarity. The difference the Topper made was not as dramatic as the interconnect and power cord, but there was an audible improvement making it worthwhile to try as well. For more info on the Eichmann Topper™, go to http://www.eichmanncables.com/topper/index.html .
Since the power cable and interconnect delivered serious performance regardless of price, I am looking forward to trying the Eichmann eXpress 6 speaker cable in the future!
I would like to thank Mike Hobson and Scot Markwell of Classic Records as well as Rob Woodland for allowing me to audition the fine Eichmann products!
My system:
Source: Audio Alchemy DDS-Pro CD Transport, Perpetual Technologies P-1/A Upsampler/Interpolator, Perpetual Technologies P-3/A DAC w/ ModWright Level 2 mods stacked on PandaFeet sorbothane vibration dampers
Preamp: Aragon Aurum
Amps: Aragon Palladium II monoblocks
Speakers: Onix Reference 1 monitors on Osiris 24.5” stands
Subwoofer: Onix UFW-10
Power conditioning: Quantum Symphony Pro, Quantum ElectroClears
Cables: Onix Statement speaker cable, Argent Jaden Signature RCA interconnect, Acoustic Zen Silver Reference MkII RCA interconnect, Onix Grand Master Digital Coax from CD-T to P-1/A, Revelation Audio Prophecy I2S cable connecting P-1/A to P-3/A, Onix Statement power cord, Onix Statement 1 power cord, (2) Absolute Power cords used on the Monoblock amplifiers.
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At the Feb 2004 LA & OC Audio Society meeting that was held at Classic Records in Hollywood, Rob Woodland was present to introduce and share some of the Eichmann Technologies products. When a few members questioned him as to the sonic signature of the products, he replied that there was no “sonic signature,” but rather his cables should be like an open window. He ultimately stated that the best way is to try it out in your own system. Well, since he threw this out, I decided what better way to find out how the Eichmann products sound in my system than to accept Rob Woodland’s advice! Rob set me up with a 1M pair of the eXpress6 RCA interconnect, a 2M run of the eXpress Power AC Enhancing cable, and 2 sets of resonance controlling devices called The Topper.
Visually, the eXpress6 interconnect with its bright blue almost translucent covering looks much like a toy rather than a serious audio cable. Somehow it reminded me of blue licorice sticks! The eXpress 6 incorporates the Eichmann Ratio™ formula – plus an extended EMF control system where additional passive buffer conductors are used. I inserted the $196 eXpress6 interconnect which replaced a pair of $640 Argent Jaden Signature ICs and $948 Acoustic Zen Silver Reference MkII ICs between my DAC and preamp and powered up my system to play Andrea Bocelli’s Cieli di Toscana. eXpress6. Given the difference in price, I was fully expecting the sound of my system to take a giant step back when I pushed the play button, but that simply did not happen. In fact, my jaw dropped as I had never heard a sub $200 interconnect sound quite as transparent, detailed, airy and neutral as the eXpress6. On track 5 of Josh Groban’s first album, lesser cables impart some upper midrange harshness and grain in Josh’s voice. The eXpress6 added absolutely nothing - able to fully convey all the passion and emotion in his voice with supreme smoothness. I then spun up Diana Krall’s Live in Paris disc. The music flowed out with such unrestrained naturalness, lacking any trace of midrange grain and treble sibilance that normally afflicts cables in this price range and higher. Snare drums sounded realistic. Brushes and rim shots sounded just like they should rather than tinny and overly crisp, unnatural characteristics I have found many other cables to add. I found the naturalness to hold especially true on piano notes, which can often contain some, glare, edge and bite to them. Treble had an airiness and transparency to it rather than a veiled, compressed and closed in feel. Bass while leaner in presentation than the Argent and Acoustic Zen ICs, was still articulate and tight. Soundstage was comparably deep and wide. Background was very black. Focus and clarity was a touch off the Jaden Signature’s and Silver Reference’s mark. For approximately 31% of the price of the Argents and 21% of the price of the Acoustic Zens, the eXpress6 offers about 90-95% of the performance. Rob Woodland was right indeed! The Eichmann IC is a wide open window. Just as a window should not color the view, I found the Eichmann IC to be extremely neutral and uncolored. As such, I would highly recommend others to give this interconnect a try. For the price, it will be very difficult to beat! For more info about the eXpress6 IC, go to http://www.eichmanncables.com/interconnect/index.html .
I also tried a 2M run of the eXpress™ Power AC Enhancing cable which sells for $299.95. The eXpress™ Power AC enhancing cable incorporates newly discovered fractal resonance control technology that provides a cleaner AC load to the power supplies of components. There is a bulbous attachment that resides between the power plug and IEC plug that contains an aluminum body covered in a plastic shell. While this sounds fancy and looks rather strange, how does this technology sound? I can sum up my experience with the AC cable in one word – INCREDIBLE! Plugging this cable into my CD transport resulted in a haze or film being removed from the sound. As good as the interconnects worked, the AC cable was even better! The difference the eXpress power cable made was amazing as it replaced a top of the line Onix Statement power cord costing over 2Xs the price of the Eichmann and I still experienced a marked improvement in sound. The one thing that the Eichmann PC does so well is that it doesn’t restrain or restrict sound as some of the heavily shielded PCs that I have tried do. Vocals were full and natural. Rim shots, high hats and triangles had a natural shimmer to them giving the sense of unbelievable air, transparency, focus and detail. Bass had great weight and authority with superior clarity and definition. Unfortunately, I only have one of the PCs. I imagine similar improvements in my system can be realized by running another eXpress™ AC cable to the preamp and another 2 PCs to my monoblock amplifiers. Again, I highly recommend giving this excellent product a try. For more info on the Eichmann eXpress™ Power AC Enhancing cable, go to http://www.eichmanncables.com/ac_enhancer/index.html .
The final product I tried was the Eichmann Topper™. The Topper™ is a passive device used to reduce resonance (vibration) and improve the performance of audio and video components and loudspeakers that reminds me a lot of the scales on Godzilla’s back! According to the website literature, the Topper™ is supposed to provide cleaner, more focused sound, reduce upper bass haze and overhang, increase low level detail and improve soundstage. I tried the Toppers on my loudspeakers and my subwoofer and discovered that they delivered 3 of the 4 things they were supposed to do. I did notice a cleaner, more focused sound and a reduction in bass haze and tighter bass tones. As a result of the cleaner sound, I was able to hear increased low-level detail with improved clarity. The difference the Topper made was not as dramatic as the interconnect and power cord, but there was an audible improvement making it worthwhile to try as well. For more info on the Eichmann Topper™, go to http://www.eichmanncables.com/topper/index.html .
Since the power cable and interconnect delivered serious performance regardless of price, I am looking forward to trying the Eichmann eXpress 6 speaker cable in the future!
I would like to thank Mike Hobson and Scot Markwell of Classic Records as well as Rob Woodland for allowing me to audition the fine Eichmann products!
My system:
Source: Audio Alchemy DDS-Pro CD Transport, Perpetual Technologies P-1/A Upsampler/Interpolator, Perpetual Technologies P-3/A DAC w/ ModWright Level 2 mods stacked on PandaFeet sorbothane vibration dampers
Preamp: Aragon Aurum
Amps: Aragon Palladium II monoblocks
Speakers: Onix Reference 1 monitors on Osiris 24.5” stands
Subwoofer: Onix UFW-10
Power conditioning: Quantum Symphony Pro, Quantum ElectroClears
Cables: Onix Statement speaker cable, Argent Jaden Signature RCA interconnect, Acoustic Zen Silver Reference MkII RCA interconnect, Onix Grand Master Digital Coax from CD-T to P-1/A, Revelation Audio Prophecy I2S cable connecting P-1/A to P-3/A, Onix Statement power cord, Onix Statement 1 power cord, (2) Absolute Power cords used on the Monoblock amplifiers.