OK guys, welcome to the sales pitch part of the show...Question, Do you own a PE or a Ref II? Do you have the audiophile upgrade bug yanking at your coattails? Well then I have the answer for you (Pretty cheesy huh?) mount an Infinity CBF or Signature CBF on the front of the filter case (2/3 down from the top) and be prepared for a transformation in noise reduction and soundstage reproduction like you have never seen before. You can do the same thing with PE V,VI, and Q Studio…just use the larger version of the passive filters…why waste your audiophile bucks on the next latest and greatest when all you have to do is spend a couple bucks, upgrade what you already own, and be blown away…
Alan
March 4
To my knowledge, all prepaid orders are complete and will ship on Friday (March 5). I am still expecting a couple mail in payments and I assume they will arrive soon and the orders will be shipped shortly thereafter. As for tomorrow I have a ton of orders going out and as of now I only have about half of them packaged...so I will be finishing that up this afternoon. More than likely I won't have time to email tracking info until I return on Sunday.
Don't forget to check out the facebook site for the big announcement on March 8.
If you haven't yet signed up for our facebook page you are missing out. 
Check it out!
Alan
March 2
It has been a busy day today but it has been a great day...now if my hockey team wins tonight I will be happy boy :) The good news is the first CBF case order that includes the large Infinity/Signature cases arrived this afternoon, as did the Lithium crystal. Tomorrow I will go ahead and dip the crystal in the EMI solution and let it dry overnight. Thursday I will put everything together and out the door Friday morning.
Skynyrd last night was fantastic...they were definitely on their game last night. I love the new album...you guys should check it out.
Huge facebook announcement Monday, 08 March: 12:00pm PST, 3:00pm EST, 20:00 GMT, 21:00 CET
Alan
March 1
I have a fairly easy day today, I already packed up the Q Studio orders and a couple other smaller orders. This afternoon I have several errands to run, and this evening Keri and I are going out to see Lynyrd Skynyrd at Schwarzwaldhalle in Karlsruhe. I haven't seen Skynyrd in a couple of years so I'm looking forward to the show.
I will be in and out all week. As it stands right now the I-String orders will be finished on Tuesday and I have a hockey game (Adler Mannheim at SAP Arena in Mannheim) Tuesday evening. Wednesday I'm in wait mode to see if the large Infinity/Signature cases show up in the mail...if they do that is what I'm doing on Wednesday during the day. In the evening Keri is dragging me to a Kelly Clarkson concert (oh joy...I will be the oldest guy in the club). Thursday is another wait mode day. Friday I will mail off whatever I was able to get done during the week. Friday evening Keri and I are flying up to the UK and I will be back Sunday afternoon.
This morning I received my schedule for May/June...basically the middle of April I'm going to fly to the states to drop Keri off at my mothers, and then turn around and fly to the UK. Production rehearsals start the last week of April and then we kick it off the first week of May. As it stands right now I need to get my gear back to the Luton warehouse on June 29....this morning I booked a flight for that evening to fly back to the states to pick Keri up. I'm basically flying into the airport, picking her up and hoping on the next flight out. I fly in to Germany early morning on July 1, my ass is going to be dragging so please give me a couple of days to get my act together before we start talking shop and asking questions about the July 4 sale.
That is it for now...
Alan
Feb 28
I am just finishing up the facebook orders from the sale today. The large Infinity/Signature cases still have not arrived but hopefully they will be here sometime this week, all I have is an hour's worth of work when they arrive and everything else is done. Next week I will start planning the next bulk order sale. I will use the same live sale facebook format for the next one...I had a good time doing it and it appeared to be very successful. The next sale date will be March 15-21. I will not be able to do this again until July 2...so if you need something now is the time to place the order.
Alan
Feb 23
Cheap, Easy, and Effective Tweak:
People spend way too much money on rebadged “audiophile" grade duplex outlets; these outlets are sold as a cure all too all things electrical….what a crock of shit. Metallurgy doesn’t lower resistance, frequency does. Controlling the frequency of the application is how we improve the speed as to which A/C is delivered (capacitance, inductance, and resistance). Audiophile grade outlets do one thing to really improve the delivery of AC, and that is to lower micro-vibration at the connection. Micro-vibration creates off harmonics that muck up Ohm’s law and increase resistance. There is a very simple solution to solving this problem, but your home owner’s policy is not going to like it, and that is hard wiring the power cord to the in-wall Romex and bypassing the outlet/plug connection. This can be easily done using an exotic wood blank cover. Drill one or two holes into the cover to accommodate a couple power cords, pick up a locking-collet strain relief to secure the cord, and plastic wire nuts. Treat the wire with a little ProGold 100% solution and twist the treated conductors together with the nut. Add a little electrical tape to seal it and call it a day.
The second way to do it without eliminating the outlet/plug combo if you are uncomfortable is to loosen the duplex top and bottom screws from the gang box. Put a little dab of GE Silicone II (Clear) between the tab and the wall box (a nice little dollop) and screw the outlet back in place. This tweak by itself will banish the audiophile outlet forever, just make sure to pick out a non-plated outlet with a jaw of death grip and you’ll be fine. If you want to take it up another notch and you already installed a CBF behind the duplex for filtering, Mike Percy sells EAR Composites C-1002 material….pick up the .015 thickness. Trace the openings in the outlet cover onto the material and cut out the 2 D-Cuts. Secure the EAR material to the cover using a thin layer of GE Silicone II for added damping. Re-install the cover.
Next:
Above I mentioned line frequency, controlling frequency at a connection is easy, but controlling it over a length of wire is not because cable geometry will always muck up frequency. People crave warmth, but most times at the expense of the top end. In cable design warmth is created by jacking up the inductance….to the ear it sounds good, but too the component power supply it shifts spec. Spec is important if you want to filter out all those electrical nasties entering the component.
A power supply designed for 120v will operate perfectly at 120v, but if the voltage swings above or below 120v the power supply starts to do weird things. Manufactures will argue the power supply has a tolerance of +/- 5%, that is true, but what they forget to mention +/- 5% creates harmonics via added inductance or resistance that sneak past the power supply with relative ease. Up to now the only way to resolve this problem was to use a Variac for voltage regulation….not a very A/V friendly device because voltage changes every second of the day and throws the Variac output off usually causing more harm than good.
In the mid-90’s I found a solution that was cheap and extremely effective, even though I didn’t realize it at the time. The product is called a Highwire Power Wrap and can be cheaply purchased via Mike Percy Audio. The Power Wrap is marketed as a way to control the ringing node along the length of the cable, but node suppression for RF control is the least byproduct this miraculous little product can offer. After playing with it for many years I discovered I could dial in the perfect line frequency to match every component on the planet.
After you figure out installing CBF crystals inside the Wattgate style AC and IEC connector is a good thing and a 15% boost in performance from just zip tie it on to the connector, you are ready to start tuning the cable using the Power Wrap.
1. After CBF crystal install turn the component on and leave it powered up for 3 days (72 hours) before adding the Power Wrap.
2. Hopefully while the cord was un-installed you measured and marked the dead center of the cable length with a pen/marker/tape. Install the Power Wrap.
3. This is where I stray from the manufacture, once the Power Wrap is installed, twist and tighten the wrap against the outer jacket of the cable. The shape of the wrap will get mangled but it is important that the wrap completely touches the outer jacket of the cable.
4. With a ruler readjust the coil to reflect a 7/8” space gap in between rungs.
5. Count the rungs and find the dead center point of the tightly twisted Power Wrap and line it up to the dead center mark of the cable length.
6. Do nothing for 1 hour.
I use Ian Anderson’s Set Aside track from the “The Secret Language of Birds” project, mainly because it was recorded using one of my custom electrical networks. The vocals on this track are simply stunning and well mixed. Here is the trick, using the Power Wrap, dial in Ian’s voice to mirror your own in the same room, assuming your speakers are mathematically positioned in the node. Poor cable design either jacks up the bass or rolls off the bass…with the Power wrap you want to dial in the middle midrange frequencies. Off of the center position the middle midrange will be within ¼” from center toward the component. Very small 1/32” increments will be necessary to perfectly mirror Ian’s voice with your own reciting the same words. Once finished leave the wrap alone because it will need to be adjusted in a few days. Now dip into your audiophile CD collection and put on Diana Krall’s Love Scenes and put on track 11 “My Love Is” and pay close attention to the finger snaps. Snap your own finger next to your ear and listen to the recorded snaps, they should mirror each other. The DK snaps actually have several different pitches….make sure you can easily hear each distinct pitch…too many people screw this up and the snaps are all one pitch. Now put on track 8,”Gentle Rain”, and listen to the close mic of her vocals and make sure the vocal is reasistic without a hit of brightness. The piano should be nibble with a hint of sweet overtones. If all sounds good leave the cord alone for 72 hours.
At the 72 hour mark make very small 1/32” adjustments to the position of the Power Wrap if needed, and I guarantee it will be required for the final tuning. Once readjusted to the same Ian Anderson track you should be able to tape the ends of the wrap in place. Be very careful not to shift position of the wrap. Add a little tape to the center of the wrap to hold its position. Now wrap the Power Wrap in Teflon plumbers tape and leave it alone for 24 hours. If the sound quality has not shifted, unplug the cord and add 1.5” 4:1 standard heat shrink to secure the Power Wrap in place. The entire process should take about 7 days, but it is worth every second when all is said and done.
Always start with the first power cord in the system (hub power cord) and work your way from the first component to the last. An entire system (4 to 6 components) should take 4 to 6 weeks to complete all power cabling…take your time and get it right. When all cords are tuned to the same frequency you will notice the RF problems (crosstalk) of your system will vanish. Combined with the CBF and our active filter system this set up will blow everything on the planet away…say good-bye to expensive line conditioners forever.
Alan
Feb 22
We had a good sale week. All parts have been ordered and most are already in the mail, so I "should" have everything in by the end of next week or early the following week. I don't have a lot of large orders so I should be able to bang everything out in 3 to 4 days after the parts arrive. I will keep you posted.
The next sale will be the week of March 15-21.
Alan
Feb 18
If you thought yesterday offers were great then you haven't seen anything yet. Today I have a Buy 2 get 1 free offer for the I-Strings Power Cable, this cord kicks some serious buttafuoco, and 3 in the same system offer fabulous sound/video. I-Strings works on the same principal as our parallel filters, each added power cord's Pulse Gen filter communicates with the other cords installed to extend the frequency bandwidth of the system.
We are offering great deals today on the Quantum Studio and the Quantum Studio Custom which I only offer once or twice a year. The last time I offered the QS Custom was June 09'.
We have great CBF deals today on this web site available...check them out!
Alan
Feb 17
The facebook sale is going great! I have many surprises and 30% discount offers planned for today. I am making Lithium available for the first time today only at a intro 25% off price ($60.00), I will never be able to offer Lithium this cheap again...when it comes out officially in July it will be priced at $80.00 (very difficult and rare mineral to get my hands on...can only make in limited quantities).
Alan
Feb 15
Busy day so far, the facebook bulk pre-order sale has sparked a lot of interest. Great offers are available today; Daily and hourly specials, and a great 6 hour combo package (25% off special). More to come...
Alan
Feb 13
Very disappointed in the quality of the quartz pyramids I received from the vendor. My deepest apologies, but I am pulling the product because I will not offer a product that I think is substandard. The product I originally received as the sample is a different grade that is no longer available and the vendor tried to pull a fast one and sent a lesser quality product for the same price that has no standardize sizing. Anyone looking to install a quality product as a foot upgrade should look at our Infinity CBF or Signature CBF as a substitute, the CBF sounds almost identical to the pyramid, and the Signature offers its typical midrange bloom that it is known for producing. Again, please except my deepest apologies.
One last thing, I have repeated myself more times than I care too, we have started an exclusive fan club using our facebook page, everyone that would like to receive the exclusive pricing must sign up for a facebook account and be accepted to our fan listing. I will not offer the same benefits to a non-member, in my opinion it is just not fair to the other members that were kind enough to sign up and join. As for this web site it will probably disappear when the account is up in July. Microsoft has altered the contract and I will lose the domain name when I switch from the free site to the paid service. As of now everyone should consider the facebook page as our store front, all services (products, contact, etc) will be exclusively offered through that site. Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
If you haven't yet signed up for our facebook page you are missing out.
Check it out!
Alan
Feb 11
Too much bullshit floating around these days about ground isolation and alternate ground planes. Theoretically the earth ground is dead for all intensive purposes, but does offer a benefit when it comes to A/V components. The earth grounds purpose is to provide a small magnetic field to the A/V chassis as a form of stabilizing or reducing the ringing in the component circuit design (never float a component designed to be grounded). The problem is copper oxidizes over time and experiences a reduction in its magnetic properties do to that oxidation.
With that said, the magnetic property of the earth ground creates micro-vibration harmonics which modulate into system as distortion (one form of odd harmonics). The other problem is the magnetic strength of the ground is lessened by the many things we have plugged into the home and the aging oxidation (more age = more severe harmonic distortion). Our approach to addressing ground problems is different from the other manufactures; we take an active approach using a multi prong method. As of now the market place has offered nothing but copper strips and iron ore products, both have a limited bandwidth and are a total waste of money. A few months back we introduced the Reference III, the Ref III is an active ground filter….what does that mean you may ask? I am a firm believer in parallel filtering; the Ref III converts our Ref II circuit into a tri-filter. A tri-filter works in 3 planes, across the load, load to earth, and neutral to earth in order to reduce RF noise but to also neutralize the harmonic ringing of the in-wall wiring. Our second approach to ground filtering is our famous Infinity CBF or Signature CBF. When strapped to the bare earth wire, the CBF design controls micro-vibration ringing and intensifies the magnetic property of the ground. Unlike the standard magnetic property of the earth ground, our method alters the frequency of the ground to mirror the natural frequency of the earth. Placing a CBF/Signature on the ground wire where it enters the home can offer stunning results, especially in homes 10 years or older. One thing is for certain, the more you address the harmonics of the earth ground the more you’re A/V system will reap the benefits.
Alan
Feb 7
facebook exclusive (Must have a facebook account linked to our fan listing):
Super Bowl Sunday Signature CBF Special. Buy 4 Signature CBF and receive 2 FREE (total of 6). Price $120.00. Email if you are interested.
Finished the 12v power supply project. I added 10 Bybee's between the primary and secondary, Reference II circuit, and shielded everything using Stillpoints ERS, needless to say I am very pleased with the results.
Alan
Feb 5
All orders are out the door. I plan to do nothing over the weekend except watch the Super Bowl. Next week is rather boring, I have nothing going on except a couple sporting events (Hockey) I'm attending. All I want to do next week is work on my pet projects and prep for the facebook Bulk Order Pre-Sale.
Alan
Feb 1
facebook clients lets do it again...Today Only! Buy 8 Infinity CBF and receive 2 FREE Signature CBF (Total of 10). Price $200.00 plus shipping/PayPal. Email if you are interested.
If you haven't yet signed up for our facebook page you are missing out.
Check it out!
Alan
Jan 31
facebook exclusive (Must have a facebook account linked to our fan listing):
Today Only! Buy 8 Infinity CBF and receive 2 FREE Signature CBF (Total of 10). Price $200.00 plus shipping/PayPal. Email if you are interested.
Update: Jen left last night and arrived in Afghanistan this evening. Her deployment will be for the next several months.
Another note: Monday I will be finishing up the Quantum Studio orders and prepping for a Tuesday ship date. With that said I only have one custom order left and expect the remaining parts to arrive sometime this week to be able to finish that order. After I finish up I have 2 major projects I have to do which should take me 3 to 4 days to complete. Once that is done I will start to prep up for the next bulk sale Feb 15-21. I can only do one more sale after that sometime around the third week of March so I have enough time to complete the orders before I go on the road the end of April. As things stand now the tour ends June 27 in Belgium and I should be home no later than July 1. If that is the case we'll do our annual July 4 sale.
NOTE: The Feb 15-21 sale will only be offered to our facebook members. Sign up today!
One last update: The 12v power supply project is coming along. The primary power conditioner circuit is just amazing! I'm stunned by the improved level of A/V performance I am experiencing. I connected the 12v supply to the 3Com gig switch which acts as a hub between the server and several htpc's and the studio. As of now the upgrade in sound has transformed the signal quality entering the Benchmark DAC1 pre.
Alan
Jan 29
Just announced on facebook, the Infinity Quartz Isolation Trio will be available March 1. Pre-Orders start Feb 10.
Update: Signature and Signature CBF orders shipped. I am still waiting on one more part order to arrive so I can finish the larger PE V,VI, and Quantum orders.
Alan
Jan 27
The first of six part orders arrived yesterday. I was able to bang out some of the smaller orders (PEv3, Ref II, Ref III, I-Shield, and Infinity/Quantum SCF) today and tomorrow I will tackle the I-String orders. I'm still waiting on 3 orders to be able to knock out the larger filter orders. I will update as things come in.
Alan
Jan 26
Our little clique raised over $15k last night at the benefit show.
Nothing major to report today...I'm taking the day off.
Alan
Jan 25
Just a reminder...Jen and I will be attending the Colos-Saal Haiti Benefit Concert in Aschaffenburg, Germany this evening. If you are in Germany please come down to the show, we will have a table in the back of the club, I will be more than happy talking shop before the show starts.
Alan
Jan 24
Another facebook exclusive product will be available in a few weeks.
Infinity Quartz Isolation Trio - $125.00
If you are a fan of our Infinity CBF and Signature CBF products then you are going to love the new isolation foot. More info will be available on our facebook page in a few days.
If you haven't yet signed up for our facebook page you are missing out.
Check it out!
Alan
Jan 23
Took some time off today to work on my own projects. I'm looking at the idea of building multi-volt power supplies for audio and HTPC gear. I'm currently working on a regulated 12v project that I'm pleased with at the moment. I just finished the parallel power conditioner for the 120v side. The next stage will be quantum purification and ground isolation on the primary and secondary of the linear supply. Hopefully I will get a chance to take a look at that in the next 2 to 3 weeks. More to come later.
I will be out of the loop for the next week. Jen is deploying to Afghanistan and I would like to spend some time with her before she goes. I will pop in on the facebook page as time permits.
Alan
Jan 22
Signature CBF special today on our facebook page. Buy 4 Signature CBF and recieve 1 FREE Infinity CBF.
Alan
Jan 21
Update on the large Signature: We have 50 cases on order for the March 1 ship date. After 8 hours since we made the facebook announcement, we only have 7 cases left from the order. Both the Signature and the Signature CBF are selling like hotcakes. Later in the week I will order more Signature cases. As for the Signature CBF, I have 15 in stock.
Huge facebook offers today! We have multiple today only and one hour specials that we will be offering all day. If you haven't yet signed up for our facebook page you are missing out.
Check it out!
Alan
Jan 20
I just announced the large Signature passive filter on our facebook site as a facebook exclusive. Sign up to our site and check it out. Membership has it's privileges.
On to other news...Jen and I will be attending the Colos-Saal Haiti Benefit Concert in Aschaffenburg, Germany on Monday Jan 25. If you are in Germany please come out to the show, we will have a table in the back of the club...I'm more than happy to talk shop and meet with everyone.
The new I-Strings Pulse Gen Power Cable will be available in March.
8ga. 4N Copper
Dual Filtered
Infinity CBF and our exclusive Pulse Gen technology built into the AC and IEC connector
Oyaide 079 connectors
Flexible to a 3" coiled diameter
15 amp design
Alan
Jan 19
Update: All parts ordered for the bulk sale we held last week. Hopefully everything will ship this week. I expect mail delays due to the military involvement in Haiti. I don't expect the delays to be long, but probably at least a week (expect part orders in 3 weeks)...I will keep you posted via this blog and our facebook page.
Alan
Jan 18
I added the Signature CBF and Reference III to the facebook site as exclusive facebook offers. I also announced a large Signature to be offered via facebook soon.
Last week Jen and I caught the Bernard Allison show up at the club. B was in good spirits, almost exclusively played the new album...which is fantastic BTW....if you like electric blues pick up The Other side when it is released in the states the end of this month. B is going to be over here for the next few months, but when the show hits the states go out and see it....it is a fun night out.
Alan
Jan 13
Join the facebook membership program and receive extra goodies.
Membership Privileges (only available on facebook site)
1. Free membership for each person who joins
2. Free consultation
3. Exclusive discount pricing on everything we offer all year long
4. Special offers
5. Exclusive beta membership program
6. Custom design work and product upgrades
7. Exclusive incentive program**
**For every 4 items a member can sell to a friend, that member will receive one free of that item. Example: if you have four friends buy one CBF each, you will receive one free CBF. On the other hand, if your four friends buy one Quantum Studio each, you will also receive one free Quantum Studio. Rules are simple… when your friend emails the order he/she must mention your name in order for the item to be credited to you.
Alan